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About the Role:

The Senior Finance Business Partner is the overall country lead overseeing the financial management of programs and backoffice matters. They will be responsible for delivering accurate financial reports and tracking of the financial operations of the country office; enabling the Country Director to monitor and oversee at a high level the financial health of country operations and proper usage of funds.

As a Senior Finance Business Partner, you will be in charge of translating Finance speak to the country leadership team in a clear, simple and understandable way to ensure that they are updated on financial performance and risks. You will also liaise with various teams outside the finance department, assess their finance needs and constraints and communicate with the Finance team for resolution.

You will work closely with the programs team to gain an in -depth understanding of each program that is being implemented. You will be required to assess the robustness of the finance controls set in place to mitigate program and finance risks, and to propose insights to tighten the controls’ abilities to prevent, detect or correct misses.

As part of the global finance team, you will be expected to challenge processes, controls and policies from a point of awareness of country context and risks; with the goal of developing solutions that are consistent with global standards and accommodating of the country context at the same time.

Based in Goma- Democratic Republic of Congo , you will have joint reporting lines, to the Finance Business Partners Lead in the Global Finance Team (for technical support and expertise) and, to the DRC Country Director for the supervision of finances in GD DRC and for financial reporting

Responsibilities:

Your role will cut across stakeholder management, risk & compliance tracking, and delivery of the Finance Service Level Agreement.

Stakeholder Management and information provision:

• Deliver accurate and insightful financial information to the management team to improve understanding of financial performance, influence decision making, guide strategic planning, and identify issues.
• Have a thorough understanding of the raw finance data at both granular level and high/ strategic level and be able to switch fluidly between both depending on the needs of the stakeholders.
• Steer collaboration between teams, both internally within Finance, programmes, logistics and administration and HR and externally with non-finance colleagues.
• Promote a strong, professional relationship with the stakeholders including programs teams,
• Maintain strong relationships with regulatory bodies and financial service providers,
• You will also work closely with the accounting team to deliver financial reports that are accurate and timely for decision making.

Risk and compliance tracking

• Ensure that funds expended are compliant with Donor requirements, national/state regulations and organizational policies
• Implement payment and procurement protocols, including ensuring proper documentation (both hard and soft copies) and adherence to controls
• Ensure that statutory payments have been submitted to the statutory authorities on time and all original receipts filed, with periodic spot checks.
• Understanding, advising, and implementing compliance requirements from tax regulators and donors
• Double check that the office and procurement manager is handling procurement and expenditures in line with policies. This includes enforcing proper maintenance and filing of original invoices, receipts, and supporting documents both physically and in nexonia. It also includes doing a monthly reconciliation check with the OPM to ensure petty cash is being tracked and managed appropriately.
• Carry out spot checks on payments made in county including: with vendors, contracts and suppliers and on staff expenses
• Ensure procurement is done within bounds of the the relevant budget available for the stated procurement or overspends are approved by appropriate authority/authorities
• Participate in the procurement committee, to vote on prospective vendors and providing advise from a financial perspective
• Identify potential areas of financial and compliance vulnerability and risk and develop or implement corrective action plans to resolve problematic issues.
• Monitoring country finance risks and designing controls to mitigate the risks
• Ensuring financial records for the country office are organized and maintained, to be ready for standard and routine financial audits and routine control visits
• Managing in-country audits and special reporting to donors and regulatory bodies
• Be responsible for managing the contract budget, tracking project spending, and preparing financial reports for submission to donors.
• Implementation and tracking of the risk and controls dashboard and driving risk mitigation procedures with the Country Director
• Have a thorough understanding of finance policies and procedures and ensure compliance to them
• Spot check outflows and inflows of money from the GD DRC bank account and vet for irregularities
• Check that the controls put in place to mitigate fraud are operating effectively and are able to prevent or detect fraud.
• Support investigation of financial fraud under the leadership of the CD and in collaboration with the risk and compliance and internal audit teams
• Escalate to the CD any irregularities observed in financial and compliance management, including gaps in our systems
• Contribute to drafting and updating finance-related policies for GD DRC country office

Management of the Finance Service level agreement:

• Be accountable for the implementation of the Finance Service Level Agreement (SLA) by understanding and anticipating the needs of the non-finance Functions; and proactively liaising with treasury, payments, and accounting functions for smooth delivery of the SLA.
• Preparation of country and donor budgets across various periods of time
• Delivery of Budget-to-Actual reports to stakeholders within the timelines stipulated by the Finance SLA
• Prepare punctually every month a Business to Actuals report and explain it to the Country Director, so that the CD is aware of expenditures vs. budget each month and year to date, flagging where things are going over budget.
• Collaborate with the HR Manager in preparing payroll, including tracking salary advance statuses and payments owed/due.
• Suggest to the CD ideas for reducing and streamlining costs in the country office

Required profile:

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of professional experience in accounting or finance, with strong experience in budgeting and reporting.
• Professionally proficient in French and English.
• Ability to liaise remotely with a wide range of people at all levels and across different cultures and to act with credibility, tact and diplomacy
• Excellent stakeholder management and strategic influencing skills
• Ability to be proactive and logical in problem-solving scenarios
• Strong time management skills with an ability to plan ahead, anticipate requirements, and obstacles, and an ability to juggle competing priorities successfully, and to work to tight deadlines
• Conscientious and client focused
• Maintains a calm disposition and positive outlook particularly when working under pressure
• A full appreciation of the value of cooperation, both internationally and within a team environment
• Aptitude to learn quickly new software tools, such as Slack, Intacct, Limelight, and Google Spreadsheets
• Alignment with GiveDirectly Values and active demonstration of our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity.

We welcome and strongly encourage applications from candidates who have personal or professional experience in the low-income and/or historically marginalized communities that we serve.

Please note: Candidates must be willing to move to and be based in DRC and to obtain permission to work there with GD's support.

GD values:

• Recipients first. We prioritize recipient preferences over those of donors or ourselves.
• Team next. We do what’s best for organizational – not individual – success.
• Be proactively candid. We say what we believe, and are honest in sharing information.
• Create positive energy. We strive to be a source – not drain – of energy for our colleagues
• Think rigorously; act quickly. We are intellectually rigorous with a drive towards action – not debate.
• Know yourself and grow. We recognize and accept our imperfections with a focus on growth.
• Accept reality. Propose solutions. We do not dwell on problems. We work actively to create solutions
• Be productively ambitious. We take the risks to pursue industry-changing success, not incremental progress
• How to apply:

Interested applicants are requested to go to the GiveDirectly website (https://boards.greenhouse.io/givedirectly ), search for relevant offers from the DRC, and submit their applications no later than June 30, 2023. Please submit your resume in English.

**GD is committed to complying with all local, national and international laws that protect children, vulnerable adults and the fundamental human rights of all. GD is committed to a policy of “Zero Tolerance for Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH)” and expects everyone working for GD to put the protection and safeguard of our beneficiaries first**.