Finance Officer - Right To Play

Right To Play is a global organisation that protects, educates and empowers children to rise above adversity using the power of play. By harnessing play, one of the most powerful and fundamental forces in a child’s life, we helped 2.3 million children last year to stay in school and out of work, to prevent life-threatening diseases and to stay safe from exploitation and abuse. We are the only global development organization focused exclusively on using play to transform the lives of children and youth impacted by poverty, war, disease and inequality.

Established in 2000, Right To Play is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and has operations in 22 countries across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. 

With a shared passion for our mission, our Culture Code guides how we act and interact based on five core pillars:

• Accept Everyone – Be intentional about inclusion
• Make Things Happen – Seek opportunities to lead and innovate
• Display Courage – Act with integrity
• Demonstrate Care – Look after yourself and one another
• Be Playful – Have fun at work

Please visit our website to learn more about who we are and what we do, and watch this video to find out about the five pillars of our Culture Code.

Job Description

JOB SUMMARY

The Finance Officer reports directly to the Finance Manager (FM)/ Finance Director (FD). The incumbent is responsible for the proper implementation of financial procedures in Right To Play programs in the country of operation and will provide support and guidance by working closely with the in-country management team, particularly, the Finance and logistics staff with tasks related to accounting, banking, budgeting, procurements and financial management to ensure full compliance with rules and regulations of financial processes, financial records and reports and audit follow up, and implementation of the effective internal control framework.

The FO must develop professional relationships with project personnel to ensure responsiveness to local needs and recognition of donor’s local standard practices.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Job Responsibility #1: Financial Accounting, Management and Reporting (55%)

• Facilitates timely, accurate month-end closing, cash requests and cash reconciliations;
• Supports the month-end closing processes to ensure organized, complete, properly approved packages are delivered to the Country Office in accordance with the month-end closing schedule provided by the FM/FD and reviews for completeness and accuracy all month-end accounting information;
• Works closely with Project Manager on budget, activities, reports to ensure compliance with local laws and with donor requirements;
• Ensures the smooth implementation of project accounting activities, including (but not limited to): timely and accurate bank reconciliations, invoicing, monitoring of expenditure levels against budget and funding obligations, financial projections and submission of monthly financial reports to Country Office;
• Keeps up to date on Project priorities and makes occasional field trips to monitor finance related issues and procedures. 
• Maintains control over the project filing systems to ensure complete and organized accounting files, especially with regard to original procurement documents.
• Verifies accuracy and compliance of expenses and expense reporting;
• Reviews and provides support for the financial aspects of contract execution of local and international sub-implementing partners.
• Reviews partner spending in relation to budgets, and develop monthly budget pipelines for Right To Play and partner expenditures;
• Regularly prepares and presents financial reports, analysis, and recommendations concerning relevant financial issues;
• Provides assistance with internal or external audit requirements;
• Identifies and recommends improvements that could streamline implementation processes in the areas of accounting, finance and budgeting;
• Assists in preparing project budgets as assigned by the supervisor;
• Promotes compliance with relevant donor’s regulations and Right To Play’s policies/procedures; and other duties as assigned;
• Monitors petty cash accounts including the spot-checking of balances and payments;
• Supervises the collection and recoverability of contractual, project partner activity advances, staff activity and travel advances and other receivables;
• Trains project staff on RTP financial policies.

Job Responsibility #2: Financial Guidelines, Procedures and Policies (30% of Time):

• Maintains current knowledge of local government requirements related to financial matters and ensures compliance with tax regulations and other legal requirements; 
• Complies and keeps abreast with Right To Play and donors policies, procedures, and guidelines in regards to accounting and procurement including internal controls framework;
• Ensures all purchase documents are well documented and followed according to policies;
• Ensures the yearly project Procurement Plan is prepared and updated regularly;
• Reviews all grant procurement actions to ensure full and open competition to the greatest extent possible, strong internal controls with appropriate segregation of duties, adequate documentation to support solicitation, selection and best-value decisions, and full compliance with donor regulations;
• Provides the field finance teams with information and guidance on program financial performance;

• Ensures proper travel related templates are used, travel related data are properly reviewed and analysed and adequate supporting documents are well maintained as per the Policies;
• Oversees the protection of the project’s assets (inventory and fixed assets) through the enforcement of internal control policies and procedures by ensuring that the Fixed Assets and Inventory registers are in place, updated regularly, and reported to the FM/FD;
• Ensures all expenses are authorized and approved in line with In Field Authorization Policy.

Job Responsibility #3 Team Management (10% of Time):

• Ensures that the direct reports have a clear understanding of their roles, responsibilities and accountabilities; supported by clear job descriptions to ensure quality performance;
• Facilitates the capacity building of direct reports to ensure they have the appropriate skill levels for their positions and are developing to their full capacity; provides the necessary feedback to them and completes their performance appraisals.

Job Responsibility #4: Perform other duties assigned (5% of Time)

Required Skills or Experience

EDUCATION/TRAINING/CERTIFICATION

Bachelor's degree in business administration, finance, accounting or any related discipline.

EXPERIENCE

3 year of experience in a similar role working in an accounting, grants and developing budgets.

COMPETENCIES / PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

• Attention to detail and ability to plan and implement work plan
• Good networking and interpersonal skills 
• Ability to work efficiently under tight deadlines and pressure
• Excellent communication and reporting skills
• Ability to prepare concise and informative financial reports
• Professional verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work as part of a team with culturally diverse professional staff
• Leadership skills

LANGUAGES

Fluency in spoken and written English and local language(s). 

TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Excellent MS Office including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Familiarity with accounting software preferably Microsoft 365 or Navision
• Superior bookkeeping skills

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS (An asset)

• Previous experience working in I/NGO
• Experience managing a direct report(s)

WHO YOU ARE:

You are passionate about our commitment to help children and youth rise above life’s challenges through the power of play. You are highly collaborative and a relationship builder with a passion for humanitarian work, human rights and social change. You have been involved in Grants and budgetary management, forecasting and financial control. Your attention to detail is great and you have a positive, follow-through mindset. You are focused on strategically positioning Right To Play as a partner of choice for our donors.

WHAT YOU’LL GET: 

The opportunity to work with a passionate, innovative and collaborative team where you have the ability to make things happen. You will gain experience working for a globally recognized organization with a healthy culture premised on our Culture Code (accept everyone, make things happen, display courage, demonstrate care and be playful). In addition, we offer a competitive salary and benefits package.

Target Start Date: May, 2021 

Contract Duration: Long-term position – starts with a one-year contract to be extended based on performance