Senior Finance and Administrative Officer - Chance for Childhood

Chance for Childhood believes that no child?should have to fight for a safe, happy childhood. We exist to ensure that every child in Africa can thrive from their early years through to adulthood. Together with partners, supporters, children and their communities, we protect, educate and create lasting change for every child threatened by violence, neglect and conflict.

We specialise in ensuring access to inclusive education and safe spaces so that children can play, grow, learn and thrive. We are a Ghanaian NGO that belongs to the Chance for Childhood family registered in the UK.

Job Description

• Job title: Senior Finance and Administrative Officer
• Reporting to: Ghana Country Representative / Head of Finance
• Salary: GHC76,000 – GHC84,000 per annum, depending on experience
• Job type:  Fixed term (2 years renewable)
• Full-time (40 hours per week)
• Location: Accra

Purpose of the role

The Senior Finance and Administrative Officer will provide timely and accurate finance, administrative, programme management and fundraising responsibilities in the Ghana office.  Overall, the post holder will contribute to the smooth running of the organisation by supporting the general administration and internal communication across the office in Ghana, accountable also to the Head of Finance based in the UK.

The Senior Finance and Administrative Officer will be motivated to create administrative efficiencies within their scope of work, demonstrate excellent communication skills to maintain and enhance stakeholder relationships where necessary and be flexible to support tasks as they arise across the organisation, particularly in the Programmes team.

Main duties and responsibilities

Financial Management (50%)

a. Manage the day-to-day finance function of the office, and support the team to implement effective internal controls including (but not limited to) segregation of duties, procurement procedures, payment controls, petty cash controls, payroll controls, etc.

b. Provide input to organisation-level budgets and forecasts as well as support the programs team in the development of new project budgets while ensuring cost-effectiveness and good value for money

c. Ensure timely submission of project financial reports and request of funds to the various donors accordingly

d. Provide accurate, timely, and relevant recording of transactions, generating financial reports, and any analysis of financial information as may be required from time to time

e. Management and reconciliation of petty cash, bank and cash accounts to ensure sufficient funds are always available and report monthly 

f. File and remit statutory deductions such as taxes, social security, and other financial obligations

g. Monitor and analyse financial data and produce monthly financial reports

h. Work closely with the project managers to monitor project activities against workplan and budgets, highlighting financial implications and risks to project delays or issues

i. Ensure overhead recoveries and project support costs are appropriately charged to the correct fund code with reference being made to the donor budget and terms of grant/grant agreement

j. Support external auditors to carry out annual audits on the country's operations

k. Provide support in carrying out financial due diligence checks with new and existing project partners

Organisation-wide administration and logistical support (50%)

a. Line management of CFC Admin & HR Officer, based in Tamale

b. Develop, review, and improve administrative systems, policies, and procedures in the Ghana office

c. Receive bills for services and supplies, organise and record all payments on the accounting software

d. Supervise the acquisition, allocation, transfer, and disposal of company assets as well as the maintenance of an accurate asset register

e. Ensure that CfC records are well maintained through filing appropriately the correspondence and any important documents. In a bid to support a paperless office, all important correspondence shall be saved in image on SharePoint in the appropriate folders.

Other Duties

a. Actively participate in team meetings, teamwork plans, adopt team spirit, take responsibility for action items assigned, and provide feedback as needed

b. Represent Chance for Childhood at external meetings and events as requested

c. Multitask, be able to manage competing priorities and be able to prioritize in order to meet organizational objectives

d. Keep up to date with any changes in legislation, regulatory procedures, best practice, and industry standards

e. Perform any other duties commensurate with the level of the post, as may be required

Required Skills or Experience

• The candidate should have at least a bachelor’s degree in business administration, accounting, finance, or any other relevant field of study related to the post. A minimum of five years of experience in delivering on the key responsibilities for this position is required. 
• Professional accounting qualification (ACCA, CA or any other equivalent) is desirable.
• Experience working in an International NGO (INGO) or Development Agency
• Knowledge of tax regulations with a specific interest in INGO operations 
• Required experience working in multi-cultural environments
• Thorough working knowledge of Microsoft Office (particularly Outlook, Word and Excel) and accounting software.