Head of Finance & Operations – Sahel Regional Fund At Danish Refugee Council

Position Title : Head of Finance & Operations – Sahel Regional Fund

Supervised by : Humanitarian Fund Director

Reporting to : Humanitarian Fund director

Duty Station : :Dakar

Area of Operation : Mali, Niger, Burkina-Faso and Chad

Employment Period : 24 months with possibilty of extension

Type of Contract : National or International

Salary & Benefits : Management E1

Introduction

The Danish Refugee Council assists refugees and internally displaced persons across the globe: we provide emergency aid, fight for their rights, and strengthen their opportunity for a brighter future. We work in conflict-affected areas, along the displacement routes, and in the countries where refugees settle. In cooperation with local communities, we strive for responsible and sustainable solutions. We work toward successful integration and – whenever possible – for the fulfilment of the wish to return home.

The Danish Refugee Council was founded in Denmark in 1956 and has since grown to become an international humanitarian organization with more than 7,000 staff and 8,000 volunteers. Based in Copenhagen (Denmark) and present in forty countries, the Danish Refugee Council is a non-profit-making, politically independent, non-governmental and non-denominational relief organization.

Our vision is a dignified life for all displaced. All our efforts are based on our value compass: humanity, respect, independence and neutrality, participation, and honesty and transparency.

1. Context of the position

The Sahel Regional Fund (SRF) is a new humanitarian fund to respond to the crisis in the Sahel region, the Chad Basin and eastern Chad. The SRF is hosted by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), which is governed and led by NGOs working in the Sahel and financially supported by FCDO (UK Aid).

2. General presentation of the position

The DRC WANALA is looking to recruit an experienced, highly qualified, and enthusiastic professional. DRC has been designated to be the fund manager for the Sahel Regional Fund (hereafter: SRF), which is a strategic regional fund. To ensure the sound financial management of the entire grant and support functions for the Fund management needs, the DRC WANALA is looking for a SRF Head of Finance & Operations. The Head of Finance & Operations will be based in Dakar with frequent travel required (25%). This position is a senior one, requiring strong experience in developing project financial framework. This position also requires a full professional proficiency in French & English languages.

3. Duties and Responsibilities

Under the authority of the Fund Director, the SRF Head of Finance and Operations will provides coordinated and strategic leadership for all support functions and ensures the smooth running of all support functions to meet the fund management needs in line with DRC and the donor’s requirements.

The main responsibilities and tasks of the Head of Finance & Operations are the following:

1. Supervise the financial reporting from the FMU and SRF partners.

• Ensure the FMU financial reports are handed out in due time to the donor.
• Liaise with the partners to ensure the financial reports are handed on time to the FMU.
• Review and control the reports before handing them to the donor.
• Supervise the control and the checks of the supporting documents for the partner’s financial reports.
• Prepare specific financial reports for the board meetings and provide feedback for all their related financial enquiries.

2. Supervise all the Funds movement of the SRF

• Ensure that monthly finance tasks are completed (payroll, SOS, PIT, cashbooks and cash forecasts) and in line with Operations Handbook procedures in coordination with DRC regional office.
• Review all the Payment request from the partners before they are handed out to the donor.
• Supervise the reimbursement request from the FMU to the donor.
• Transfer the required and approved funds to the partners.
• Control the transfer between the lead and the implementing partners.

3. Technical supervision of the FMU financial team

• Supervise the FMU financial supervisors where the SRF operates.
• Participate in the appraisals, schedules, and workload of the financial team.
• Liaise with the regional office for the payment of salaries of the FMU team.

4. Participate in the due diligence assessment of the Lead Partner candidates

• Following call for proposals, a process of due diligence will be organized on the different partner’s candidates. The Head of Finance & Operations will oversee all the finance and procurement-related matters.

5. Ensure the good implementation of the Operations Manual policies

• Organize the training and refresher on the operations manual for the partners, including during the kickoff meeting.
• Capitalize the necessary updates of the operations manual and request its approval by the board.
• Strengthen, further develop, and ensure implementation of the SRF Operations manual.
• Closely follow SRF department and SRF grantee Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and ensure that monthly report submissions are timely and of high quality.

6. Management of the FMU office and support needs

• Primary budget holder for all support service lines.
• Responsible for budget monitoring and forecasting for support service budgets.
• Ensure that key annual finance tasks are completed (such as the annual reports) in coordination with the DRC WANALAC regional office
• Supervise the identification and installation of a dedicated FMU office, if necessary
• In line with the dedicated FMU budget, liaise with the DRC WANALAC logistic department for the purchase of the necessary equipment and furniture.
• Deal with all the administrative issues related to the specific FMU office (phone credit purchase, utilities bill payments, rental and lease agreements, IT needs, etc.) in coordination with DRC WANALAC office.
• Ensure that ad hoc, quarterly and annual HR tasks are completed on time as per the Operations Handbook (such as recruitment, staff induction, Code of Conduct training and leave planning/tracking, recruitment, contract renewal/ amendments, timesheet submission, expat taxation, visa application/work permit, Performance & Development Reviews) in coordination with regional HR department where relevant.

7. Grant management

• Direct Management of the FMU grant team (appraisals, schedule, workload,)
• Supervise the development and the performance of the Grant management System.
• Lead application process and ensure compliance regarding (no-)cost extensions, amendments, top ups, reallocations requested by SRF grantees.

8. Ensure the completion of the partner’s audit

• Organize the partner’s audit with the selected Audit firm.
• Liaise with the partners for the planification of the audits.

In addition to the above, the Head of Finance & Operations may be asked to carry out other duties requested by the Fund Director.

4. Required Qualifications

• Minimum 7 years of senior professional experience in finance control, financial management and support services roles with at least 4 years of experience in a similar role in an international NGO on the field;
• At least 4 years of experience with people management
• Diploma degree/University degree (Master) in International Development, Economics, Political Science/ Public Affairs, Business Administration or Management, or another relevant field is required;
• At least one successful experience in managing the logistic department in an international organization.
• Proven leadership skills and a competence in people management;
• Significant experience of grant management and understanding of institutional fund-raising;
• Proven significant financial management experience;
• Full professional fluency in French language (80% of the professional communication in this position will be done in French, including almost all the communication within the regional office);
• Proficiency (written and spoken of the English language);
• Excellent Computer Skills (MS Office, Internet) and an advanced proficiency in Excel are required.

5. Required Skills & Qualities

• Ability to work in a multinational and multicultural environment
• Proactivity, with a sound commitment to teamwork and with a spirit of genuine collaboration
• Excellent communication skills, as well as patience and politeness, are required
• Multi-tasking and Organizational skills are necessary
• Adaptable and Flexible
• Proven analytical and critical thinking skills
• Exemplary sense of ethics in the workplace
• Team-oriented & good sense of humor

In this position, you ar expected to lead in the Core Competencies of DRC:

• Striving for excellence
• Collaboration
• Taking the lead
• Communication
• Demonstrating Integrity

6. General Regulations

• The employee shall follow DRC instructions on safety, confidentiality and ethical guidelines, including the Code of Conduct and the Humanitarian Accountability Framework
• Employee should not engage in any other paid activity during the DRC contract period without prior authorization
• Employee should not engage in any activity that could harm DRC or the implementation of any project during the DRC contract period
• Employee should not give interviews to the media or publish project-related photos or other material without prior authorization
• Employee shall return all borrowed equipment for the project to DRC after the end of the contract period or upon request