Finance Manager

The Finance Manager is a talented and experienced Professional Accountant who is responsible for full accounting, grants financial management, designing and enforcing compliance with internal control systems, financial risk management, costing and reporting in compliance with applicable policies and donor regulations, World Vision Finance Manual, applicable International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), relevant laws and regulations of the Government of Sierra Leone; with an objective to present a true and fair view of the financial position and financial performance of World Vision International Sierra Leone.

This position reports directly to the Finance and Support Services Director and supervises three Finance Coordinators and manages all finance staff, whether based at the National Office or Project Offices, for all funding streams (whether Private Non-Sponsorship, Sponsorship or Grant funded).

Key Responsibilities

Financial Accounting, Reporting and Analysis

• Plan and coordinate monthly financial reporting process for the Field Office (FO) in close collaboration with other WVI entities like the Shared Services Center (SSC) and Global Finance Solutions (GFS), and submit financial statements in the Field Financial Reporting (FFR) database which are free from material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud,
• Present financial performance and position of the office to management in monthly FFR review meetings and ensure that project accountants also hold the same at their level.
• Manage, reconcile and account allocate transactions in the balance sheet, working in collaboration with the SSC to ensure that the aging report does not carry long outstanding balances of assets and liabilities, and risk of loss is reasonably mitigated.
• Ensure that semi-annual financial reports, both for the Field Office and projects, are complete and accurate and are attached to the FFR database by the due dates.
• Manage financial year-end process according to the year-end memo and accompanying guidelines.
• Prepare and submit year-end financial reports, both for FO and projects.
• Ensure that year-end reports and audit templates and project reports are attached to the FFR database by the applicable due dates.
• Ensure that project income is always committed on PBAS and reimbursements from donors are received on time.
• Prepare audited financial statements and submit to the Finance Director for review.

Financial Planning, Resource Acquisition and Grants Financial Management

• Co-manage proposal development process in close collaboration with the Resource Development Manager, and ensure that high quality proposal budgets are prepared and submitted to the Support Office or donors, in time.
• Ensure optimum coverage of shared/support costs in grant proposal budgets, and directly charge as reasonably allowed by donor rules, to reflect true and fair share of shared/support costs in projects, in line with administration cost recovery standards.
• Coordinate the planning and budgeting process for the Field Office, and provide necessary technical support, and ensure full compliance with Global, Regional and Field Office planning and budgeting guidelines.
• Ensure that donor-facing financial reports are prepared accurately and disseminated within the due dates. This includes ensuring that reports (e.g. FFRs are discussed collectively with the different functions (program management, M&E, finance) to ensure quality analysis of the issues and identification of appropriate solutions, ensuring that this is captured in the report and carrying out accuracy and quality checks before submission to the donors or Support Offices.
• Perform monthly analysis of grant expenses and advise the management on expenditure trends, efficiency ratios and make recommendations for corrective actions where necessary.
• Take a leading role in the finance responses to respective queries in relation to reports shared with donors, auditors, Support Offices and internal stakeholders.
• Manage implementation of WVI strategic finance initiatives.
• Regularly visit field/zonal offices to provide technical support to field staff and to also ensure effective and relevant controls based on context are in place.
• Ensure that all Sub-Recipients (SRs), SSRs and Service Providers’ agreements and amendments are well prepared, grant files are updated/maintained, and key grant documents are shared as defined in the grant agreements with donor and by World Vision internal policies.
• Proactively track budget spending against the budget and provide recommendations to the budget holders and Finance and Support Services Director on needed actions to get budget execution on track.
• Develop effective budget monitoring tools and optimise use of the Encumbrance Financial Report as part of budget control and forecasting effort.
• Review alignment of budgets between the Field Office, projects, grants, MyPBAS (Budget database) and Support Offices.
• Facilitate control of FO budget, cash flow and project funding, by providing timely and relevant information to budget managers, in collaboration with the Operations teams.
• Provide financial analysis, promoting benchmarks and making recommendations.
• Closely collaborate with FO Support Services and Procurement teams to ensure effective administrative and procurement support to grants and Private Non-Sponsorship Projects with an objective to implement projects on time, on budget and within scope
• Collaborate with Resource Development and Management (RDM) to ensure that start-up and close-out workshops are held as applicable.
• Keep the grants tracker to monitor the performance and compliance of all grants and PNS and escalate to Finance and Support Services Director any potential losses and non-compliance issues.
• Ensure that financial risk capacity assessment and monitoring of partners is done as needed, according to WVI policies
• Ensure that monthly FFR meetings are held for each grant or PNS offices
• Ensure full compliance with grants Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), for example, Blocked Party Screening (BPS), Labour Distribution Report (LDR), Grants burn rate, overspending and administration cost recovery
• Manage grant related audits, both internal and external, and ensure that risk of disallowed costs is reasonably mitigated
• Facilitate formation of the Financial Management Working Groups (FMWGs) for effective management of the big multi-year WVISL-led consortia

Compliance and Risk Management

• Proactively manage spending and budget execution in collaboration with supply chain and programs teams, to keep the grant burn rate on track and avoid overspending in grants.
• Ensure strong cost allocation, general accounting, internal controls and administrative systems are in place
• Implement financial policies in accordance with WVI Finance Manual, donor rules and regulations and local financial regulations
• Oversee grant accounting processes, including that of SRs
• Assure that all grant policies and regulations are adhered to for purposes of eligibility of reported expenditure
• Ensure full compliance with before the fact Blocked Parties Screening (BPS) requirements of WVI and donors. This relates to vendor, partner and staff screening, and direct responsibility to ensure that SRs are fully compliant with this requirement.
• Ensure full compliance with Labour Distribution Reporting (LDR) and timesheet reporting as per WVI policies and donor regulations
• In coordination with the Program Managers, develop and implement the grant close-out plan in compliance with WVI policies and procedures and donor guidelines to ensure timely and effective closure of the grant.
• Implement appropriate financial systems and controls and ensure they are in place to avoid significant audit risk ratings in finance, both at the NO and project levels.
• Implement anti-corruption and fraud strategies.
• Adhere to systems, policies and procedures that provide appropriate levels of security and control of WV assets, resources and operations.
• Collaborate with the Field Office Risk and Compliance Manager in updating the FO risk register and ensure that all projects keep updated risk registers
• Ensure that regular monitoring of partners, both desk and in-person, is done effectively to manage counterparty risk and help build the financial management capacity of the partners

Audit and Monitoring

• Ensure project documents and financial records are maintained and readily available for internal/external audits and reviews
• Liaise with internal and external audits.
• Review all management letters and ensure that all issues raised are resolved expeditiously in collaboration with auditors.
• Ensure that grants and projects adhere to a schedule of planned Audit monitoring visits; the basis for the selection, timing and frequency of its monitoring visits should be properly documented
• Ensure that assessments and monitoring visits are being carried out in accordance with WV policies about timeliness, comprehensiveness, professionalism and documentation
• If needed, ensure that corrective action plans are prepared within 90 calendar days of the assessment or monitoring visit, and that program staff are supporting Audit Implementation to address the identified issues within agreed timelines.
• Ensure financial and programming staff participate in the financial monitoring of the SR (including site visits); trip reports must indicate the monitoring steps performed, the processes reviewed, the result of the testing and reviews, and recommended corrective actions.
• Review and analyse assessment, monitoring, trip reports and monthly updates on a timely manner and to inform follow-up actions.
• Ensure that the Audit team receives support from WV to correct weaknesses detected by internal and external auditors; directly address issues that are escalated
• Ensure internal control systems are reviewed and monitored to verify that financial duties are adequately segregated
• Ensure that the compliance staff provide direct technical support in all aspects of finance, compliance and internal controls for SRs

Capacity Building

• Ensure the development of a staff and SR capacity building plan, through which finance and compliance staff provide direct technical support to support in all aspects of finance, compliance and internal control for SR. Ensure that the project SR evaluates and effectively monitors any SSRs and/or partners to achieve efficient use of Global Fund resources.
• Coordinate the development and implementation of grant financial management trainings and capacity building activities
• Build capacity of staff of WVISL and partners on applicable donor regulations to ensure compliance
• Ensure that the Finance and compliance officer provides direct support in building the capacity of finance teams on donor policies and procedures required for the program intervention activities on the grant
• Ensure that there is real time on-site monitoring during implementation of key activities.
• Ensure that there is periodic assessment of financial system and processes to identify gaps/weaknesses and recommend steps to mitigate risk
• Conduct staff financial management capacity assessment and submit to the FSSD for review and approval
• Customize financial management training program to the assessed capacity gaps in the finance team or other non-finance staff
• Provide on the job technical training to the FM, Financial Coordinators and Finance Officers, especially on financial analysis, PowerBI, Sunsystems data entry and troubleshooting, data extraction and posting etc
• Offer group and individual training sessions (Sunsystems technical training s mandatory)

Administration and Fleet & Asset Management

• Ensure that finance staff for projects keep updated asset registers and collaborating with the Support Services Manager in asset tracking, reconciliations and management

Team Management, Internal Collaboration and Engagement

• Lead, direct, mentor and coach a team of finance and grants compliance staff to meet donor objectives
• Take the lead in setting annual finance and compliance targets and ensure that specific tasks are built in staff performance plans
• Conduct periodic reviews of staff performance in keeping with WVISL’s performance management system and mentor staff to ensure high levels of motivation, commitment, capacity, and teamwork
• Review and handle performance management of staff.
• Adhere and implement to organisational guidelines and polices
• Provide strong and positive leadership to the FO finance team ensuring competent and motivated staff are developed for efficient delivery of services.
• Coordinate professional and personal development of FO finance staff through adequate orientation, on-the-job coaching, identification of learning, training needs and opportunities (e.g. in accounting, Sun Systems, grant management, risk management, leadership, etc.); and succession planning.
• Model Christ-centered servant leadership and support spiritual development of his/her team.
• Facilitate non-finance staffs in understanding and interpretation of financial statements.
• Provide training in partnership finance policies and procedures to ensure understanding and compliance by stakeholders.
• Develop strong collaborative networks with stakeholders through effective and timely communication.
• Provide training in grants management, WVI policies and procedures to ensure understanding and compliance by stakeholders. Facilitate non-finance staff to understand and interpret financial statements.
• Develop strong collaborative networks with internal and external stakeholders through effective and timely communication.

KNOWLEDGE/QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE ROLE

• At least 5 years of accounting and/or grants management experience
• At least 3 years’ leadership experience
• Experience with government grant regulations and financial reporting requirements
• Balanced combination of 5 years Business Management experience in INGOs
• Degree in Accounting, Finance, Management or related field like international business management.
• CA, ACCA, CPA or other professional accreditation equivalent will be an added advantage
• Experience with computerized accounting systems, preferably SUN6, MS- Word, and Ms-Excel strongly desired
• Strong accounting and analytical skills is desired for this role
• Must possess good communication skills.
• Travel and/or Work Environment Requirement – 15%

Applicant Types Accepted:

Local and International Applicants (IA’s) Accepted