JOB DESCRIPTION

Position Title: Support Service Assistant
Location: Herat
Grade: NAT 6

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:
Level 3: the post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:
The Support Services assistant is a critical position that will supports the financial, administrative, and compliance oversight of Save the Children”s Herat Response projects. Funded partly by DRA, ECHO, Sida RRM and BMGF, the Response project has an Appeal budget of $5 M and is active in two districts in Herat province. In his/her capacity, the SS Assistant will be tasked with ongoing operational compliance analysis, working with other teams and functions to deliver against the Emergency Response Plan, Ware housing, Procurement Plan and HR plan. In the event of a humanitarian emergency that overwhelms a province or is out of area, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

SCOPE OF ROLE:
Reports to: Service Support officer

Staff reporting to this post: None

Budget Responsibilities: No direct Budget Holding Responsibilities

Role Dimensions: The Support Services Assistant will have excellent understanding of Donnor Rules and Regulations, will be responsible for the day to day management of finance, compliance and administration on the Herat Response project. S/he report will directly to the Service support officer and will coordinate and collaborate closely with the technical program staff and M&E team to ensure smooth implementation of activities and expenditures. S/he will participate in the Response Project key meetings as well as in the Operations and Finance meetings organized by the Country Office.

Key Responsibilities:

Budget Management
• No direct responsibility under budget management and only can support the on going activities under support function.
• Coordinate and assist the Support Service officer in the facilitation of processing the PR’s cycle and sharing the data timely with Finance for the payment and charging it in the Agresso system.

Financial Management
• Assist in biweekly financial analysis of project spending.
• Properly file and secure all financial documentation.
• Manage staff advances and petty cash per SCI guidelines.
• Ensure all financial plans, invoices, and reports comply with agency and donor regulations.
• Maintain and update financial documents, ensuring confidentiality.
• Ensure compliance with program/donor guidelines for all expenditures.

Reporting
• Assist the Support Services officer donor reporting if required by the line Manager.
• Assist the Support Services officer to develop and analyze Expenditure Analysis reports, and coordinate with CO for AIR discussions.

Award and Sub-award Management
• Review the financial reports monthly and address inconsistencies.
• Process payments promptly and conduct financial reviews.

Procurement and Logistics
• Facilitate the purchase request and collect quotations from suppliers.
• Follow the procurement plan developed by the Program Team and conduct a weekly meeting if the PRs are not raised as per Procurement plan.
• Ensure project procurements comply with donor and SCI regulations.
• Manage vehicle fleet and supplier contracts in coordination with Support Supervision officer Herat.

Administrative Management
• Maintain an up-to-date inventory of project equipment and supplies.
• Properly file all project documentation.
• Manage project leases, utilities, and communications agreements.
• Arrange international travel and provide logistic support for visitors.

Networking and Relationships
• Maintain strong linkages with Country Office Finance, Admin, Award Management, and Operations functions.
• Respond to requests from CO financial staff and partner organizations promptly and professionally.
• Participate in relevant workshops and financial sessions.
This summary highlights the core duties of the position, ensuring a streamlined and efficient approach to budget, financial, and administrative management while fostering strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:
• holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:
• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:
• builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:
• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:
• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

QUALIFICATIONS
• Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy, Finance, Business Administration, Organizational Management or full official professional accountancy qualification within Afghanistan.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
Essential
• Understanding of key humanitarian concepts and developments, e.g. the Humanitarian Principles, the Grand Bargain, the Core Humanitarian Standard and Cluster architecture
• Registration with the Afghanistan Institute of Chartered Accountants.
• Demonstrated 3+ years in accounting, financial planning and management procurement and other management support areas/functions.
• Demonstrated experience, exceptional understanding and experience with Donor rules and regulations, and procedures including auditing requirements
• Demonstrated ability managing a program of similar scale and complexity and management of functions
• Previous work experience with Save the Children an added advantage
• Proven diplomacy and access negotiation skills
• Experience in proposal development for institutional donors such as Sida, BMGF etc.
• Strong information and database-management skills
• Proactive approach to the mainstreaming of humanitarian preparedness and resilience in all activities irrespective of location, theme or project type

Desirable
• Experience of logistics, admin, IT , procurement and supply chain management
• Fluency in Dari and Pashto
• Experience working in humanitarian emergencies across multiple areas of Afghanistan
• Previous experience in NNGOs/INGOs, UN etc.

Additional job responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within the reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:
We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Health and Safety
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures