Finance Officer at Oxfam (Bauchi)

Oxfam is a global movement of people working together to end the injustice of poverty. Together we save, protect and rebuild lives. And we won’t stop until every person on the planet can defeat poverty or any type of inequality or discrimination.

We are an international confederation of 19 organizations (affiliates) working together with partners and local communities in the areas of humanitarian, development, and campaigning, in more than 90 countries. All our work is led by three core values: Empowerment, Accountability, Inclusiveness.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Finance Officer

Requisition ID: 11246
Location: Bauchi
Internal Job Grade: D2
Contract type: Nine (9) Months
Job Family: Finance
Reporting to: Finance Administrator
Staff reporting directly to this post: None

Job Purpose

• To support LINE in ensuring it maintains a high standard of accounting and financial control.
• The nature of this job demands rigorous and careful attention to details, proper understanding of financial systems and procedures, good inter-personal skills, and complete integrity at all times.
• The purpose of the role is to ensure that financial procedures are adhered to and non-compliances challenged while at the same time providing capacity building for the team to understand and comply with the procedures.
• The position holder will work closely with the programme and country finance teams to provide quality financial information, process payments and maintain comprehensive accounting records for the project.

Responsibilities
Payables:

• Ensure supporting documentation for payments is complete and correct (e.g. authorized and coded by budget holder) in accordance with Oxfam financial procedures.
• Prepare payments for authorization by account signatories.
• Support project team by ensuring payments in the field are anticipated, made in a timely manner and with safety in mind.
• Ensure payments are made in accordance with the delegation of authority limits.
• Ensure compliance checklist regarding transactions are adhered to.
• Ensure relevant statutory deductions are made, and transactions recorded accurately.
• Maintain a reliable and effective finance record filling system.
• Monthly reconciliation of accounts and follow up with any discrepancies.

Receivables:

• Ensure that all receipts are properly documented, e.g. by an invoice or receipt.

Bank Reconciliation:

• Reconcile project’s bank accounts on a monthly basis.

Managing Bank and Cash Balances:

• Proactively monitor balance on bank account to:
• Ensure that balances are sufficient to cover anticipated payments.
• Ensure fully authorised payments and receipts are uploaded on the system on a weekly basis.
• Monitor and ensure outstanding floats or advances are properly and timely cleared.
• Ensure cash counts are undertaken weekly, monthly, and whenever responsibility is handed to another person.
• Identify receipts or payments that may require further investigation.
• Manage LINE bank and cash accounts.
• Maintain journal vouchers for receipts, payments and balances.

Financial Administration:

• Act as point of contact for day-to-day matters with financial service providers.
• Oversee filing systems, both electronic and hard copy (payables, receivables, payments, receipts, cash payments etc).

Others:

• Provide technical and administrative supports to Supply & Logistics Officers who may be required to carry out related financial management functions on the field.
• Provide support and advice to LINE Project Staff on various matters including: completion of finance related forms (expense claims, float accounts etc.).
• Locating documentation, supporting payments and receipts.
• Support external audits exercises and ensuring that internal audit exercises are conducted periodically.
• Provide day-to-day technical supports to the Finance Officers of Implementing Partners as may be required.

Requirements
Educational Qualification:

• A Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or any relevant equivalent is required.
• Three to Five (3 - 5) years of progressively responsible and directly relevant professional experience, such as finance, accounting, grants management - ideally with at least 2 years in International NGO.
• ICAN or ACCA qualification will be an added advantage.
• Proactive, flexible, and able to respond to a variety of questions relating to the job.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
• Manages own time under guidance and direction from supervisor and meet the deadlines.
• Strong analytical and planning skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a large multi-cultural organisation.
• Ability to understand and implement government tax laws with respect to contracting, payments to vendors/service providers and remittance to appropriate authorities.
• Proven knowledge of computerized systems and demonstrable experience of working with computerized accounting packages and spreadsheets. Knowledge of Oxfam’s accounting software will be an added advantage.

Key Attributes:

• Experience of developing and delivering policy and advocacy strategies and influencing policy change targeting different categories of stakeholders.
• Experience of working with high, mid and low level influencers across different socio-economic grouping and geography.
• Experience working with vulnerable rural people, including women and young children.
• Working in difficult terrains with limited access to urban facilities.
• Cultural awareness of the northern Nigeria and/or experience of the socio-cultural and religious issues of the region.
• Experience of advocacy and campaigning targeting diverse stakeholders in a similar position.
• Working with rural communities and facilitation of community development plans using participatory methodologies.

Key Behavioural Competencies
Influencing:

• We can engage with diverse stakeholders in a way that leads to increased impact for the organisation
• We spot opportunities to influence effectively and where there are no opportunities, we could create them in a respectful and impactful manner.

Relationship Building:

• We understand the importance of building relationship, within and outside the organization.
• We could engage with traditional and non-traditional stakeholders in ways that lead to increased impact for the organisation.

Agility, Complexity and Ambiguity:

• We scan the environment, anticipate changes, are comfortable with lack of clarity and deal with many elements interacting in diverse and unpredictable ways.

Systems Thinking:

• We view problems as parts of an overall system and in their relation to the whole system, rather than reacting to a specific part, outcome, or event in isolation.
• By consistently practicing systems thinking we are aware of and manage well unintended consequences of organizational decisions and actions.

Listening:

• We are good listeners who can see where deeper levels of thoughts and tacit assumptions differ.
• Our messages to others are clear and consider different preferences.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply