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Provincial Finance Director (Maniema)

Provincial Finance Director (Maniema) Programme: Democratic Republic of Congo, Maniema Responsible To: Provincial Director (PD) Responsible For: All Provincial Finance Team Works With: Country Support Director in Goma, Financial Advisor in London, Operations Manager (Maniema) Location: Kindu, DRC with extensive travel to field sites in Maniema Start Date: ASAP Duration: 24 months Salary and Benefits: £35,730 - £36,480 per annum per annum (dependant on relevant experience), inclusive of annual Cost of Living Allowance Benefits: Insurance cover, accommodation, annual leave entitlement of 24 days per annum rising to 30 days at the completion of 12 months of continuous employment with Merlin.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short-listed on a regular basis and we may offer this post before the closing date.

Please note that an assessment will need to be carried out to confirm if this position can be accompanied. At present Merlin does not regard Kindu as suitable for dependent children.

Merlin Undaunted and determined, Merlin saves lives. We deliver medical expertise to the toughest places. And we stay to help build lasting health care.

Our mission is to end the needless loss of life in the poorest countries caused by a lack of effective health care. We help communities set up medical services for the long term including hospitals, clinics, surgeries and training for nurses and other health workers.

We do whatever it takes and we stay for as long as it takes.

Context and Background The Democratic Republic of Congo is the second largest country in Africa and one of the poorest. Decades of dictatorship and civil war have left much of the national infrastructure destroyed.

Merlin has been operational in DRC since 1997. Merlin teams have provided emergency medical care to the most vulnerable populations in Maniema, Kasai Oriental , North Kivu and Orientale Provinces. Activities have included emergency response, support to primary and secondary health care facilities (including supervision, supply of drugs, and the payment of incentives), reproductive health, institutional capacity building, immunisation campaigns, nutrition, WASH, and the rehabilitation of health facilities.

From 1 January 2012 Maniema and North Kivu will operate as autonomous programmes, each reporting direct to head office in London; they will be supported by country offices in Goma and Kinshasa.

In Maniema Merlin works in ten health zones, and supports 9 hospitals and over 100 health facilities. This work is funded by DFID under a multiyear funding agreement that runs from 2008 up to the end of 2012.

Main purpose of the role As a Provincial Finance Director, you will provide leadership and financial management to the multi-programme and multi-site operation in Maniema province, a challenging living and working environment.

Overall Objectives (scope) • Directly manage the Provincial Finance Team to ensure effective and proactive financial leadership, support and guidance is provided to managers in the province
• Ensure that mechanisms are in place to prepare and report field finances to head office • Ensure that budget preparation, financial reporting and amendment planning for donors is implemented in a timely manner and approved by head office before submission
• Ensure appropriate systems and procedures, support and guidance for country programmes • Be a member of the Province Management Team and take the lead role on financial planning, forecasting, budgeting and developing financial management capacity throughout the country

Responsibilities

Leadership Responsibilities • Responsible for all the Province programmes financial matters; ensuring that sound financial practices, rigorous budgetary and financial management controls are implemented and imbedded. • Ensure that Merlin's minimum standards of financial procedures, policies and guidelines are understood and adhered to throughout the Province programme, briefing and training all relevant staff as required. • As part of the Province Management Team (CMT) you will influence the strategic financial direction of the whole programme. Assisting the programmes teams in developing the financial elements of their project/programme plans. • Develop and implement the annual financial strategy and support cost budgets. Monitoring and reviewing its progress on a regular basis. • Work in close collaboration with members of the CMT; sharing information on the assessments and proposed interventions, providing overviews of financial requirements for the development of project proposals and subsequent projects. • Manage staff effectively, including appropriate and systematic delegation

Financial Management • Assist project staff in developing proposals (including budgets and activity plans) and subsequent revisions in accordance with external donor requirements. • Monitor, supervise and assist in preparing all interim financial and final reports to donors, in a timely manner, to ensure compliance with contractual and legal requirements. • Ensure the timely preparation and communication of monthly financial reports for the Province Director, Project Coordinators and Head Office, providing them with meaningful and accurate financial information to enable them to manage project and core budgets effectively. This should include advising on significant variances against budget, and making recommendations for corrective actions to ensure expenditure is in line with budgets. • Conduct regular field trips to project sites to monitor compliance with financial procedures, review activity progress and assist managers in identifying the financial implications of changes in proposed activities and revising budget lines as required. • Ensure a set of complete and accurate financial records is maintained, including all relevant supporting documentation for each project. • Facilitate visits by, and meet the requirements of, external auditors. • Ensure compliance with local regulations in respect of financial and other matters (e.g. Registration, Foreign Exchange, taxation, Province audits and labour laws). • Overall responsibility for managing and maintaining the Province balance sheets including salary advance accounts • Overall responsibility of treasury management for the entire Province programme. • Induct and regularly advise/capacity build on finance systems and controls for finance and non finance staff. • Develop the financial aspects of the programme emergency preparedness plan, in co-ordination with the CMT, and train finance staff in managing the financial aspects of in emergencies. • Work with the Finance Department in London to support head office initiatives and specific requirements.

Human Resource Management • Undertake expatriate staff appraisals for provincial finance team in accordance with Merlin’s Human Resources procedures • Maintain good team communication, engender positive team dynamics and take remedial action as soon as problems occur as advised by the Provincial HR/Admin Manager • Support team members professionally and monitor and support stress management • Provide support to in the recruitment process for provincial finance staff

Person Specification Essential Qualifications, experience and competences

• Accounting qualification (Degree or professional equivalent). • Strong communication skills with written and spoken French & English. • Experience of donor reporting requirements. • Experience of implementing financial control systems. • In depth knowledge of financial systems, financial/administrative management and reporting. • Strong communication skills including strong EXCEL skills (worksheet functions, data functions, pivot tables). • Good decision making skills on financial aspects of information management. • Good training/capacity building and management skills. • Focussed individual with capacity to plan and manage in a multiple deadline-working environment. • Pro-active financial manager with risk assessment aptitude. • Willingness to work in an insecure environment. • Understanding of security issues and guidelines. • Ability to work on own initiative. • Experience of establishing strong working relationships with colleagues from different functions and cultures • Experience of a flexible approach to managing and prioritising a high workload and multiple tasks in a fast paced environment with tight deadlines • Experience of proactively identifying and addressing issues • An understanding of and commitment to Merlin’s mission and values

Desirable Qualifications, experience and competences

• Previous experience of working in field financial management. • Experience of working in NGO sector organizations. • Experience of field administrative/HR management. • Previous experience of working in Central/West Africa region

How to apply:

To apply for this job, please go to www.merlin.org.uk/jobs and apply using our online recruitment system. In order to apply for a job with Merlin online you will need to complete a short registration process and create an account – the online recruitment system explains how to do this. Once your account has been created, you will be able to save the information that you have entered in your application and re-visit it at any time before you submit it.

If you are unable to apply online for any technical reason, please contact applications@merlin.org.uk.

Please note that we do not accept CVs. Unfortunately due to the number of applications we receive, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

Data Protection Please note that in accordance with the 1998 Data Protection Act, Merlin will hold and use personal information that you have given for the purpose of recruitment and employment. This information can be stored in manual and/or electronic form. This information may also be disclosed to third parties in accordance with the Data Protection Act. In cases where a job offer is conditional on ensuring that potential employees’ names do not appear on counter terrorism lists generated by the United Nations, European Union or the United States due to donor funding requirements, Merlin will use the information that you have given for checking that your name does not appear on these lists.