Job Title:                Finance Coordinator – Budget and Reporting

Reporting to:           Finance Manager

Supervision of:        Finance Officers

Job Based at:           Addis Ababa

All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organization’s values. To be dedicated, innovative, inclusive and accountable are attitudes and believes that shall guide our actions and relationships.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental, humanitarian organization with 60 years of experience in helping to create a safer and more dignified life for refugees and internally displaced people. NRC advocates for the rights of displaced populations and provides assistance within the shelter, education, emergency food security, information counseling and legal assistance, and water, sanitation and hygiene sectors.

Role and responsibilities

The purpose of this position is to ensure timely and quality budgeting and reporting of NRC Ethiopia financial and grant management information.

• Responsible for ensuring strong financial and grant management monitoring systems within NRC Ethiopia  Programme
• Responsible for ensuring budgets and financial reports are compliant to donor and NRC financial regulations.

Generic responsibilities

These responsibilities shall be the same for all positions with the same title. The responsibilities shall be short and essential. Details belong in the Work and Development plan.

• Implement NRC’s systems and procedures at country level
• Ensure adherence to NRC policies, handbooks, guidelines and donor requirements
• Prepare and submit reports and analysis
• Ensure proper filing of all support documents
• Support line managers in procedures and require support team trainings
• Management of Finance team
• Ensure that the accounting, monitoring and reporting are according to procedures
• Support project staff in financial matters
• Maintain budget control and monitor cash flow

Specific responsibilities

These responsibilities shall be adapted to the particularities of the job location and context, phase of operation, strategic focus and type of programme intervention. This section shall be revised whenever a new employee is hired or the context changes significantly. The line manager drafts the specific responsibilities and sends them to his/her line manager for approval.

Financial Reporting

• Contribute in the design, development and implementation of the Financial management policies, procedures and practices in NRC
• Coordinate the financial aspects of the multi-state, multi-year, multi-partner programs in line with donor requirements.
• Ensure all financial and accounting aspects of project operations, strong internal control system, accurate and on time submission financial report for donor.
• Consolidate financial reports, fund requests and budget amendments in a timely fashion throughout the life of the projects.
• Ensure the grant tracking report is updated and implemented to ensure timely reporting while liaising with the area finance teams.

 Grants Management.

• Ensure strong grants monitoring and reporting systems are in place which ensures timely reporting and utilization of the funds
• Work closely with budget holders on proposal/budget preparation and giving technical support for the area finance coordinators to make sure the submission of the donor budgets.  Ensure the grant tracking report is updated and implemented to ensure timely reporting
• Consolidate budgets and financial reports for review by the Finance Manager
• Undertake proposal and grant application reviews to assess compliance with NRC and donor guidelines
• Participate in the closure of projects and coordinate with area finance teams to close the projects on time.
• Review all grants on a monthly basis in terms of budget versus actual, identify areas of over or under expenditure, instigate remedial actions and liaise over required correction.
• Developing and updating the master budgets at country level and working closely with the area finance teams for any technical support needed.
• Share lessons learnt and good practices of financial and grants reporting.
• Undertake periodic visits to the field in order to support and put forward recommendations for improvements where appropriate

Developing high quality budgets

• Developing the top down of the budgets and sharing with the area program team and finance coordinators.
• Ensuring that country office costs are covered and captured in the active budgets.
• Making sure that the budgets are reviewed and cross checked with the compliance of the donors before submitting to the controller.
• Supporting the country finance manager of budgeting and reporting for issues related to budget and reports
• Assist and work closely with budget holders on budget management-detailed Budget monitoring, high burn rates and Budget revisions.
• Any other duty as assigned by the line manager

Professional competencies

Generic professional competencies for this position:

• BA in Accounting/ Finance or similar field with minimum 5 years of experience from working as a Finance Coordinator in a humanitarian/recovery context
• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
• Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile
• Solid knowledge of computer software and modern accounting systems particularly Agresso
• Previous experience in similar capacity
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal

Context related skills, knowledge and experience (shall be adapted to the specific position):

• Experience of working with large institutional donors
• Strong analysis skills (qualitative and quantitative)
• Excellent one to one and group communication /information presentation skills
• Good understanding of various donors’ financial requirements
• Experience in designing budgets with different donor formats (for e.g.  DFID, EC, SHF, UNHCR, ECHO, NMFA, SIDA)
• Experience working with Excel and other computerized accounting systems. knowledge of Agresso software package will be an added advantage.
• Goal oriented with ability to work under pressure, independently and with limited supervision.