Country Finance Manager , Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Vacancy Number: A/027/2013
Department:  Corporate Services
Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Duration: 2 years with the possibility of renewal

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works at the crossroads of livestock and poverty, bringing high-quality livestock science, communications and capacity building to bear on poverty reduction and sustainable development. ILRI is one of 15 centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ILRI has campuses in Kenya (headquarters) and Ethiopia, with other offices located in other regions of Africa (Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria) as well as in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka), Southeast Asia (Laos, Thailand, Vietnam) and East Asia (China).

THE POSITION
ILRI seeks to recruit a Country Finance Manager based in Addis Ababa. The position holder will manage the financial and accounting operations of ILRI Ethiopia, ensuring compliance with international financial reporting standards.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Leadership/Advisory

• Responsible for the sound management of the accounting and financial operations of ILRI Ethiopia.
• Ensures that policies and procedures are understood by internal and external parties through coaching, training, and meetings.
• Ensures that practices are in compliance with internal control systems, policies, procedures and institutional values.
• Advises Management of risk areas; pro-actively seeks for improvements and innovations in order to strengthen the internal control systems and reduce/mitigate risk and liabilities.
• Pro-actively supports Team Leaders, Operating Project Leaders, Budget Holders, Cost Centre Managers and Program Management Officers in solving day-to-day finance issues.
• Interfaces with hosted institutes on the quality delivery of financial services.

Financial Management

• Plans, organizes, checks and approves periodic and year-end physical counts of cash, stocks, fixed assets and inventories within the scheduled time.
• Closely monitors and supervises the Treasury Unit functions by setting and monitoring compliance with quality standards in the delivery of services to internal and external clients.
• Continuously reviews the Treasury and General Accounts units work processes.
• Closely monitors and supervises the General Accounts unit functions: journal entries, stocks, fixed assets, payroll and proper record keeping.
• Reviews the General Ledger and vendor account balances to ascertain that the balances are true and fair.
• Ensures that financial and payroll systems are working smoothly.
• Responsible for the full cost recovery process.

Staff Management

• Continuously reviews structures, job descriptions and performance standards for each staff.
• Continuously manages performance of the Finance team to ensure that outputs are in line with set standards/benchmarks.
• Conducts annual performance planning and evaluation.
• Delegates effectively to empower unit supervisors.
• Supervises, coaches and mentors team members.
• Identifies and supports training opportunities for staff development.

Budgeting/Resource management

• Prepares annual operating and CAPEX budgets for the finance office and assists other budget holders in budget preparation.
• Approves all journals and payment vouchers on foreign and local bank accounts.
• Reviews the assets register and monthly reconciliation of fixed assets and stocks to safeguard the Institute’s property.
• Maintains and regularly reviews the integrity of the accounting software.

REQUIREMENTS

Education

• Masters degree in Accounting or business related field.
• Professional accounting qualification such as ACCA, CPA is preferred.
• Bachelors degree in Accounting or business related field with full ACCA/CPA qualification will be considered.

Experience

• At least 5 years of relevant work experience.

Skills

• Excellent interpersonal and written and oral communication skills.
• Strong IT skills, including the use of accounting and financial reporting systems.
• People management skills particularly staff development & consensus building.

Job level

• This position is job Grade 3C.

Monthly Base Salary:     Base salary dependent on experience, skill and salary history of the candidate – starting from  Birr 32,220 – 56,789 per month.

Terms of appointment:  This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position based at ILRI’s Addis Ababa campus.  Initial appointment is fixed term for two years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and availability of funding. The ILRI remuneration package for nationally recruited staff in Ethiopia includes very competitive salary and benefits such as life and medical insurance, offshore pension plan, etc.

The ILRI campus is set in a secure, attractive campus on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.  Dining and sports facilities are located on site.

Applications

Applicants should send a cover letter and CV (3 pages maximum) explaining their interest in the position, including relevant documents and testimonials and the names and addresses (telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience. Applications should be sent to the Human Resources Office, ILRI, P.O. Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Telephone: (251-11)-617-20-00; Fax (251 – 11)-617-20-01 or (251-11) 646 46-45. The name and reference number of the position for which the application is made (A/027/2013), should be clearly marked on the envelopes if mailed or fax applications.  Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Closing date:    June 7, 2013.

To find out more about ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org

To find out more about working at ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org/ilricrowd/