Finance Officer: Budgeting and Reporting

SAWA for Development and Aid is a Civil Society Organization founded initially as a spontaneous initiative in December 2011 to respond to the arrival of the first 40 Syrian families displaced from Syria into the North of Lebanon.
This initiative then grew to include individual activists, locals and internationals, who worked together (literally meaning ‘SAWA’ in Arabic) to share their knowledge and exchange their experiences in order to support Syrians, internally displaced or refugees in neighboring countries, united by their belief in their right to live in dignity, freedom, and to be active individuals in their communities and wherever they are.
SAWA sees itself as part and parcel of the society, and that it is on a continuous learning journey based on a participatory relationship at all levels with the communities that it works with, whether host or displaced, as well as with local and international partners.
SAWA believes that humanitarian, developmental, and civic work has to always strive to achieve social justice, and so it aims to work with individuals and communities through holistic interventions towards a society based on democracy, pluralism, and the values of citizenship and human rights. 

Objective of the Role:

The main responsibility of the Finance Officer is the maintenance of financial records related to the project and the undertaking of a range of financial reporting tasks. This post operates in a team environment and s/he will be expected to work in a collaborative way with staff and colleagues. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

•    Define and analyze the project budget to ensure that funds are used according to the funding contracts, and proposing corrective actions if needed.
•    Prepare HR trackers and running cost tracker for each approved budget and update it on a monthly basis. 
•    Review PR Tracker and send recommendations to FM. 
•    Administer and monitor extra-budgetary resources, including review of agreements and cost plans, ensuring compliance with regulations, rules, and established policies and procedures.
•    Monitor expenditures to ensure that they remain within approved levels by assisting the Programs in preparing spending plans and updating it after each report sent to the donor. 
•    Provide advice and guidance to field staff on budgetary and financial procedures.
•    Review and finalize budget performance reports, analyzing variances between approved budgets and actual expenditures, including percentages to identify over/underspent. This will be shared with the Programs Department. 
•    Respond to donor comments on reports.
•    Participate in inter-departmental meetings and/or technical survey missions on matters related to resource requirements, programming and budgetary issues.
•    Keep up-to-date on documents/reports/guidelines that have an impact on matters related to program and/or project budgets by preparing monthly/quarterly financial reports. 
•    Ensures the integrity of financial and management systems.
•    Perform other related duties as required.

Competencies and Skills:

•    A minimum of 3 years’ experience in a similar role.
•    Excellent computer skills, particularly in Excel and MS Office Package.
•    Excellent organization skills.
•    General accounting experience with sound debit and credit comprehension and reconciliations experience.
•    Previous experience in financial control.
•    Experience of working with community and voluntary organizations.
•    Ability to work on own initiative.