Finance and Administration Assistant

Hours of work: 35

Contract Period: 7 months (Extension Contingent funding availability)

STARTING DATE: ASAP

Background:

AET as part of the Street Child group believes that every child deserves the chance to go to school and learn. Our projects focus on a combination of education, child protection, and livelihood support to address the social, economic, and structural issues that underpin today’s education crisis. We partner with local organisations and communities to deliver our locally rooted programmes, using evidence to drive learning and the refinement and scale-up of programmes to create maximum impact for most children at the lowest cost. We pride ourselves on being willing to go to the world’s toughest places where others won’t, including remote, hard-to-reach areas and fragile, disaster-affected states across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Since 2008 we have helped over 500,000 children to go to school and learn and supported over 33,000 caregivers to set up businesses so they can afford the cost of educating their children.

Role Purpose

Support the Finance & Administration Manager in ensuring the financial administration and accountancy of Africa Educational Trust for South Sudan programme is complete and accurate, assists in ensuring financial supporting processes are running effectively and efficiently to enable programme staff and partners to carry out Africa Educational Trust’s Programmes, report to donors, timely and transparent insight into the financial status, risks, and forecast of the country programme.

1. Position in the Organization

The post holder report to the Finance & Administration Manager, South Sudan, he/she administers the day-to-day finance function for the Juba office and seasonally covers for the field office finance staff.

2. Organizational Requirements

The post-holder will, always, carry out his/her responsibilities with utmost respect and commitment to Africa Educational Trust ‘mission, vision, and values, policies including the Child Protection Policy, Policy of sexual exploitation, abuse & harassment, code on conduct etc, the ability to convey with enthusiasm AET’s role in South Sudan

3. Key Responsibilities

The percentage figures shown against each heading are only intended to convey a rough idea of the relative size of the various areas within the overall job.

Corporate Policies, Management Systems and Procedugres (10%)

Under direct supervision of the Finance & Administration Manager.

• Contribute towards promoting and adhering to Africa Educational Trust’s Purpose, Core Values and Operating Principles
• Provide support and guidance to staff to ensure all activities are compliant with standard operating procedures.
• Contribute to complying with all host country legal, contractual, statutory requirements, internal and external policies and regulatory requirements including donor rules.

Financial Management and Accounting (60%)

As directed, monitored, and overseen by the Finance & Administration Manager:

• Responsible for the day-to-day finance function including cash/cheque disbursements, cash/cheque receipts, petty cash management, currency exchanges, bank reconciliations, collection, and payment of relevant taxes to local authorities and other finance-related tasks.
• Make all necessary payments and ensure that data is correctly entered into bookkeeping templates.
• Ensure that financial management routines and systems are respected and that AET regulations, policies and standards are adhered to, in a timely manner and in accordance with policy requirements.
• Prepare timely and accurate cash sheet recording all petty cash transactions and submit to the Finance & Administration Manager.
• Facilitates cash carry authorisation/ transfer authorisation, he/she ensures all necessary RRC approval is obtained in due time.
• Receive approved payroll from Finance & Administration Manager and Centre Managers and effect payment through bank / petty cash and ensure the proper filing of all payrolls related documents and ensure that statutory deductions (staff PIT are remitted to the relevant authorities, printing and filing necessary reports).
• Prepare casual labour payroll and make payments to them deducting applicable tax.
• Manages all banking matters including incoming and outgoing transfers and bank relations ensuring that the bank mandate is always up to date with signatories
• Record all expenses in the excel sheet daily, and to properly fill in the information needed (date, accounting code, project, budget code etc…)
• Manage all bank and control accounts including performing monthly balance sheet reconciliations, following up on any reconciling items, and processing changes to bank accounts.
• Process payroll monthly

Good Practice, Audit, Archiving and Institutional Learning (20%)

• Assist in ensuring audit recommendations are implemented and adopted within operating procedures.
• Implement and maintain an effective filing system to ensure that all financial records are easily accessible and readily available.
• Assist the Finance & Administration Manager in receiving, checking, organising, scanning, logging, and filing documents in an organised manner, ensuring all physical and online files are accurately filed for internal and external audit
• Support the Finance and Administration Manager in Juba in tracking down documents and following up on missing documentation.
• Scan all monthly financial documents and file them properly.

Administration (10%)

• Manage all AET South Sudan staff leave schedules in collaboration with Centre Manager and the Country Representative.
• Ensure timely payments of recurrent expenses — internet, fuel etc
• Maintain accurate contract file for consultant, contractor, and personnel file at in-country level
• Support periodic review and verification of AET assets registry, ensuring asset registry are regularly updated in compliance with AET and Donor requirements.
• Coordinate procurement and logistics; ensuring compliance with AET procurement and Logistics policy, programmes stocks and assets are secured and effectively utilised for the programme.
• Supervise the cleaner and guards on their day-to-day activities.

Qualifications, skills, and experience needed

• Essential — Minimum Diploma Business Administration preferably specialisation accounting, Finance and Economics, at least 2 years of financial accounting working experience in a similar position with an International NGO’s.
• Excellent computer skills (MS Office package) preferably Microsoft or other web-based accounting and similar systems.
• Double-entry book-keeping using accounting software
• Cross-department and/or company written and verbal communications
• Implementing internal controls
• Setting up and maintaining filing systems
• Excellent language skills in English and Juba Arabic
• Stress management and ability to multitask, analytical and problem-solving skills

Competences:

• Self-motivated, Innovative, proactive and result driven
• Focused, reliable and integrity
• Ability to work independently (plan, prioritize, meet deadlines, communicate) independently) but at the same time being a team player
• Ability to connect with people of different backgrounds.

Special Conditions

AET’s commitment to Safeguarding

AET is committed to the safeguarding and protection of the communities we serve, our partners, our volunteers, and our staff. As part of this commitment to safeguarding, all offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate background checks. Street Child also participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment.