Background
Concern for Women and Children Development Foundation (COWACDI) is a woman- led organization born out of passion for the wellbeing of Women and Children in Nigeria. It has a special interest in mitigating the suffering of the vulnerable persons (mostly Women & Children) in times of crisis. Currently the organization has focused its attention on the North East of Nigeria with special emphasis in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states (the BAY states) due to the decade old crises. COWACDI intervenes through community-based approach in addressing Gender-Based Violence prevention and response programmes, child protection, peace-building programmes and empowerment of youth and women. Since its establishment in 2005 has been implementing humanitarian and developmental interventions in Protection, Peace Building, Housing Land & Property (HLP), Non-food Items (NFI), Livelihood. These interventions have directly targeted over 6000 vulnerable children, women, girls and boys as well as people with disabilities. Determined to expand her interventions to reach more vulnerable groups in the conflict area, COWACDI will be implementing NFI project with funding from NHF. COWACDI operates with full respect for humanitarian law and works with concrete policies and principles of international standard such as humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence and accountability to affected population.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
| Job Title: | Finance Assistant |
| Qualification: | HND/B.Sc. |
| Experience: | 2 Years |
| Location: | Yusufari, Yobe State |
| Job Field: | Finance |
| Reports to: | Operations and Finance Manager |
| Vacancy: | 1 |
Contractual Arrangement: Internal/External
Contract Duration: 3 Months
Planned Timelines: As soon as possible
Overall purpose of the role:
As part of the Finance team, the Finance Assistant will be responsible for supporting effective financial management and administration processes for the NFI Yusufari project.
He/she will support the Finance team in areas of; Invoice uploading, electronic and hard copy archiving of financial documents, Single accounts reconciliations, and other Finance Administrative duties as per COWACDI guidelines. He/she will effectively interact with a diverse group of stakeholders, manage expectations and duties according to the agreed timelines. He/she will be required to work at the Yusufari field offices
In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal job descriptions and be able to vary working hours accordingly.
The role holder will work under the supervision of the Operations and Finance Manager.
Core Functions / Responsibilities
- The Finance Assistant is to assist the operations and finance manager by managing the day-to-day operations of the Finance Department, responsible for Cash processing and record keeping of the day-to-day transactions in accordance with COWACDI policy and procedures.
Specific responsibilities are as follows
- Ensure accuracy and completeness of payment documents in compliance to COWACDI and Donor policies and procedure.
- Coordinate with district teams for advance issuance and their timely adjustment of advances & Training’s documentation.
- Ensure completeness of supporting documents in all respect which includes authenticity of signatures, crosschecking attendance sheets and verifying payments to be made in integra system.
- Posting all vouchers into transaction spreadsheet on daily basis for review by the manager.
- Ensure that all information in the spreadsheet is correct and complete.
- Processing of petty cash transactions on daily basis.
- Ensure petty cash is replenished on time to meet daily cash needs.
- Carry out cash count as per the COWACDI policy and schedule.
- Document the cash count sheets for records.
- Prepare all payments and make sure that they are properly coded and supported with relevant necessary documents.
- Assist Finance team in monthly bank & account reconciliation.
- Ensure all the financial documents are properly filed & numbered in Box.
- ‘Paid’ stamping of all the invoices and related documents before filing.
- Ensure timely preparation of tax & deposit into bank.
- Visit Bank for necessary collection & submission of financial documents.
- Good knowledge of Account payable and receivable processes.
- Monthly processing of PAYE and all statutory deductions for remittance.
- Ensuring monthly collection of PAYES and all deductions receipt and filing it
- Ensure all payment and journal vouchers are electronically archived on monthly basis
- Properly label all files and arrange vouchers in their appropriate folders on the shelf for easy retrieval.
- Support during audits to retrieve selected samples a week before the commencement of any audit exercise • Return all vouchers to their appropriate box files after the conclusion of any audit exercise
- Produce soft/scanned copies of documents for retention purposes.
- Keep a standard record of document retrieval and return log
- Verify all transactions and ensure that the relevant supporting documents have been filed
- Maintain a filing system for all transactions
- Support in maintaining soft copy archiving system
- Perform any other task assigned by the line manager.
Finance/Budgeting
- Act always in accordance with local law and standards of accounting practice.
- Review budget with the aim of gaining a clear understanding of budget guidelines and instructions.
- Review funding allocations to enable proper guidance to programs and proper coding.
- Provide training to program staff on finance issues.
- Produce monthly and quarterly reports to be reviewed by your supervisor.
Skills:
- Interpersonal skill; Communication and negotiation skills; Administrative & Time Management skills; Must have
strong analytical, planning and people management skills; Ability to prepare clear and concise report
Essential:
- An HND/BSc in Accounting.
- 2 years’ experience especially in the humanitarian setting or/and 1 year audit or accountancy work experience
- Attention to Detail
- Good knowledge of Microsoft Excel
- Ability to work under pressure and sometimes shift between work time
- Ability to work within a multicultural and multi-religious settings
Languages:
- Fluency in English and working knowledge the local language.
Required Competencies
The incumbent is expected to demonstrate the following values and competencies:
- Inclusion and respect for diversity respects and promotes individual and cultural differences; encourages diversity and inclusion wherever possible. • Integrity and transparency: maintain high ethical standards and acts in a manner consistent with organizational principles/rules and standards of conduct.
- Professionalism: demonstrates ability to work in a composed, competent, and committed manner and exercises
careful judgment in meeting day-to-day challenges.
Core Competencies:
- Teamwork: develops and promotes effective collaboration within and across units to achieve shared goals and optimize results.
- Delivering results produces and delivers quality results in a service-oriented and timely manner; is actionoriented and committed to achieving agreed outcomes.
- Managing and sharing knowledge continuously seeks to learn, share knowledge, and innovate.
- Accountability: takes ownership for achieving the Organization’s priorities and assumes responsibility for own action and delegated work.
- Communication: encourages and contributes to clear and open communication; explains complex matters in an
informative, inspiring, and motivational way.
Other:
- Any offer made to the candidate in relation to this vacancy notice is subject to funding confirmation.
- This is a national position and only candidates residing in the location of the duty station within commuting distance will be considered. • Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment.
Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
Language required:
Fluency in oral and written English is required. Hausa and Native Language of the area would be an added advantage.
Application Closing Date 27th September, 2023.
Method of Application:
Interested and qualified candidates should kindly forward their Cover letter and CV in a single PDF format via an email to recruitment@cowacdi.org stating the position and location of the position as the subject of their mail.
Additional Information
COWACDI is an equal –opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, gender, religion, etc. Kindly ensure that you are able to work in this location when applying. Qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply
No application after the closing date will be considered.
COWACDI regrets that, due to the large number of applications we receive, we are unable to reply to every applicant. If you are being considered for the role, a recruiter will contact you. If you are not contacted within 2 weeks, you should consider your application not successful on this occasion.
Note: Never pay for any training, certificate, assessment, or testing fee to the recruiter.