Finance & Administrative Specialist (FAS)

Background:

The purpose of the five-year (2020-2025) “State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness” (“State2State”) Activity is to increase the accountability, transparency and effectiveness of selected state and local governments (LGAs) in Nigeria. This will be achieved by: strengthening governance systems (with a focus on public financial management [PFM] and procurement, as well as monitoring and evaluation) related to the delivery of services in key sectors (basic education, primary health care, and water, sanitation and hygiene [WASH]); increasing government responsiveness to citizen needs and priorities; and improving government and civil society capacity to manage conflict (through work on prevention, mitigation and reconciliation with the same sectoral partners, not stand-alone assistance to the police or judiciary). State2State will achieve this purpose by facilitating the strengthening of subnational governance systems in a sustainable manner, supporting the efforts of local reformers and building on locally-derived solutions including, to the extent possible, reforms already working in other parts of Nigeria.

Position Objectives:

The Finance & Administrative Specialist position will manage the state field office finance and accounting and administrative activities.

Responsibilities:

• Prepares relevant reports and ensure that all state transactions follow USAID standards and regulations and DAI policies and procedures as outlined in the Field Operations Manual (FOM).
• Manages the state’s administration processes, collates financial and technical reports, ensures timely and accurate financial reporting aligned with technical outcomes.
• Provides the Senior Accounting Manager (Bauchi Main Office) and the Accountant (Bauchi Main Office) with the appropriate financial and operating information, as necessary, allocates project funds among the state’s various program activities, works closely with other departments in the state on problems involving accounting systems and financial planning.
• Helps establish and maintain adequate systems of control to protect against financial misstatement in accordance with applicable government accounting and administrative regulations; supports the federal level in coordinating the state’s annual and other financial audit including preparation of supporting schedules and information; responds to auditor questions (in coordination with Bauchi Main Office) and consolidates report formats.
• Manages all banking activities including withdrawals, deposits, and preparation of all bank payments and checks.
• Records all financial transactions in the Field Accounting System (FAS) on a daily basis; ensures accurate and timely processing of invoices, advances and reimbursements, checks, and wire transfer payments; uploads the expenses into Oracle based on DAI’s schedule.
• Performs monthly bank reconciliations and routinely monitors bank account balances.
• Works with the Accountant to approve and distribute travel advance amounts based on S2S’s travel advance policy; audits travel requests and expense reports for accuracy and compliance.
• Follows procedures to ensure accurate and timely payment and reconciliation of travel advances, reimbursements for staff and partner travel.
• Reviews and monitors outstanding advance report(s) paying close attention to and reporting to the Accountant advances that have not been settled after 30 days of issuance.
• Ensures that WHT is deducted and remitted as and when due and follows up with the state tax authority to obtain original receipts and files them monthly on SharePoint.
• Other related duties of a reasonable nature as assigned by the supervisor or designee.

Reporting:

The Finance & Administrative Specialist (FAS) will report administratively to the State Team Lead (STL). The FAS will be technically supervised by the Senior Accounting Manager.

Line Management:

The Finance & Administrative Specialist will supervise the Administrative Officer, Administrative Assistant, and Office Assistant(s).

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, business administration, public administration, economics, or other relevant field is required. An advanced degree is preferred.
• At least 8 years of experience in finance and accounting. Previous experiencing working on US Government funded projects is highly preferred.
• Strong training, communications, and personnel management skills.
• Previous supervisory experience is highly preferred.
• Strong oral and written English language communication skills is required.
• Must be willing to be trained and be able to train others.
• Must be organized and able to effectively prioritize work as and when necessary.
• Computer skills: proficiency in MS Suite (Word, Excel at a minimum).