The five-year (2020-2025) USAID Local Impact Governance Activity (Local Impact) will help Zambia build up a sub-national system of governance for devolved service delivery more responsive to citizen needs. The program will engage national and sub-national authorities to expand the capabilities of district-level governance bodies to deliver sustainable development outcomes, increase effective citizen and private-sector involvement in development planning and monitoring, and improve public financial management and domestic revenue generation.

The activity will work toward three objectives:

Objective 1: Citizens improve their collective skills to effectively assess service-delivery needs and performance and constructively engage with government.

Objective 2: The sub-national governance system becomes more responsive to citizen needs, generates, and accountably expends revenue, and improves service-delivery outcomes.

Objective 3 : The program generates learning and facilitates problem solving that supports the development of an effective, financially viable sub-national governance system for devolved services, capable of being scaled up throughout Zambia.

Purpose :

• The Finance Manager is responsible for managing finance staff, ensuring compliance to financial regulations, and adherence to policies and procedures, He/She will play a pivotal role in overseeing adherence to financial policies in project’s Field Operations Manual (FOM); USAID rules and regulations; and internal controls.
• He/She will be responsible for and the overall compliance and financial well-being of the project, reporting to and working closely with the Finance and Operations Director.

Responsibilities

Compliance:

• Provides oversight of accounting staff ensuring adherence to financial policies and procedures, as well as GAAP accounting standards
• Ensures that any/all contractual financial reporting requirements are identified and complied in a timely and accurate manner
• Reviews of all finance vouchers for correct coding, complete procurement documentation
• Works with the Finance and Operations Director to ensure that all staff adhere to separation of duties policies
• Ensures that project internal financial controls are implemented in accordance with DAI policies, USAID rules/regulations and the terms of the contract
• Works with the Finance and Operations Director to identify training needs for any staff on financial policies and procedures

Financial Management:

• Coordinates with the Finance and Operations Director on a regular basis to ensure that funds for all forthcoming project activities are adequately planned for
• Manages project expense reports submission
• Trains all staff on supporting documentation and submission of expense reports and advance settlements
• Manages cash flow requirements and forecasts
• Ensures proper segregation of duties within the finance team
• Maintains banking relationships and procedures as required
• Reviews bank reconciliations ready for approval
• Ensures that foreign taxes paid, if any, are tracked, recorded, and submitted to the Finance and Operations Director for reporting to USAID in accordance with ADS guidelines, and in a timely manner
• Provides responses and performs approved actions to internal audit comments
• Conducts regular spot reviews of backup documentation to ensure completeness, accuracy, and full compliance with all regulations and the Field Operations Manual (FOM)
• Ensures accurate and timely execution of payroll, timesheet review and maintains the leave balance tracker
• Manages and provides training, guidance and direction to the accountant
• Ensures the accountant is properly executing his/her role
• Guides all staff on finance procedures relating to their role, including but not limited to expense management, USAID financial policies and procedures, and payroll.

Other duties:

• Provides leave of absence cover for staff as required
• Escalates any issues to his/her supervisor immediately
• Prepared to travel to project provincial offices as required
• Performs any other duties as assigned

Place of performance and reporting:

• The position will be based in the Local Impact main office in Lusaka, Zambia and will report to the Finance and Operations Director
• There may be some travel to provincial offices

The position will directly manage the Accountant

Qualifications:

• Certified Accountancy Qualification (completed)
• B.A. Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or equivalent.
• Must have current Associate Membership of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA)
• 7+ years of relevant experience in a finance position
• Minimum 2 years’ experience supporting USAID-funded projects in an accountancy/finance role
• Previous work experience with DAI in a finance role is an advantage
• Demonstrated understanding of applicable finance-related USG contracting regulations
• Experience handing compliance enforcement in a similar environment
• Accuracy in working with large amounts of data
• Ability to respond effectively to the time sensitive inquiries
• Experience with enterprise accounting software, and Microsoft office suite
• An energetic, forward-thinking and creative individual with high ethical standards and appropriate professional image
• An extremely well organized and self-directed individual with sound technical skills, analytical ability, good judgment, and strong operational focus
• Able to maintain good working relationships with team members whilst retaining high levels of confidentiality and discretion
• Fluency in English is required

Application :

• Use the URL provided in the advertisement to apply
• Applications must be received before the closing date
• Only short-listed candidates will be notified
• No phone inquiries

Method of Application

Submit your CV and application on company website: