Finance Officer - German Red Cross

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 191-member National Societies (NSs). The overall aim of IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by NSs with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.” IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organized into three main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Operations Coordination; (ii) Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization; and (iii) Management Policy, Strategy and Corporate Services.

IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas. IFRC also has country cluster delegations and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.

IFRC has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment and other forms of harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination, and lack of integrity (including but not limited to financial misconduct). IFRC also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles.

In 2012, German Red Cross (GRC) established its Regional Office in Beirut. Currently the RO provides support to 10 offices in the region that are implementing emergency relief, cash transfer programming, organizational development, disaster risk reduction and health programs in 10 MENA countries.

Job Purpose

The Finance Officer is part of the GRC Finance team under the leadership of Regional Finance Delegate. The team has the overall responsibility for the accurate and timely financial reporting of 10 National Societies. The overall regional budget is currently above 80 millions Euros yearly.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

LRC country support

• Ensure monthly closings are received from the LRC on a timely basis.
• Check and verify the vouchers received to ensure correctness, eligibility, and completeness according to GRC financial procedures and donor requirements.
• Identify missing and non-compliant documentation and inform the Finance Delegate/ Manager regarding any irregularities.
• Ensure contractual compliance as part of the voucher verification, including checking against existing contracts, payment schedules and compliance with taxation terms
• Issue voucher clarification sheets summarizing the findings, and share it with the LRC Finance team
• Input Data into FundsPro financial system in an accurate, efficient & timely manner.
• Verify the un-booked vouchers received from LRC and record them in the FundsPro accounting system.
• Autonomously follow up with the LRC Finance team on findings of voucher clarifications and ensure necessary actions have been taken, including collecting additional explanations or missing documentation.
• Analyze CBAs and ensure they are allocated to the correct cost center and budget line and in line with GRC compliance rules and guidelines.
• Check whether inventories which are above EUR 100 are classified as inventories and booked in the FundsPro system accordingly.
• Assist Finance Delegate/ Manager in month end closure process

Partner Receivables

• Create, follow up and ensure clearance of the receivables from Lebanese Red Cross.
• Facilitate the link between the finance documents with the logistics/procurement documentation.
• Check bank journal and closely monitor the physical balances of each cost center.
• Advise and support LRC in the preparation of the quarterly cash request for each project, in coordination with the Program Coordinator and/or Country Manager.
• Follow-up on all ongoing general documents between GRC and the National Societies (Agreements, contracts, budgets, cash request etc).
• Prepare quarterly reconciliations of LRC projects’ balances and GRC accounting system and correct/adjust any identified differences
• Advise the Country Manager and Program Coordinator on any pending receivable which requires his/her action to solve the issue.
• Checking receivable reports received from national society, highlight key issues to GRC staff and book vouchers into Funds Pro
• Track Lebanese Red Cross Financial Reports with submitted vouchers to ensure all expenditures are recorded properly.
• Ensure timely answers to auditing questions are received from LRC and share these with the Finance Delegate / Manager for further follow-up.

Administrative Tasks

• Perform translation of key information as required on vouchers, CBAs, quotations, contracts and agreements etc before documents are submitted to Berlin.
• Ensure proper archiving of all validated accountancies
• Sort and compile payments accrued by GRC MENA RO with country accountancies.
• Ensure that originals are securely packaged/ labeled, and sent to Berlin on a timely manner.

Other tasks

• Implement any other finance related tasks as assigned by Finance delegate / Manager.

Program Finance Support

• Support GRC Lebanon office in the review of budget follow ups on a bi-monthly basis, in coordination with LRC Finance Dept. at HQs as well as sector/unit levels.
• Support the coordination of financial reporting requirements within the PPP consortium project.

The budget and country support setup for Lebanon: Responsible for above tasks for 4-6 running projects in Lebanon with an approximate yearly budget of 4-6 million EUR.

Education

• BA in Accounting/Finance/Business/Administration. Required

Experience

• Minimum 3 years' work experience in a financial role with increased level of responsibility. Required
• Experience with a Humanitarian Organization. Preferred
• Experience of work and financial reporting for German and/or EU donors (GFFO, BMZ, DG ECHO, EU Trust fund). Preferred
• Knowledge of Fundspro accounting system. Preferred
• Work experience within Red Cross/ Red Crescent Movement. Preferred
• Experience in on-the-job capacity building of counterparts. Preferred
• Knowledge, Skills and Languages
• Financial Analysis: Ability to interpret financial data and advise decision-makers on the way forward. Required
• Accounting Skills: Ability to quickly and accurately process accounting data and identify potential risks. Required
• Budgeting: Capacity to maintain an overview on budget and advise budget holders in order to maintain steady and accountable budget implementation. Preferred
• Risk Management: Capacity to identify, analyze and flag potential financial risks. Preferred
• Organization and planning skills: Capacity to organize and prioritize workflow: This position requires to process important amount of financial data received on irregular basis and with short and competing deadlines. Required
• Ability to work under pressure. Required
• Interest and ability to train counterparts on financial and auditing procedures. Required
• Commitment to the International Red Cross & Red Crescent Movement principles. Required
• Fluently spoken and written English and Arabic. Required
• French and/or German is a plus. Preferred

Competencies, Values and Comments

• Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability. Required
• Communication; Collaboration and teamwork; Judgement and decision making; National society and customer relations; Creativity and innovation; Building trust. Preferred

IFRC ensures equal employment opportunities!