Finance Officer at Heifer International

Heifer International’s mission is to work with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth. Dan West was a farmer from the American Midwest and member of the Church of the Brethren who went to the front lines of the Spanish Civil War as an aid worker. His mission was to provide relief, but he soon discovered the meager single cup of milk rationed to the weary refugees once a day was not enough. And then he had a thought: What if they had not a cup, but a cow? That “teach a man to fish” philosophy is what drove West to found Heifer International. And now, nearly 70 years later, that philosophy still inspires our work to end world hunger and poverty throughout the world once and for all. HOW IT WORKS We empower families to turn hunger and poverty into hope and prosperity – but our approach is more than just giving them a handout. Heifer links communities and helps bring sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with a long history of poverty. Our animals provide partners with both food and reliable income, as agricultural products such as milk, eggs and honey can be traded or sold at market. When many families gain this new sustainable income, it brings new opportunities for building schools, creating agricultural cooperatives, forming community savings and funding small businesses.

FUNCTION

• The Finance Officer is to provide substantive support for accounting aspects of the KLMP project such as maintenance of accounting-related systems, implementation of accepted methods of accounting and assure proper internal controls and performing guided assessments of controls related to financial activities, reporting, and compliance. The Finance Officer will report to the Director of Finance, and work in liaison with the Project Manager.


• This position is contingent upon donor approval and funding.

ESSENTIAL CHARACTER TRAITS

• Heifer International Kenya is looking for an individual with financial acumen; tech-savvy; action-oriented; plans and aligns; optimizes work processes; ensures accountability; drives results; collaborates; communicates effectively.

RESPONSIBILITIES & DELIVERABLES

Review and verification of invoices and payment vouchers to ensure completeness, correct coding, and reasonableness including statutory payments. (75%)

• Processing payments of project-related expenses and ensuring that they are correctly posted in the financial system.


• Perform analytical review of project general ledger accounts and reconciling balance sheet accounts including project and staff advance reconciliations on a timely basis in line with Heifer Policy.


• Prepare the draft donor financial report for the Director of Finance’s Review.


• Maintain an efficient filing and retrieval system for financial and account records to ensure completeness, accuracy, and compliance on a weekly basis.


• Complete project-specific bank reconciliations, and advance reconciliations on time.


• Act as liaison with Accounting Manager in preparing cash requirements for the project.

Financial Control and Risk Management. Efficient and effective management of all financial functions of the organization and development of risk management plans. (10%)

• Prepare and submit monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports and statements as per Heifer and Donor requirements.


• Ensure that Project accounts have been correctly coded in the system.


• Collect and facilitate review of special reports for internal control when required.


• Ensure the maintenance of an accurate and up-to-date project fixed asset register.

Support the Country team in accounts management to ensure compliance. Ensure regulatory and organizational compliance of accounting transactions within the country project offices and support global consolidation of financial statements. (5%)

• Provide support related to independent external audits and other agreed-upon procedures providing financial information and follow-up.


• Record all transactions in the accounting system, and coordinate with project management on the burn rate for the project.


• Reconcile all project transactions in the accounting system to the general ledger and financial reports.


• Perform project cash/bank reconciliations.


• Register and maintain fixed assets in the accounting system.


• payments to vendors, consultants, tax bureaus, and other agencies, according to established donor policies and procedures.


• Accountable to support responses to queries on the status of payments/accounts/expenditures/obligations and resolve any discrepancies.


• Serve as custodian for the project checkbooks.

Financial support to the Country (10%)

• Lead in daily accounting support to staff through coaching and field monitoring.


• Coordinate the monitoring of the project cash position including petty cash reconciliations every month, where applicable.

May perform other job-related duties as assigned.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Finance or Accounting or a related field, plus five (5) years of related experience.


• CPA finalist or ACCA professional qualification, NGO experience, and significant experience with managing grants and donor financial reporting.


• Experience in the management of donor funds. Other job-related education and/or experience may be substituted for all or part of these requirements.

Preferred Requirements

• Experience in a donor-funded development environment with compliance requirements of institutional funders.

Most Critical Proficiencies

• Knowledge of the NGO business sector; Knowledge of institutional funders for international development a plus.


• Ability to navigate financial and non-financial data gathering and analytics; technically adept with the ability to quickly learn and maximize usage of technology and software; effective user of Microsoft Office Suite with intermediate skill in MS Excel.


• Practical knowledge of the local country’s generally accepted accounting principles and fiscal statutes.


• Experience with accounting systems.

Essential Job Functions And Physical Demands

• Ability to work under pressure, perform multiple tasks and manage consistently competing priorities, comfortable in a rapidly changing environment. Must be flexible and able to improvise to handle a variety of situations.


• Proven team and customer care skills with the ability to train and work cooperatively with diverse staff, including field staff in several locations.


• Demonstrates integrity by modeling Heifer’s and SIDA’s values and ethical standards.


• Ability to work with sensitive personnel situations and to maintain confidentiality.


• Ability to maintain close relationships and work with team members from a distance and with limited opportunity for personal interaction.


• May require constant sitting and moving, working at a computer for extended periods.


• Constant face-to-face, electronic and telephone communication with colleagues and the public.


• Ability to prepare documents and other materials in a well-designed and attractive format, with attention to detail.


• Willingness to work with a flexible schedule.


• Ability and willingness to travel both locally and internationally.

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