Finance Officer - North Office

ROLE PURPOSE: To provide appropriate levels of security and internal controls over the organization’s resources (funds and property) and operations in compliance with the policies and standards of the Save the Children Financial Manual. And to ensure financial policies are implemented in the areas of cash management, forecasting, recordings and documentation SCOPE OF ROLE: Reports to: Finance Coordinator Reporting to: 2 Finance assistants   KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:  Payments Verify the accuracy, validity, legitimacy of all payments and the completeness of financial documents (purchase requests, purchase orders, invoices...), proper coding and authorisation before payments are made. Ensure that cash and bank books records are updated on daily basis, ensuring that all coding is in line with donor and country coding structure. Manage Agresso processes for accuracy and ensure data is uploaded into system on regular basis. Ensure all the supporting documents are archived and stored in a safe place, and a scanned copy shared with the country office on monthly basis. Assist in preparing bank and cash reconciliation. In collaboration with HR, ensure that salary advances are closed as soon as possible and that departing staff have closed all advances. Carry out a daily consolidation of the petty cash with the Cashier, and ensure all payments are made in a timely manner. Provide training and capacity building to staff on understanding the payment vouchers and coding.   Financial Systems Maintain robust and adequate financial internal control systems and cash management across the field office in line with SCI’s Finance Manual, Awards Management and good accounting practices. Ensure SCI financial policies and procedures applicable in the field offices and ensure that changes in policies are communicated to staff at all levels. Maintain good working relationships with programme staff, logistics, partners and other stakeholders. Ensure that audit recommendations are followed up & implemented in good time and field staff fully understand and comply with the standard financial procedures. Financial Planning Ensure sufficient cash in the office by producing monthly cash forecasts for the Area Office, and sending consolidated cash request to Beirut office and following-up to make sure cash is received in time. Provide support to budget holders to understand the monthly BVA. With support from Finance Coordinator, create accountable system for billing staff, and structural costs across grants which ensures full expenditure of each line by the close of grants. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE AND ATTRIBUTES Undergraduate in Accounting and Finance or Business Administration / equivalent work experience Proven ability to work quickly and accurately, paying attention to detail to ensure that transactions are correctly processed, especially under pressure Practical experience of using computerised accounting systems Good reconciliation skills; intermediate level of Excel knowledge is desirable. Good organisation and administration skills to ensure that all documentation is filed on a timely basis and is easily accessible Excellent communication skills on the phone, face to face and in writing especially when resolving queries with suppliers and other colleagues Ability to plan and prioritise own work to meet deadlines An energetic, flexible and proactive approach with the ability to work both independently and co-operatively within a team setting and maintain good working relationships Ability to work within set guidelines for the payment of invoices/expenses and identify instances when the guidelines are not being followed Excellent problem solving skills. A proactive approach to resolving any issues that may arise, by assessing their impact and identifying those that need to be passed to the Finance officer. Ability to be innovative and think outside the box. Constantly looking for ways to improve process Commitment to Save the Children values