Care International-Somalia / South Sudan – Country Office Finance Controller

Job Ref: FIN/EX00146

CARE International is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE and its partners work with vulnerable communities to address the underlying causes of poverty and promote peace and development, through its strategic goal to reduce poverty by empowering women, enhancing access to resources and services, and improving governance.

CARE is looking for a seasoned, independent, motivated and experienced Country office Finance Controller (COFC) to join our team in Nairobi, Kenya. This position will provide support and services to two countries, south Sudan and Somalia, the Nairobi office, in addition to the Regional unit. This is a complex Country office that demands a good track record of working in complex environments and setups, implementing systems, policies, controls and building capacity in not so easy environments

Job Summary

Reporting to the Regional Financial Controller (RFC) the Finance Controller will develop, coordinate and administer the Country Office (CC) plans for proper recording, documentation, control, monitoring and reporting of financial operations.
S/he will be responsible for controllership to ensure Country Office (CO) compliance with CARE’s accounting policies and procedures and generally accepted accounting principles; develop and implement the CO accounting systems and procedures. S/he will oversee the treasury, cash functions; provide oversight to the day-to-day operations; plan, organize and direct the finance responsibilities;
S/he will be responsible for providing quality financial services to all projects, units and staff in country office including field offices, Regional units and the Head Office. As a member of the Core Leadership Team (CLT), the FC will be expected to participate actively in the CO Senior Management meetings at the strategic level, Identify financial management problems, risk, and opportunities and present recommendations to the CLT.
The FC will be expected to develop budgeting skills of all staff, lead the budgeting process, review and provide input to project proposal budgets, monthly, quarterly and annual operating budgets, in addition to supervising the monitoring of actual expenses against budgets; interacting with the Country Director, Assistant Country Directors, project managers, program coordinators and other managers who make budget decisions in the CO.
S/he will work closely with the Country Director and Senior management team to ensure that a partnership is developed between Finance, Program and Administration. S/he assumes implementation of donor rules and regulations. The Finance Controller will be required to ensure that financial reports and reviews are done and will be responsible for the preparation and submission of complete, accurate, reliable and timely financial reports to CO Managers, donors, local entities as relevant, regional office and Headquarters.
In line with this, s/he will supervise and control the quality of the monthly closing process and preparation of financial reports. The Finance Controller will also be expected to carry out staffs’ performance and Talent reviews. S/he will be required to provide supervision and development to staff in the CO finance unit, provide accounting and financial training to CO finance staff including sub-office; organize training in financial management to non-finance staff as necessary. A key responsibility will be building capacity of the national staffs working in these Countries

Key Competencies

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
• Planning and organizing abilities;
• Strong leadership, coaching and teamwork abilities;
• Good analytical skills:
• Stress tolerance, adaptable with ability to pro-actively solve problems;
• Integrity, commitment to service and respect for diversity;
• Ability to make strategic decisions and delegate.

Required skills and qualifications

• CPA (K), ACCA and a Bachelors Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Management or related field;
• 5 -10 years experience in NGO financial, budgeting, accounting, grants and reporting, 3 of which must have been in a controller or senior management position;
• Thorough understanding of financial accounting, reporting and grants contract management processes; facilitation skills to conduct training sessions for small, medium and large sized groups; Solid analytical and problem solving, financial troubleshooting and audit experience;
• A quick learner with ability to adapt local practices to global standards;
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, good skills at using financial software applications at Country Main Office level i.e. SCALA, SUNSYSTEMS, and PEOPLESOFT.

This position is on an international status based in Nairobi with 50% travel to the field offices in Somalia and Southern Sudan. Closing date for applications is: 13th May 2010. The shortlisted candidates wi be contacted by 11th June 2010.
Applications/CV with daytime telephone contacts and three referees should be sent to:
The Senior Human Resources Officer
CARE Somalia/South Sudan
P.O. Box 2039, 00202 Nairobi
Email: hr@csss.care.org
CARE is an Equal Opportunity Employer, promoting gender, equity and diversity and women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply!