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International Finance Manager

Mines Advisory Group - 07 October 2009

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Job Description

Department: Finance
Scale: UK Scale 6
Job Family : Professional Support Level 6
Responsible to: Head of International Finance
Responsible for: Regional Finance Officers
Location: MAG HQ
 
Overall purpose of the job
To manage a team of Regional Finance Officers and support MAG’s overseas programmes
on all financial issues, ensuring quality control and timeliness of field financial management,
internal and donor reporting and completion of grant audits. To also manage the development
of MAG’s financial accounting system by acting as system administrator, developing reporting
tools and supporting the international roll-out.

Principal responsibilities

Donor proposals and reporting
Review and critically analyse donor budgets received from country programmes.
Become familiar with donor guidelines in relation to the submission of proposals and reports.
Review donor reports produced by Regional Finance Officers / Finance Managers to ensure
that they are in the required donor format, meet contractual guidelines and contain accurate
information.
Review of financial reports/proposals to ensure consistency with the related narrative
report/proposal.
Manage the process of grant audits, co-ordinating financial information and providing
explanations as required by the auditors.
Ensure that systems are fully utilised to update HQ as to the progress and status of donor
reports and audits.
Month-end Reporting
Ensure that monthly cash and bank books are received, checked, processed into the
accounting system and reconciled on a timely basis, and that expenditure is charged only to
approved, current grants, through effective management of the Regional Finance Officers.
Assist in monthly processing of field cash/bank books in busy periods, new country start-ups
or covering holidays / absences as required.
Ensure that balance sheet accounts are reconciled on a regular basis.
Review the programme expenditure report for each programme and monitor reports for each
grant, highlighting any material over/underspends that are anticipated on completion of each
grant. Work with other departments to ensure that programmes are able to spend to budget or
to otherwise to liaise with donors to seek accurate realignment.
Manage cashflow by reviewing monthly Funds Transfer Requests from country programmes
and comparing requests with cash flow projections and global budgets to optimise
programmes cash balances.

Team management
Supervise a team of Regional Finance Officers, ensuring that their workloads are being
balanced to meet MAG’s needs and priorities.
Support individual team-members continual development with a particular emphasis on their
ability to critically analyse budgets and financial reports. Develop relations with key internal
customers in Operations and International Partnerships to improve the flow of information.
Coordinate with UK Finance and Support Services and other departments to improve control
systems, both in HQ and internationally.
Establish objectives and conduct regular appraisals in line with MAG’s performance review
procedures. Manage annual leave and other planned absence within the team, ensuring
handovers take place and that HQ and programmes are notified in advance of alternate
contact arrangements.
Provide regular updates to the Head of International Finance as to the HQ Regional Finance
Team’s progress in key areas.
Work with the Human Resources department in relation to the recruitment of new programme
Finance Managers. Provide training to new Finance Managers and inductions for other
overseas staff going to the field in relation to their role and responsibilities related to the
finance function.
Provide finance training and support to MAG HQ Regional Desk Officers who are responsible
for programme activities in the field.

System Development
Provide continuous support to the implementation and development of the financial reporting
system, PSF. Act as system administrator to ensure the integrity of the database and
underlying information. Provide technical support to country programmes as part of the
international roll out.
Manage the Crystal reporting library to maximise the relevance of information provided to
internal clients.

General
Work within the framework of MAG’s core values, promoting its ethos and mission statement.
Work towards achieving departmental business plan objectives
Keep informed of MAG activities.
Work as part of a team and liaise with other departments to ensure effective communications
across the organisation.
Ensure familiarity with and adhere to all MAG policies and procedures
Participate in meetings, networks, seminars and conferences where relevant and beneficial to
MAG and its mission and mandate.
Undertake and apply learning from appropriate training and development programmes.
Contribute to fundraising initiatives where appropriate.
Travel overseas, sometimes to developing countries and areas in conflict, as and when
required.
Undertake any other duties appropriate to the post as may be required or as instructed by the
Head of International Finance.
 
 
Necessary requirements – skills, knowledge & experience

Essential Experience

Experience in an overseas finance role for an international NGO

Practical experience of donors such as; USAID, DFID, EC.

Managing a team and prioritising its work to meet both internal and external reporting deadlines

Preparation of monthly management accounts

Qualifications

Qualified accountant (ACA, CIMA, ACCA qualification preferred) Application /

Skills and Knowledge

Strong organisation, co-ordination and planning skills

A proven ability to lead, motivate and develop a team

Adept at identifying problems and devising solutions

Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work as part of a HQ team and communicate effectively with MAG’s Finance Managers overseas

Excellent verbal, written and presentation skills

Experience and understanding of donor and contractual requirements

Experience of systems development and administration.

Aptitude

A commitment to the production of work of a consistently high standard

Adept at working calmly under pressure to meet deadlines

Self motivated, flexible and enthusiastic approach to work

A genuine interest in, and commitment to, MAG’s humanitarian mandate

Desirable

Experience in the HQ or Regional Finance

Department of an International NGO

Knowledge of PSF accounting system.

 
 
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