Finance Officer: Accra - World University Service of Canada

WUSC (World University Service of Canada) is a Canadian non-profit organization working to create a better world for all young people. We bring together a diverse network of students, volunteers, schools, governments, and businesses who share this vision. Together, we develop solutions in education, economic opportunities, and empowerment to overcome inequality and exclusion for youth around the world, particularly young women and young refugees.

WUSC currently works in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with an annual budget of approximately CAD $40 million. We have over 90 staff in our Ottawa office, and over 200 people overseas implementing 16 development projects in collaboration with donors such as Global Affairs Canada, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Mastercard Foundation and the African Development Bank.

Job Description

• Position location: Accra
• Reports to: Country Finance Manager
• Contract term: 2 year with possibility of renewal
• Application Deadline: 30 March 2024
• Expected Start Date: 01 May 2024

THE NbS PROJECT

The overall focus of the Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in the Guinean Forests of West Africa (NBS West Africa) project will be on engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to develop local and regional capacity to use evidence and engage with women and marginalized groups to prioritize locally relevant NBS to climate change adaptation. It will take a systems approach to supporting climate adaptation through interventions that plan for, pilot and scale Nature based-Solutions (NbS) to climate adaptation that contribute to enhanced biodiversity and gender equality.

An overall assumption is that restoration and reforestation of degraded forests, both on and off farm, will be critical to supporting women and their communities to adapt to climate change challenges and will be central to protecting and restoring biodiversity in this critical global hotspot. The project will work in close collaboration with consortium member CECI, and with the IUCN, CIFOR-ICRAF and the University of Guelph.

Key local stakeholders include local and national government bodies, regional institutions, private sector, women’s groups, and environmental organizations. This initiative builds on WUSC’s and CECI’s decades of experience supporting vulnerable populations and leverages the experience of a variety of local and international partners who bring a strong climate NbS lens, are fully immersed in their respective ecosystems and whose work can be accelerated by this project. This project is a timely intervention to ensure Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinée continue to effectively address climate adaptation while incorporating Nature based Solutions and strong gender lenses.

NATURE AND SCOPE

Reporting to the Country Finance Manager, and working closely with the Canada-based Senior Financial Analyst to ensure alignment with WUSC financial policies and procedures, the Finance Officer is responsible for providing support to financial and administrative operations of the project, including monitoring transactions, preparing receipts, managing cash, financial reporting and consolidation, and support to administration such as flight and venue bookings and payment of vendors. The Finance Officer will ensure that all financial transactions and processes adhere to the financial policies and procedures of the organization, as well as compliance with donor regulations.

Key responsibilities

• Supporting the project team in developing program budgets (including annual budget planning) and collaborate with the Finance Manager and Project Director to ensure that project activities are within the budget allocations;
• Ensuring compliance with organizational decisions, policies and procedures within the team;
• Maintaining the bank file and ensuring that all bank accounts information is properly filed and kept up to-date;
• Preparing monthly advance requests to ensure smooth cash flow and monitor the monthly clearance of partner and staff advances;
• Ensuring the monthly closure of financial records are approved by the Deputy Project Director and sent to WUSC Ottawa, as per the WUSC Finance Manual, and conduct month-end balance sheet account reconciliations;
• Review and revise as needed payment requests and expense reports (travel expense reports and operational expense reports) for accuracy and completeness (per policies and procedures), ensuring expense reports are fully approved before payments are made;
• Prepare monthly payroll advance documentation;
• Verify that adequate (original and external) support documents for expenditures, banking transactions, travel claims, procurement, consultant/staff contracts and payroll including tax returns and report to government officials are kept;
• Assist in responding to audit inquiries; 
• Perform any other duties, as assigned.

Required Skills or Experience

• Advanced degree in a relevant discipline such as business, finance, accounting, or management;
• Professional certification or designation in finance or accounting;
• Demonstrated 5 years or more of experience in a finance position in Ghana for international development stakeholders or projects;
• Demonstrated experience in managing financial data (i.e. budget allocations, monitoring);
• Demonstrated experience in maintaining financial records and using financial software; 
• Expertise in managing accounting and billing systems and reporting on project costs; and
• Strong proactive communications skills;
• Demonstrated high level written and verbal communication skills in English.