Senior Officer, Finance - Danish Red Cross

The Danish Red Cross (DRC) has been present in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region since 2002. Currently, we work in Iraq, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), Syria, Libya, and Yemen. Each of these countries is directly or indirectly affected by civil war or international conflict, and DRC supports the Red Cross/Red Crescent (RCRC) National Societies (NS) with interventions in the fields of Emergency Relief, Health, Psychosocial Support (PS), Water Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), and Organisational Development (OD). We emphasize the strengthening of our partner NS, both through organisational development and operational capacity building, and we see integrity, transparency, autonomy, and sustainable volunteer structures as conditions for building long-term effectiveness and efficiency. DRC’s total turnover in the region was DKK 140,000,000 in 2022. 

The Finance Officer will report to the DRC MENA Head of Region and is an integral member of the DRC MENA Regional Office (RO). The Finance Officer has four distinct purposes and responsibilities:

• Ensure effective, timely and compliant financial management of the DRC MENA RO, regarding daily bookkeeping, processing of payments/workflows, month-end process, and Liquidity management.
• Ensure effective, timely and compliant financial management of the DRC MENA RO with regard to office, project and programme budgets, activity plans, and financial reports, in undertaking external/internal audit processes in compliance with DRC Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and, where applicable, satisfying other specific donor requirements e.g. Europe Aid, ECHO, Danida; and etc.
• Provide surge capacity support for country office finance functions to cover gaps in finance staffing and or support emergency response activities (within the current 5 countries and or newly introduced countries).

Provide regular, timely and databased financial analysis, trends and forecasts supporting well informed management decisions. 

Financial Reporting/Analysis and Liquidity Management

• Manage bookkeeping for all MENA Regional Office daily transactions into DRC’s accounting system “Kompas”
• Deliver daily/weekly/monthly cash count for all Cash accounts at MENA Regional Office. Initiate and document ad-hog unannounced cash counts at the MENA Regional office.
• Develop proper coding of all received invoices (IFRC/ICRC & others) in “Kompas” and assurance of cash pledges to IFRC and ICRC as relevant for MENA Regional Office.
• Following up on transfer, accounting, and reconciliation in Kompas of staff’s working advances (in the regional office) and other receivable entries.
• Reconcile all Regional office’s cash and bank accounts in Kompas and document them monthly.
• Review all local laws and regulations (taxation etc..) and ensure they are always respected, and respective actions are taken under the direct supervision of the Head of Region and technical advice from the International Finance Manager (HQ).
• Analyze the material budget variances, expenditures above budget, or deficits to propose corrective actions.
• Support the Regional Office team in the creation/allocation of timesheets in due course. Follow up on pending timesheets and respectively advice to the Regional Office team on pending actions as relevant.
• Processing DRC Regional Office payments and, if applicable, invoices in DRC’s financial system “Kompas”.
• Ensure efficient month-end process and finalization of month’s income/expenditure transactions before the hard closure of a month.
• Advise the project manager and financial department in the accurate interpretation of the financial analysis of the projects.
• Following up and clearing all pending transactions.
• Validate compliance in daily accounting towards DRC’s and Donor’s financial rules and regulations.
• Facilitate the process of filling out all supporting documentation with financial vouchers. Scan/upload into DRC’s accounting system Kompas as well as physical filling accordingly in the office.
• Allocating cash for operational running costs and for the implementation of activities (if applicable) at the regional office level.
• Participate in recruiting, training, and induction process of all overseas based finance delegates and officers in the MENA region.
• Support the Head of Region and other Budget holders at the Regional Office in providing actual data on spending as of the date and in forecasting the expenditure for the following period.
• Manage cash transfer requests to International Controller and Advisor (ICA) according to DRC’s rules and standards.
• Participate in the quality control of cash requests and subsequently facilitate Head of Region approval in cooperation with RO International controller and Advisor (ICA).
• DRC’s all compliance matters are executed to safeguard the cash available in the country.
• Establishing the Regional Office’s bank accounts in compliance with DRC’s SOPs.
• When requested to periodically visit MENA countries to provide on-site face-to-face support, monitor MENA Countries’ project budget and expenditure, and facilitate, support and ensure compliance with DRC SOPs and other donor procedures, where applicable.

Project and Programme Financial Management (Responsibilities)

• Assist the Head of Region with maintaining a Regional financial overview and monitoring regional projects and preparing effective financial management tools.
• Prepare, maintain and Monitor the Regional Office Master budget through a monthly or quarterly budget monitoring/reporting process.
• Monitor DRC MENA Regional Office project and programme budgets and expenditures, ensuring compliance and advice on budget performance and, if applicable, suggest budget revisions as relevant.
• Proactively support the development of and revisions to Regional contracts and agreements, activity plans, and budgets.
• The creation of regional grants and projects within DRC’s accounting system – Kompas in coordination with DRC HQ International Controller and Advisor.
• Supervise DRC MENA Regional Offices’ project and programme financial reports and timely submit complete and compliant reports to HQ for quality assurance in accordance with DRC SOPs.
• Provide input and advice for the preparation of regional / consortium programme budgets and financial reports that consolidate funds from several donors or cover activities across multiple countries.
• Plan, ensure, and support, external audit of DRC MENA Regional Office projects and programmes that are both timely and in compliance with requirements, including the review of draft audit reports, and follow-up on the findings by the auditor.
• Advise input to the financial overviews of the DRC MENA Regional Office project and programme portfolio and follow up on grants allocated to the DRC MENA Regional Office.
• Support and facilitate, in close coordination with DRC HQ International Controller and Advisor (ICA) for MENA, the compliant financial completion/closure of projects and programmes, including, but not limited to, final financial reporting, final external audit, updating of the DRC MENA Regional Office project and programme portfolio overviews, and recording in the DRC accounting system.
• Support sound financial analysis and trends across the region.
• Ensure Implementation of DRC’s global Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) at the Regional office. Ensure adaptation and development of regional financial guidelines as applicable.
• Advise the Head of Region on all matters related to the programme and Regional Office finances and maintain to date overview of the Regional office’s finance situation on a continuous basis.
• Brief and onboard new staff on Global/Regional office financial procedures and support them with needed financial knowledge.

Any other tasks assigned by the Head of Region as required.

Financial Policies and Procedures

• Ensure compliance with DRC financial management and administration procedures (SOPs).
• Stay abreast of relevant Government rules and regulations relating to financial management, including audits, and inform the DRC MENA Head of Region accordingly and prepare/implement adjustment plans.
• Up- to- date of new DRC and/or partner guidelines on financial and administrative matters and notify the DRC MENA Head of Region accordingly and prepare/implement adjustment plans.
• Facilitate and participate in relevant internal meetings, development forums, workshops, courses, etc.
• Obtain backup for other DRC MENA RO staff or as assigned by the Head of Region, if applicable.
• Provide suggestions and inputs to the continuous development of the financial administration procedures, routines, and processes at regional and DRC levels, e.g. by suggesting revisions to the SOPs.
• Perform any other task assigned by the DRC MENA Head of Region.
• Accessible to assist with ad-hoc and emergency tasks related to the international operation, including temporary country finance management responsibilities and finance surge missions.

EDUCATION

• University Degree in Financial Management, Accounting, Business Administration, Commerce, or any other relevant fields -Required
• Bachelor’s Degree -Required

• 8+ years of professional experience in accounting, financial management and reporting, budgeting, accounting, and financial audits -Required
• Experience in developing and executing project and program budgets and scrutiny of financial reports -Required
• Relevant experience with donor agencies, e.g., UN, ECHO, Europe Aid, Danida, etc. -Preferred
• Experience in working for a humanitarian or similar international organization -Preferred

• Technical knowledge and experience in facilitating, supporting, monitoring, and supervising activity plans, budgets, and financial management -Required
• Strong computer skills (Microsoft Office Package, especially Excel) and user knowledge of financial accounting (ERP) systems, ideally Microsoft Dynamics F&O 365 -Required
• Analyze, advise, establish, and enforcement of sound internal financial controls and financial management reporting -Required
• Good knowledge of donor requirements -Required
• Ability to support and impart technical knowledge of relevant colleagues and partners -Preferred

LANGUAGES

Fluency in English, and Arabic -Required

• Accountability 
• Flexible and adaptable to changing working conditions
• Integrity, proactivity, and discretion in personal conduct 
• Self-motivated
• Strong Team-worker 
• Strong Communication skills, both oral and writing 
• Excellent financial analysis and presentation skills
• Conversant with and willing to work in volatile environments e.g. Iraq, Yemen, and Syria
• Able to cope with a working environment that occasionally will be stressful due to e.g. fluctuating workloads, unplanned tasks, and personal insecurity
• High attention to detail and timeliness