Junior Finance & Administrative Officer

Junior Finance & Administrative Officer

For Project: Local Development Programme for Deprived Urban Areas in North Lebanon (UDP_NL)

A.  Required Qualifications, Competencies and Knowledge

Formal Education

• University degree in Accounting, Administration or related field

Professional Experience

• At least 3 years of professional working experience in a similar position preferably in an international working environment
• Excellent command of MS-Office
• Good working knowledge of modern telecommunication systems
• A very good level of written and spoken English and Arabic, German is a plus
• Broad proven experience in administration
• Experience in handling travel arrangements, calculations and settlements
• Other Qualifications/ Competences
• Excellent office administration and organizational skills
• Excellent communication, cooperation and interpersonal skills
• Team-oriented, dedicated and proactive
• Ability to perform under pressure

B. Major responsibilities

Financial Administration

• Checking and preparing invoices for payments according to GIZ rules and regulations and Lebanese Tax law
• Reviewing the classification and completeness of all vouchers/ receipts
• Handling payments according to GIZ rules and regulations up to a set value limit using GIZ software
• Monitoring cashboxes and safe contents, keeping the respective lists updated
• Monitoring bank accounts’ operations and regular bank reconciliation
• Following up monthly reports on receivables, unsettled items and advances registered in project’s bookkeeping journals
• Supporting of an overall smooth and correct functioning of the financial accounting system of the project in line with GIZ standard procedures
• Preparing for internal control sessions conducted by GIZ Office Lebanon, GIZ HO Audit Unit and other related external audits
• General Administration - Office Management
• Providing administrative support to the project
• Making sure that financial and administrative requirements are met
• Procurement of material and goods for the project according to GIZ rules and regulations
• Keeping Head of Programme and Experts informed about the status of procurement/ custom clearing etc., especially in cases of delays
• Assisting with filing documents in reference files or DMS in line with GIZ filing rules
• Ensuring that necessary office supplies are available
• Organizing and monitoring the service and repair of office equipment - liaising with CO and other projects with whom the project office is shared

C.  Tasks

Finance and Accounting

The position holder     

• assist in the programme’s (monthly/ annual) financial planning
• monitors expenditures/ costs with regard to the budget
• initiates/ executes cash withdrawals, keeps the cashbook, prepares and enters vouchers
• checks requests for funds before release
• checks and updates the cash book (bank and petty cash transactions) daily
• arranges administration of (petty) cash payments and reports
• checks travel expense statements of staff for approval by the superior
• drafts, prepares, updates and controls all kind of contracts, controls its fulfilment, and initiates payments
• maintains proper and confidential filing of financial related documents

Procurement

The position holder

• monitors the availability of supplies/ office assets and performs procurement-related activities up to the specified guideline amount 
• keeps database on suppliers’/ service providers and conducts regular search for alternatives
• receives/checks delivered materials and advises suppliers of defective goods delivered and arranges necessary follow-up
• encodes required information into the monitoring database
• maintains the office asset register and project inventory list
• assists in the contracting of external services and monitors price and quantity/ quality

Other Duties/ Additional Tasks

The position holder

• prepares and organizes meetings, workshops, etc.
• assists in making travel arrangements for project staff
• facilitates information exchange between the project members, work partners and other institutions
• updates the project organizational chart on a regular basis
• monitors availability of supplies (stationary etc.) and arranges for its replenishment
• monitors and bills private telephone, vehicle use etc.

Description of the project:

The overall objective of the Local Development Programme for Deprived Urban Areas in North Lebanon (UDP_NL) is to contribute to political stability in the region through addressing critical issues to stability and conflict prevention, more inclusive economic development and social cohesion. The main target groups are vulnerable youth and woman.

The programme is focusing on the following three results:

Increased livelihoods of the youth and the woman of the targeted communities.

Improved urban environment.

Greater openness of the youth and children of the various communities to each other.

The results are reflected in the three organisational modules of the programme:

Module 1 is to promote the income generation capacities of youth woman and other vulnerable groups by providing assistance to the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, strengthening the local economic development supporting skills development and providing access to short term income opportunities.

Module 2 is to implement the interventions targeting the improvement of the urban environment through investments in the construction and rehabilitation of urban infrastructure.

Module 3 targets social cohesion by promoting inter-community relations between the youth of the different communities.