Project accountant

PMU is in the process of rolling out the next phase of an important ECHO funded SSV-Project (Survivors of Sexual Violence Project) at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, eastern DR Congo, targeting victims of sexual violence. These activities are a continuation of an ongoing series of projects, which commenced in 2004. The position as project accountant is crucial to ensure compliance and appropriate quality of the project in relation to PMUs donor.

PMU is looking for an experienced person with unique skills in working in an extreme environment with both political and security challenges in eastern DRC. The project accountant needs to be flexible and pragmatic whilst clear and confident in the role as a team player and PMU employee.

As an experienced project accountant, you will be part of an already existing project staff team and some degree of autonomy is expected.

The accountant should have relevant education and experience. The candidate should also have a strong ability to handle intercultural relationships as well as excellent interpersonal skills, as the team will be comprising members from culturally diverse backgrounds..

As the role involves planning and reporting responsibilities, the project accountant shall demonstrate good communication skills in both oral and written French and English. And the candidate needs to be well organized, able to work to deadlines, prioritize and manage tasks with minimum supervision.

Previous experience of working with civil society organizations and / or international development cooperation is important.

As the implementing partner of the project is a national church denomination, knowledge and understanding of the importance of the role of the church in the society is also desirable.

Function

The accountant will provide general support to the SSV-project at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu for a variety of accounting and administrative activities and related tasks. The accountant will be responsible for various accounting processes, including accounts payable, reconciling other donor’s contribution to the project/programme, travel reports and advances, and project periodic financial reporting.

The successful candidate will have an interactive nature; ability to work in a fast-paced environment; strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities; attention to detail; customer service-oriented disposition; and excellent organizational abilities.

We expect from you to learn quickly the different guidelines and requirements from ECHO, PMU and Panzi hospital, and to apply them daily.

The accountant will report to the PMU Project Manager but with supervision from PMU Head of Finance based in Stockholm.

Your main duties will be:

1. Day to day financial management:

2. Ensure timely and proper bookkeeping of all project transactions in the Financial Accounting System (FAS), using the correct codes and expenditure types.

3. Transactions may include but not be limited to advances to staff, goods/service provider invoices and related payments and payroll.

4. Ensure vouchers for each payment are prepared and approved according to the authorization system in place before the payment.

5. Ensure that every transaction is supported with valid vouchers.

· Ensure that administrative, financial systems/procedures and logistics are in place, maintained and comply with ECHO regulation and PMU guidelines.

· Anticipate and ensure compliance with donor requirements, implement the necessary measures

· Ensure that expenditures are made within approved budgets.

• Ensure the project finance filing system including invoices, correspondence, backup procurement documentation, and client files are scanned on a monthly basis and organized according to designated policies for easy reference during internal and external audits.
• Ensure that financial activities (i.e. procurement and related payments for goods and services received) are carried out in compliance with PMU and ECHO policies as well as local laws; and
• Proactively monitor all financial activities, as well as any technical issues with the project financial reporting tools/systems, and flag challenges to the coordination team for action. This will include quarterly funds request from other stakeholders to the project, to ensure availability of funds.

2. Regular financial planning and reporting:

• Bi-weekly field finance expenditure reports and balance sheets generated from the accounting software and uploaded to SharePoint for the project manager and other collaborators.
• Monthly bank reconciliations.
• Monthly accruals report submitted to the Project Manager, to the PMU Regional Financial Controller, and to the internal auditor of Panzi hospital.
• Monthly scanning and storage of verified finance vouchers in project SharePoint folder; and
• Statutory remittance reports submitted by designated deadlines.

3. Coordination with other stakeholders:

• Communicate regularly with staff at the PMU Regional office in Bukavu and Headquarters in Stockholm to exchange information relevant to day-to-day management as well as periodic internal/external audits as needed.
• Liaise with Panzi Foundation key contact for fund requests, and related reports.
• Participate in relevant cross-cutting project meetings at Panzi hospital and/or Foundation, sharing financial updates and insights.

On PMU level, you will be part of the Central & Western Africa team. As employee, you respond to PMU Program Staff Manager.

Activities and duties may change depending on the context.

Desirable qualifications

• Degree in: accounting, financial management, economics, or other similar higher education field.

• Experience of at least 5 years in financial positions with responsibilities in financial planning and reporting.

• Knowledge in budgeting and experience with budget monitoring, financial justification, logistics and HR tools and procedures.

• Experience with multi-donors project/programmes with consolidated budgeting and reporting is an asset.

• Experience with health sector is an asset.

• Experience from working with humanitarian aid and/or development cooperation. Knowledge of EU (ECHO) standards is an asset.

• IT: good knowledge in Office package and accounting ERP. Experience with Sage Saari and/or Quickbooks or UBW softwares is an asset. Knowledge of Microsoft SharePoint process flows is preferred. Advanced skills as MS Excel user with experience with pivot tables and complex formulas is required.

• Language: good professional command of both French and English, including good level of both written and oral communication. Knowledge of Swahili is desirable.

• Excellent interpersonal skills together with a sense of teamwork.

• Effective and clear communication skills including in interaction with non-financial collaborators from a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary background is required.

• Experience from working in crisis situations and ability to manage own stress and tolerate that of the team.

About PMU

PMU is the Swedish Pentecostal churches’ organization for development cooperation and humanitarian aid. PMU conducts humanitarian responses, in parallel with our development and communication work with support from primarily Sida (Swedish International Development Agency) but also from other donors, including Radio Aid, Swedish Embassies and ECHO. PMU supports local partner churches and aid organizations in more than 30 countries. PMU are currently implementing 15 humanitarian operations in 11 countries.

You can learn more about our projects, values and mission on our website https://pmu.se/documents/.

The accountant will be part of a team of committed colleagues, in both Bukavu and Stockholm.

Other information

Place of work : Bukavu, DR Congo

Contract period: 12 month from 1^st of May 2022, with possibility of extension. Desirable start as soon as possible, not later than 1^st of May 2022.

Appointment is made under condition that funds are granted.

The process of interviews starts from the time applications are received. And only selected candidates shall be contacted.

For unemployed candidates, the ONEM jobless card is mandatory.

For more information regarding:

PMU Regional Office in Bukavu:

James Bashige, Tel: +243(0)997 315 089, email: [email protected]

Employment

Dag Bohlin, Program Staff Manager, Tel: +46 (0)765 36 96 06, email: [email protected]