Job Opportunity at Save the Children - SONGWE: Finance Assistant

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Position: Finance Assistant - Mbozi 
TITLE: Finance Assistant

TEAM/PROGRAMME: Mbozi - Songwe 
LOCATION: Mbozi - Songwe

GRADE: 5 
CONTRACT LENGTH: 1 Year renewable 
CHILD SAFEGUARDING: Level 2: The role holder will have access to personal data about children and/or young people as part of their work; or they will be working in a ‘regulated’ position; therefore a police check will be required.

ROLE PURPOSE: The Finance Assistant is a member of the Finance Team and is accountable for ensuring cash and cheques payments are issued in a timely and accurate manner in compliance with SCI procedures. The post holder will ensure the cashbox and cheque books will at all times be stored securely, the support paper work attached to each voucher is completed and filled. In addition, cashbooks and bankbooks are updated regularly and are ready for review on a weekly and monthly basis. The post holder will provide logistics support in relation to asset management, warehouse management, stock in transit management, fleet management and non-flight travel in Songwe programme area and reporting on the same.

SCOPE OF ROLE:
Save the Children has been operational in Tanzania since 1986 providing support to children through developmental and humanitarian relief programmes delivered in support of Government of Tanzania priorities and policies both directly and through local partners. Current programming focuses on child protection, child rights governance, education, nutrition, HIV/TB and emergency response. In 2012, as part of a global reorganization process, Save the Children combined programmes of SCUK, SCUS, SC Sweden to create a single operation in Tanzania. We currently have an operational presence in Dodoma, Shinyanga, Zanzibar, Songwe, Rukwa, Iringa, Morogoro and Kigoma and we work through partners in other parts of the country. We employ nearly 100 staff and have an annual operating budget of approximately $10 million.

Reports to: Senior Programme Coordinator for Tuwekeze Pamoja Program in Mbozi - Songwe
Dimensions: Maintains strong linkages with the Finance team in Dar, Program Coordinator for CP & CRG program, Program Manager for Tuwekeze Pamoja and CP & CRG programs, Program officers, MEAL officers in Mbozi, and the project partner, ADP Mbozi and IRDO.
Number of direct reports: three (2 drivers and 1 Office attendant)

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
Manage petty cash in line with SCI procedures & policies.
Prepare Payment Vouchers for all transactions, record fully all transactions on an excel cashbook (daily basis) and file all associated paperwork associated with such transactions
Ensure sufficient cash is available in the various required denominations and ensure the cashbox is stored securely during cash hours.
Prepare weekly cash counts for each currency at week-end and month end, reconciling cash balances to cashbook balances – ensuring all codes are fully input.
Follow up on late clearing of floats from staff and ensure that staff retires what they have spent.

Process payments by:
Receiving backed up invoices from Logistics/admin/Field locations/suppliers, preparation of Payment Authorisation Forms for approval and forwarding well backed up invoices to authorised signatories for approval and share with Finance team in Dar for payment.
Ensuring all invoices/payment requests (properly backed up) are fully processed within 1 week of being received in finance department for payment. This also include proper tracking of all invoices in various stages of processing.
Recording all transactions on an excel cashbook on a daily basis, ensuring coding is done properly. Filing all associated paperwork associated with all Dar cash/bank receipts or payments.
Timely create (initiate) all payments online ie Business On Line (BOL) and record transaction offline on Glacos and send to Dar for checking and approval and post the transaction after approval.
Ensuring new cheque books are ordered in good time, stored safely and securely while out of safe, and prepare cheques in line with SCI policies.
Responsible for checking and signing off on daily bank statements to ensure all debits and credits are in line with actual bank receipts and payments.
Ensure month end cashbooks and bank books are ready for the finance officer’s review by the 2nd day of the following month.
In Support of the Senior Program Coordinator conduct compliance visit to partners after every quarter to review their financial documents, prepare and submit report to Finance team in Dar for review and approval.  

Liaison with bank:

• Negotiation of exchange rate with bankers for foreign currency transactions.
• Follow up of Banking matters including stop orders, incorrect bank charges etc
• Through liaison with Finance Manager/Finance Director follow up on updating list of bank signatories.
• Bank cheque confirmation

Ensure the effective and efficient use of all SCI resources in order to keep costs low and ensure the security of staff.
Comply with all relevant Save the Children policies and procedures with respect to child protection, health and safety, security, equal opportunities and other relevant policies.
Facilitate provision of financial information during external and internal audit.
Support the Mbozi - Songwe Programme Manager on review of monthly expenditures and identify any miss posting &/corrections.
As a member of the Mbozi and team, she/he will work collaboratively with the team members to ensure good coordination, communication, planning and customer service to staff and the programme, including providing cover for, and support to others and undertaking any reasonable additional duties as delegated by the line manager.

Acting for supply and logistics responsibilities

• Complete Procurement Requests with budget holder input of specification of goods and budget code and act accordingly.
• Under direction of the Supply chain Manager in Dar, collect quotations and forward to Dar or for low level sit with Acting Programme Manager and other colleagues to analyse best value to SCI for the procurement and document decision in CBA.
• Once the Purchase Request (PR) is approved, prepare Purchasing Orders (PO) and send to Budget Holders for approval then deliver the PO to supplier in Songwe and Mbeya locally or via email.
• Receive goods from supplier and complete Goods Received Note (GRN) checking quality and correct number of goods. Ensure a programme person witnesses receipt and countersigns GRN.
• Receive invoice from supplier and prepare Payment Approval Form and process locally or forward to Dar according to Scheme of Delegation.
• Receive any assets purchased in Dar and ensure the asset number is recorded as handed over to asset holder in Mbozi - Songwe (e.g. laptop).
• Maintain and update the Assets Register and Equipment Register for the Mbozi office.
• Ensure that all the changes to the assets and equipment’s locations or conditions are reflected in respective registers in a timely manner through tracking of movement and that any discrepancies are reported immediately.
• Record goods/supplies being kept in the office/’warehouse’ in a ledger and release for distribution (simple goods in, goods out and balance) with distribution plan and distribution report being provided by programme staff and filed accordingly.
• Ensure that all procured materials are properly stored and correctly recorded and that the stores in Mbozi office is maintained following standard SCI procedures.
• Ensure that the movement of inventories IN and OUT of the stores is correctly documented, authorised and paper work is done as per procedures.
• Manage the requests for vehicle movement and related fuelling with Driver and acting Programme Manager.
• Lead the production (with proper coding) and initial analysis of all fleet management reports for the Mbozi office on monthly, quarterly, and annual basis for presentation to the Logistics Manager.
• Ensure that vehicles are adequately equipped with tools, fire extinguishers, first aid kits and any other equipment required as part of the programmes local safety and security policies and procedures.

Child safeguarding
All staff have an obligation to ensure they fully understand the provisions of the Child Safeguarding Policy, the Code of Conduct, and related policies. They must conduct themselves in accordance with the rules of the Child Safeguarding Policy, in their personal and professional lives- which includes reporting suspicions of child abuse. All staff must ensure the way they are carrying out their work is not putting children at risk or further risk.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)
Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for himself/herself and his/her team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages his/her team to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:
Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Essential

• At least Advanced diploma or Degree in Accounts.
• At least 2 years accounting experience
• Excellent computer skills (Preferably SUN accounting System and Excel)
• Experience in supporting and training other staff essential
• Demonstrated good skills and experience in managing financial and office administration systems
• Knowledge and experience of financial computer applications, including spreadsheets (e.g. Excel).
• Knowledge and experience in word processing and internet communications (including MS Word, Outlook, Internet Explorer)
• Good personal organisational skills, including time management and ability to meet deadlines
• Good communication and interpersonal skills as pertinent to working within a complex English-speaking team setting
• Ability to work as part of the team and to fit in well with the organisation
• Attention to detail and accuracy essential
• Ability to work under pressure
• Commitment to, and understanding of, Save the Children’s aims, values, principals, and the Child Protection Policy

Desirable

• Previous experience with an international organisation is desirable
• Previous work experience with Charity or NGO/INGO

Additional job responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures;

Child Safeguarding:
We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:
The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy

Health and Safety
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.
Date advertised: 8 Jun 2020
Closing date: 22 Jun 2020 - 23:59 EAT
Location: Songwe, Tanzania, United Republic of
Department: Finance
Type: Fixed-term contract
Schedule: Full-time

TO APPLY CLICK HERE!