Senior Finance Officer at Mercy Corps  

Mercy Corps

Dar es Salaam

Senior Finance Officer

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible.
In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions
into action-helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.
Now, and for the future.

The Organization exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. Mercy Corps began full operations in Tanzania in 2016 and has to date implemented various programs aimed at sustainably improving the lives and livelihoods of Tanzanians by supporting initiatives to preventing violent extremism, improving the livelihoods of rural entrepreneurs through the provision of business skills training and the stimulation of productive uses of energy and improving food security and agricultural resilience of small holder farmers.

The Position Summary

Working in the Finance Department under the direction of Finance and Grants Manager, the Senior Finance Officer is responsible for daily office operations in country office and field offices. He/she is responsible for review of transactions according to the Approval Authority Matrix; ensuring that all transactions are allowable, reasonable and allocable, in line with Mercy Corps policies, donor regulations, GAAP and applicable country laws and that they are correctly coded. The Senior Finance Officer will facilitate audits, and coordinate weekly and monthly financial reporting, support, supervising and coaching all Finance Assistants. Support and track contracts payments, leases, fixed assets and procurements of all offices.

Position Description

Location: Dar es Salaam Tanzania

Position: Full-time, Regular

Essential Job Responsibilities

Monitoring programs and operations expenditure, review of monthly transactions, preparation of summary analysis report, commitments and other relevant analysis and reports enabling high program efficiency and informed and fact-based decision making.
Responsible for the smooth functionality of the finance/accounting functions in Mercy Corps Tanzania Offices, finance staff capacity building/training, correctness of coding, review of BvA transactions, budget management, reporting and review of filing system.
Review of payment documents and other supporting documents for accuracy, completeness ensuring their compliance with the local laws, donor regulations and Mercycorps internal policies before they are passed for payment.
Review transactions on a daily basis, making sure they meet all donor and MC standards.
Review expense reports (travel expense reports and operational expense reports) for accuracy and completeness and ensure that expense reports have been fully approved and documented before payment.
Ensure all receivable accounts in all Mercy Corps offices are cleared at the end of the month.
Ensuring all expenditures are well coded following the standard chart of accounts, coded budget.
Ensure all transactions are captured in the accounting system on daily basis by Finance Assistant /Officers.
Weekly reviewing/posting all transactions captured in the system by Finance Officers.
Prepare cash flow projections together with program/operation for and submit to Finance and Grants Manager for review and HQ submission, ensure there is sufficient funds to support country operations and program activities.
Ensure/match invoices/receipts, completion reports with GRN and other required documents.
Responsible for month-end balance sheet accounts reconciliations.
Perform bank reconciliations on time and clear all reconciling items timely.
Make sure PAYE taxes, withholding taxes, and all other taxes are withheld and paid accordingly. Ensuring, all other statutory payments (i.e. Pension) are timely paid accordingly.
Participate in tender opening as finance observer to ensure that all procedures and policies implanted correctly.
Review all offices summary and individual staff timesheets.
Prepare amortization schedules on a monthly basis. Perform all amortization, re-classes and other adjustments every month before the month end close.
Responsible to fund requests for field offices for both Operation and program needs.
Ensure there is a proper filing and archiving system that is running efficiently.
Provide on-going orientation, training and support to Finance Assistants/Officers and Finance team on Mercy Corps and respective donor’s rules and regulations.
Ensure Bank information’s are updated when required and be a focal point for banking relationship.
Participate in audits and support when required by the Finance Manager.
Supervision of Finance Assistants/Officers.
Support to Review monthly BVA Reports, assist in maintaining budgeting tools & support in developing budget proposals.
Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations.
Responsible for month end accounts reconciliations.
Prepare monthly payroll for all offices based on information provided from HR and timesheets; prepare payroll accrual entries, net pay entry and statutory deductions payments.
Support Mercy Corps Tanzania in the absence of Finance and Grants Manager.
Any other tasks to be assigned by the supervisor.

Supervisory Responsibility Supervises: Finance Assistants/Officers.

Reports directly to: Finance and Grants Manager

Works directly with: Program Teams, Field Team, other MC staff, Consortium and partners.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

A bachelor’s degree in commerce/accounting/finance/Business Administration.
Four (4) or more years of demonstrated professional experience managing grants, subcontracts, procurement and compliance with donor regulations, preferably Donor-funded projects.
Strong accounting skills and experience, including management of the general ledger, journal entries, payables and balance sheet reconciliations.
Strong analytical skills, with emphasis on budget and financial analysis.

Attributes /Competencies /Behaviours/ Experience

Tech-Savvy-advanced computer skills in MS Office programs, Power Point, advanced Excel.
Accounting software experience.
Self-starter with ability to take initiative, work independently, willing to go the extra mile to get the job done and be a strong contributor to a team.
A positive can-do attitude with the ability to adapt to changing work needs.
Strong analytical, decision making and strategic planning skills with the ability to articulate complex information in an easy-to-understand manner.
Strong ability to analyze financial data including large financial data extracts, summarize results, produce reports, and recommend appropriate actions.
Ability to plan and organize tasks on an autonomous basis.
Adaptable, managing change and ambiguity with ease.
Having sense of urgency, ability to demonstrate prioritise, plan ahead, (take a proactive approach) and manage a complex and diverse workload comprised of varying and changing tasks and responsibilities with tight strict deadlines.
Astute attention to details, patient, flexible, able to improvise and look for solutions.
Passionate and demonstrates maturity and ability to deliver high volumes of work with minimal supervision.
Ability to quickly learn new systems, processes, and procedures.
Ability to coach, mentor, delegate appropriately and provide developmental guidance to supervised staff. Ability to ensure supervised staff are highly performing and producing required results/met key performance indicators. Demonstrated managerial, supervisory, and leadership skills.
Proven proactive skills in identifying cost savings, cost avoidance and efficiency opportunities.
Strong proficiency in English/Swahili, including strong drafting skills.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient, and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact. We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to always adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

This job posting summarizes the main duties of the job. It neither prescribes nor restricts the exact tasks that may be assigned to carry out these duties.

How to Apply:

Application Method:

Interested applicants are requested to go to the apply section of the link and submit their updated 3 pages maximum CV (with three professional referees) and 1 page cover letter addressed to Mercy Corps Country Coordinator. Be sure to highlight your relevant experience and explain why you are the ideal candidate for this position. Deadline: 22nd January 2024.

To apply for this job email your details to: [email protected]