The Interpeace
Eastern and Central Africa Regional Office is looking for a Finance Assistant
for its Great Lakes Regional Peace building Programme
Job Title: Finance Assistant - Great Lakes Regional Programme
Duty station: Nairobi, Kenya
Date of Issuance: July 2013
Duty
station:
Interpeace Regional Office for East and Central Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, with
sporadic travel to the field
Closing:
This
position will remain open until filled
Interpeace, a Swiss
non-profit organisation, works in close partnership with the United Nations,
with the aim of building lasting peace.
Interpeace
has a two-fold mandate:
(i) to strengthen the
capacities of societies to manage conflict in non-violent, non-coercive ways by
assisting national actors in their efforts to develop social and political
cohesion; and
(ii) to assist the
international community ( and in particular the United nations) to play a more
effective role in supporting peacebuilding efforts around the world through
better understanding and response to the challenges of creating local
capacities that enhance social political cohesion.
Chaired by former
President of Ghana, John Kufuor, and headquartered in Geneva, Interpeace is
supported by bilateral and multilateral donors as well as private
funding.
The organization is
currently active in Africa, Central America, the Middle East and Southeast
Asia.
Interpeace Regional
Office for Eastern and Central Africa manages the Organization’s programmes in
the Somali region, Rwanda, Burundi and the wider Great Lakes region.
All these programmes
are carried out in close partnership with local peacebuilding organizations.
General
Position Summary
Interpeace has been
supporting a peacebuilding programme in Burundi since 2006/2007 and in Rwanda
since 2002. Since 2011, Interpeace has been building up a regional
peacebuilding programme that will cover Burundi, Rwanda and DR Congo’s North
and South Kivu provinces.
This led to the need
to recruit a new Finance Assistant who will focus on covering the Rwanda and
Burundi programmes as well as the regional peacebuilding programme.
The Finance Assistant
is a member of the finance team for Interpeace’s work in the Great Lakes Region
of Central Africa and will work under the supervision of the Regional Finance
and Administration Manager and in close collaboration with the Finance Officer,
as well as with the Great Lakes programmatic team, most closely with the
Programme Officers for the regional programme (POGL) as well as for the Burundi
and Rwanda programmes (PORW).
The Finance Assistant
serves as the key focal point regarding bookkeeping and accounting matters
between Interpeace and the local partner organizations in the programme
countries.
The Finance Assistant will maintain the financial systems and carry out the day to day bookkeeping requirements of the Interpeace programmes in the Great Lakes region specifically, and the regional office generally as required.
The Finance Assistant will maintain the financial systems and carry out the day to day bookkeeping requirements of the Interpeace programmes in the Great Lakes region specifically, and the regional office generally as required.
The Finance Assistant
will report directly to the Regional Finance and Administration Manager.
This post is based in
Nairobi but requires frequent travel to the field.
The position is for a
period of 1 year with a possibility of extension based upon demonstrated
performance and continued funding.
Specific
Responsibilities
General
- Demonstrate a
commitment to the values and working principles of Interpeace – such as
resolving conflict without violence, respect for local culture, integrity,
honesty and commitment - both within the Interpeace team, to the
Interpeace local partner organizations and to the broader regional and
international community.
- Able to operate
within the work environment, with Interpeace local partner organizations
and Interpeace team through social communication and interactions.
- Able to work in
a team environment and also independently; proactive and detail-oriented
working style.
Bookkeeping
/ Accounting Support to Great Lakes Programmes
- Review all
source documentation for expenditures transacted by partner organizations
to ensure compliance with the financial rules and procedures adhering to
Interpeace Finance Manual and in accordance with best accounting practice.
- Communicate the
feedback of the monthly review of the support documentations to partners
and Interpeace Programme Officers for the Great Lakes Programme (POGL) and
for the Rwanda / Burundi programmes (PORB) within the stipulated timeline
with clarity. Ensure all outstanding issues are resolved timely and
ensuring POGL and PORB are informed accordingly.
- Support the
review of all monthly financial reports from Interpeace Great Lakes
partners and follow-up with the partners on issues arising from the review
in conjunction with Finance Officer and Program Officer.
- Review and
analyse the balance sheet ie bank reconciliation, Accounts Receivable and
Accounts payable and ensure quick resolution of any outstanding items.
- Review the
profit and loss account to ensure the transaction are properly coded.
Review the budget vs actual clearly highlighting budget lines with
significant variances.
- Draw up payment
vouchers and receipts for all expenditures and incomes and ensure proper
authorization of form.
- Support capacity
building in finance procedures and accounting of partner organizations as
called upon
- Support the
implementation of assets database for the partners
- Support the
necessary procurement process for office acquisitions as called upon.
Bookkeeping
/ Accounting Support to Regional Office as required
- Review all
source documentation for expenditures transacted by the ECA office and
partners compliance with the financial rules and procedures.
- Review
compliance with Internal Controls including segregation of duty, proper
authorisation.
- Draw up payment
vouchers and receipts for all expenditures and incomes and ensure proper
authorization of form.
- Enter all
transactions into the Accounting System and submit held journal reports
for posting.
- Run financial
reports as called upon.
- Support the
necessary procurement process for office acquisitions as called upon.
- Provide
bookkeeping and accounting support to Interpeace partners.
- Ensure travel
management, involving the calculations of travel expenses, prepare trip
documents, ensuring that staff liquidate their advances after field
missions.
Qualifications
- CPA II or
equivalent;
- Understanding of
and 1 year experience in financial bookkeeping within the context of a
Kenya based Non-governmental Organization (NGO);
- Strong accounting
knowledge and operating capacity for SunSystems, Quickbooks, and other
financial management systems (or demonstrated capacity to learn new
accounting systems);
- Strong written
and oral communication skills in English, French and Kiswahili;
- Strong computer
literacy in all MS Office applications;
- Ability to work
to tight deadlines;
- Flexibility,
including regarding working hours and short-notice availability;
- Strong
commitment to supporting local peace building initiatives and to the
values and working principles of Interpeace.
- Strong
organizational skills as well as attention to detail
- Ability to work
in a team environment and coordinate assignments to achieve common
goals.
- Ability to deal
patiently and tactfully with people of different national and cultural
backgrounds.
- Ability to
perform detailed work, frequently of a confidential nature and/or to
handle a large volume of work systematically, effectively and accurately
- Only those
applicants will be considered who come with fulfilled requirements to be able
to legally work within Kenya.
- Have a valid
permission to work in Kenya
How
to apply:
Qualified candidates
may submit their application, including a letter of interest detailing relevant
experience and a curriculum vitae to the Administrative Officer at:
recruitment@interpeace.org.
Please indicate
"Finance Assistant" in the subject line.
Please note that due to the high volume of applications, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
We accept applications until the position is filled with a suitable candidate.
Please note that due to the high volume of applications, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
We accept applications until the position is filled with a suitable candidate.