Regional Accountant - Concern Worldwide Jobs in Kenya

Concern Worldwide is an Irish-based non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.
Closing date: 11 Oct 2010 Location: Kenya - Nairobi Ref: CON/HOA/RA
Job Title: Regional Accountant, Horn of Africa
Reports to: Overseas Accounts Manager, copying Regional Director for information & comments

The Regional Accountant will be obliged to meet the management reporting requirements of the Overseas Accounts Manager, giving due recognition to the opinions of the Regional Director.

In addition the Regional Accountant will report on an operational basis to the Country Director of the country in which he/she is operating at the time and will have a reporting relationship to the CD in the base country.

Job Location: Based in Nairobi, Kenya, with frequent travel to the other HOA countries
Contract Details: 12 months with possibility for extension, Grade C, accompanied
Job Purpose: Continuous review of current financial systems and provision of appropriate, effective training & support in order to upgrade & standardise Concern’s finance functions in the countries of operation.
Main duties & Responsibilities:
A) Provision of support to countries in their region

• Provide guidance & support to Country Management in areas of financial management & development of appropriate management reporting.
• Provide guidance on technical accounting issues & on current Concern financial policies.
• Review the finance systems, controls & manuals in place and advise on areas where improvements can be made.
• Undertake direct support visits, based on a TOR agreed with Overseas Accounts Manager and relevant Country Director. These visits will deliver on areas identified as needing assistance.
• Provide technical support on the accounting package, Microsoft Great Plains, and relevant reporting packages. Build the capacity and confidence of the Country Accountant in using these packages.
• Provide direct support and/or act as Country Accountant when gaps arise. Assist in the recruitment of Country Accountants / local finance staff, where appropriate.
• Work to develop and improve systems for donor management, in areas such as budgeting, monitoring, reporting & compliance.
• Provide direct support to implement overseas finance support action plan

B) Training

• Conduct induction for newly recruited Country Accountants in Concern’s financial systems, policies and reports, when circumstances demand.
• Assist the Country Accountant in developing relevant & achievable training plans for national finance staff, in order to maximise the efficiency of the finance function in-country.
• Design training plans & courses for non-financial managers, in conjunction with the Country Accountant, in order to develop better understanding of financial issues among budget-holders. Ensure that the Country Accountant is providing this training to non-finance managers, and follow up, where necessary.
• Provide other training needs, when they arise, such as new policies / procedures and accounting systems
• If necessary, organise Training/workshops for the Country Accountant in the region, on common agreed issues, in consultation with Overseas Accounts Manager

C) Liaison between country & Head Office in Dublin

• Review and provide feedback to the Country Accountant, in conjunction with the Desk Officer and Overseas Accounts Manager, on quarterly financial reporting (FRP) and Budget & Budget revisions.
• Follow up & assist on any queries that arise.
• Respond to queries from the country finance team in relation to routine accounting / audit / systems & report development and liaise with Head Office, where policy issues arise.

D) Standardisation across countries

• Provide advice & guidance to country management to ensure that they are following organisational financial policies
• Identify common problems & issues with financial systems and work to correct same, together with finance staff in Dublin & in-country. Where possible, standardise financial procedures & systems across the countries.
• Develop procedural documentation & guidelines, under the guidance of Overseas Accounts Manager to help ensure continuity of financial best practice.
• Standardise the use of the accounting package, Microsoft Great Plains, in such areas, for example, as chart of accounts, support costs, donors allocations and budgets.
• Develop standard training materials for non-finance manager training.
• Undertake any special financial assignments, where circumstances require.
• Support to field finance staff on Donor regulations & reporting requirements. Review of donor reports during visit to ensure compliance & audit trail.

Person specification:

• Applicants should have a professional accounting qualification. E.g. ACCA, CIMA, CPA or CA or their equivalent.
• At least three years post qualification experience in a finance/accounting role. This should include at least one year’s experience in an overseas position in the NGO sector.
• Computer literacy, particularly in Microsoft Office Programmes such as Word and Excel as well accounting packages & other database competencies.
• Skills in developing, delivering and evaluating training for staff members
• Ability to work under pressure of deadlines
• Motivated
• Good organisational and time management skills
• Effective team member
• Understanding of development issues and the organisational goals of Concern.
• Willingness to travel extensively.

Concern has a Staff Code of Conduct and a Programme Participant Protection Policy which have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organization, and the standards of behaviour expected of them.

In this context staff have a responsibility to the organization to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission.

Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment.

By signing the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct candidates acknowledge that they have understood the contents of both the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and the Programme Participant Protection Policy and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these two documents.

Concern receives a substantial amount of funding from external donors each year. Increasingly donors are introducing requirements whereby future funding is conditional on Concern ensuring that the names of any new employee or volunteer do not appear on terrorism lists generated by the European Union (List of person, groups and entities to which Regulation (EC No. 2580/2001 applies), the US Government (Office of Foreign Assets Control list of specially designated Nationals and Blocked Persons) and the United Nations (Consolidated List).

Any offer of employment (either paid or voluntary) with Concern Worldwide will not be made pending a clearance check being conducted on the applicant. For additional information please consult our web site or contact the Human Resource Division in our Head Office.

Concern Worldwide is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.
How to apply

All applications should be submitted through our website at www.concern.net/jobs by closing date 11th October 2010.

(Please note that due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer the post before the closing date)

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