Director of Finance and Operations

Job Description

The IRC began working in Mali in 2012 in response to the political crisis. The IRC has provided lifesaving assistance to over half a million displaced Malians displaced by conflict and facing severe food shortages. The crisis in Mali has also led to a collapse of basic public services such as health care and education.

To help the country recover, the IRC is focusing our efforts by providing emergency relief; supporting village savings and loan associations and income-generating activities, especially for women; providing clean drinking water, water treatment kits, water-point rehabilitation, and health care supplies; providing vital health care services and training community health workers; providing children and parents with psychosocial support to help them heal from trauma; and training teachers and reopening schools for children affected by conflict.

Scope of work

The IRC seeks a Director of Finance and Operations (DFO) for an anticipated five-year USAID Cross-Sectoral Youth activity in Mali. The project will enable vulnerable and marginalized 15–29-year-old Malian youth in the regions of Bamako, Mopti and Segou to become educated, healthy, and productive citizens while building their resilience to recurrent crises. The $25-$50M Cross-Sectoral Youth Activity will focus on an integrated program that includes basic education, workforce development, media literacy to counter disinformation, youth entrepreneurship, and reproductive health.

The MEAL Advisor will be responsible for developing and implementing the project’s monitoring, evaluation, and learning strategy, in accordance with IRC, USAID, and international best practices. S/he will work closely with the Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party, technical staff, technical and local partners to ensure that relevant data is collected, analyzed, and used to inform management and design decision, and to provide project updates, as required.

This position is contingent on the IRC being awarded funding and is anticipated to begin in 2023. The position is based in Bamako, Mali.

Job responsibilities

· Ensures that all policies and procedures are in compliance with IRC and USAID policies, procedures, and requirements.

· Establishes project’s finance and supporting function policies, systems and procedures, and directs or performs their development, documentation, and implementation.

· Manages project finance activities and schedules to meet the financial reporting requirements and deadlines specified by New York HQ and USAID.

· Prepares quarterly accrual reports, expenditure reporting, and burn rate projections.

· Provides project management and program staff with monthly actual-to-budget expenditure reports and analysis for project funds and facilitate the review and discussion.

· Ensures balance sheet reconciliations are completed monthly and on a timely basis and review final reconciliations and trial balances with the Chief of Party.

· Closely monitors all financial activities and keeps the Chief of Party advised of all situations which have the potential for a negative impact on internal controls or financial performance.

· Directs the preparation of and approval of all USAID financial reports in respect to accounting, legal and contractual requirements and ensures the review of such reports by the Chief of Party and HQ prior to submission.

· Enforces internal control policies and procedures.

· Maintains current knowledge of local government requirements related to financial matters and ensures compliance with tax regulations and other legal requirements.

· Establishes project finance roles and responsibilities matrix; ensures job descriptions are current; recruits and maintains qualified staff to perform finance functions.

· Provide oversight of Operations teams, including Procurement, Finance, Grants, Logistics, HR, Security, and administrative support staff.

· Develops and implements a training program for the project’s Finance staff.

· Ensures constructive performance reviews are completed on a timely basis and facilitates discussion of performance and career options with project finance staff.

· Supervises all project office bank relations and bank account activities including negotiation of fees, interest and currency exchange rates.

· In compliance with IRC policy, establishes policies regarding cash holding limits, cash movements and foreign currency holdings of the project.

· Oversees the timely preparation, review and approval of all monthly bank accounts and cash reconciliations.

· Designs, implements, and monitors systems, procedures and reporting necessary to maintain on current basis accurate forecasts of cash requirements for meeting future spending, including commitments entered into and which obligate IRC to future spending.

· Supervises the preparation of Cash Transfer Requests to New York and ensures that appropriate cash balances are maintained to facilitate project implementation.

· Assists with the preparation and revision of project budgets.

· Prepares the annual and monthly cash budgets based on approved funding.

· Support consortium partners with finance, accounting and administrative matters, maintain collaborative partner relations, and ensure effective delivery of project support when needed.

· Oversee all sub-grantees/sub-contractors adherence to USAID, IRC, and host country policies.

· Coordinate and lead the annual audit process, liaise with external auditors and the IRC Finance team and Senior Management Team, supervise implementation of audit recommendations when necessary.

Requirements

· A bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in Accounting, Business Administration, Commerce or Finance with a recognized professional certificate in accounting such as CPA, or a master’s degree in Accounting.

· Minimum of seven years in similar financial, compliance, or operational role supporting USAID and international donor projects in similar contexts.

· Experience with budgeting and financial reporting requirements on multimillion-dollar USAID-funded projects.

· Strong knowledge of generally accepted accounting practices, financial reporting standards, financial management processes and procedures.

· Familiarity with USAID rules and regulations.

· Extensive experience in working with computerized accounting systems, standard spreadsheet and database programs.

· Significant previous experience working in crisis-affected contexts, preferably in West Africa and/or Mali.

· Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain productive working relationships with a wide network of partners and stakeholders.

· Experience working to incorporate issues of Government accountability, transparency, and equity in education programs, including gender, ethnicity, and disability inclusion.

· Experience with financial management and reporting on projects with substantial subawards, and overseeing international and local sub-recipients and grantees.

· Capacity to work well under pressure, and the ability to communicate appropriately and effectively cross‐culturally is critical.

· The candidate must be fluent in English and French.

Working environment

Equal Opportunity Employer: IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants based on merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.

Women, minorities and people living with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Qualifications