Job Title: Finance and Administration Officer

Duty Station: Arlington, Virginia. USA

Contract Type: Part-time (24 hours a week, Flexible) leading to full time position depending on funding

Reports to: Director, USA Office (Technical reporting to HQ Finance and Administration Director)

Organization Background

The African Initiatives for Relief and Development (AIRD) is a non-political, non-religious and non-profit making NGO with a presence in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Niger, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.  AIRD’s mission is to enable the compassionate movement of those displaced by natural or man-made disasters to safety and providing them and their host communities with opportunities to build their lives and thrive for the long term. AIRD provides operational technical support, including but not limited to: transport, logistics, rehabilitation of infrastructures, sustainable livelihoods, WASH and environmental sustainability initiatives to promote resilience and empowerment for displaced people and their host communities. in partnership with relief and development organizations that focus on disaster-affected, poverty-infested and development-oriented areas. AIRD delivers for and through partners including but not limited to UN Agencies, international and national donor organizations and governments.

Job summary

The Finance and Administration Officer plays a pivotal role in driving institutional excellence and financial sustainability within AIRD.  This position’s focus is to enhance the organization’s financial management and administration systems including procurement, advancing transparency, accountability, and donor compliance — particularly in alignment with AIRD standards policies and procedures.

This position is strategic in ensuring smooth running of finance and administrative activities at the office and is responsible for all the financial and statutory reports of AIRD USA.

 General Administration

• Perform basic administrative tasks such as filing, photocopying, scanning, and organizing documents
• Maintain the office records and systems in order to safeguard the assets
• Coordinate repairs and maintenance of office equipment; and follow up on service schedules for office equipment
• Manage logistic support for all official activities including meetings, retreats, training and airport transfers
• Coordinate the procurement process of goods and services ensuring compliance with AIRD procurement policy and donor guidelines.
• Plan office supplies requirements and facilitate timely replenishment
• Manage the stores by ensuring items are well arranged and properly stored, update stock cards and issue items based on approved stores requisition.
• Quarterly update the assets register ensuring that all assets are labelled and reconciled with physical inventory

Accounting, Financial Reporting and Compliance

• Record all financial transactions in QuickBooks in a timely manner
• Manage the office petty cash in accordance with AIRD policy
• Monitor cash flow and budget utilization against future commitments and alert management of areas where budgets may be exceeded
• Support the preparation of annual office budget
• Prepare monthly and annual expenditure reports BVA Reports for HQ
• Prepare monthly bank reconciliation statements
• Ensure adequate budgets or any expenditure before initial payments
• Ensure that staff statutory deductions are correctly computed and paid to the relevant Statutory Authorities timely as required by the law
• Follow up on bills from service providers and ensure timely payments.
• Maintain cheque books and valued documents in safe custody to prevent access to unauthorized persons.
• Prepare for external audits and make available all records required by the auditions and assist them through the audit process so auditors can express their independent opinion on the status of AIRD operations
• Follow up on accounts payable/receivable and ensure their prompt liquidation
• Ensure all financial documents are on file and bear the correct references and budget coding.

Any other duties may be assigned

 Minimum Requirements

• Minimum bachelor’s degree in accounting or relevant field or equivalent professional accounting certificate
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience working in Finance and Accounting
• Excellent English language skills – written and oral
• Proficiency in the use of Accounting Software (QuickBooks or other)
• Experience working with international development partners, international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) and donors

Other Requirements

• Organization: Demonstrated ability to prioritize tasks and work well under pressure. Set priorities, develop a work schedule, monitor progress towards goals, and track details, data, information and activities
• Ethical Behaviour: Understand ethical behaviour and practices, and ensure that own behaviour and the behaviour of others is consistent with these standards and aligns with the values of the organization
• Interpersonal Relationship: Ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with others, both internally and externally, to achieve the goals of the organization
• Effective communication: Speak, listen and write in a clear, thorough and timely manner using appropriate and effective communication tools and techniques
• Problem solving: Assess problem situations to identify causes, gather and process relevant information, generate possible solutions, and make recommendations and/or resolve the problem