Central African Republic: Country Transparency and Compliance Officer at ACTED

ACTED

Since 1993, the international solidarity association ACTED has been responding to the humanitarian needs of populations in crisis situations and respecting their dignity, while promoting and implementing opportunities for sustainable development, by investing in the potentials of Man.

ACTED is committed to responding to emergencies and developing resilience in the face of crisis situations, to co-construct effective governance, and to promote inclusive and sustainable growth.

We are working on the last mile of humanitarian action. Our mission is to save lives and meet the basic needs of populations in the most difficult to access areas. ACTED develops and implements programs for the most vulnerable populations who suffer from violence, conflicts, natural disasters or a situation of endemic poverty. ACTED’s approach goes beyond emergency response, with a commitment to sustainable development and community access to livelihoods.

ACTED implements more than 500 projects per year with 20 million beneficiaries in 38 countries. Our teams are made up of 450 international employees and 5500 national staff.

ACTED Central African Republic

Since 2013, the Central African Republic has faced regular episodes of violence due to clashes between numerous armed groups that pit communities against each other.

The Central African Republic is currently wavering between emergency and development needs. Even though some regions and some of the main cities, notably Bangui, the capital, are now engaged in a stabilization process, new cycles of violence have forced many people to move: thus, more than one in five people was displaced or a refugee in the Central African Republic at the end of 2017. These mass displacements have weakened the resilience of the populations and generated very important needs in terms of access to essential services, such as water, sanitation, education , food and health, as well as in terms of access to employment. Otherwise,

Positioning / Strategy of ACTED in the country

Since its establishment in the country in 2007, ACTED has been one of the major players in the support of the Central African population and constitutes one of the most important NGOs in the country by its financial volume, its geographical coverage, and its central role within the humanitarian coordination system. The organization thus implements nearly 25 projects annually thanks to the work of a team of nearly 400 people including more than 30 expatriates, spread over 12 bases covering the majority of the territory. ACTED is one of the 10 NGOs elected to the Executive Committee of the coordinating body of international NGOs (CCO) and as such participates in the Humanitarian Country Team.

ACTED’s activities in CAR cover the entire humanitarian spectrum, ranging from mobile emergency interventions under the Rapid Response Mechanism to ambitious development projects through economic recovery or support to civil society and the governance. Despite a context of reduced funding, ACTED’s mission in CAR is currently growing rapidly thanks to its ability to provide innovative and ambitious solutions to humanitarian needs and the current crisis. In particular, ACTED RCA’s activities focus on the following sectors:

Support for communities by building infrastructure (markets, bridges, community spaces, etc.)
Vocational training for ex-combatants to ensure their reintegration
Water and Sanitation support, following the “Wash and Nut” approach (consisting in coupling nutritional support to WASH assistance: construction and rehabilitation of wells, rehabilitation of Therapeutic Nutritional Units, training in hygiene, training of personnel caregivers)
Rapid Emergency Response Program (RRM) for support following a shock in Essential Household Items (NFI), Water and Sanitation and Food Security
Emergency education for displaced children
Cross-border responses to population movements
Support for vulnerable populations through monetary approaches
Reconstruction of housing to allow displaced people to return to their areas of origin
Economic recovery and support for the private sector
Reconstruction of road infrastructure (bridges and roads)

Main role and responsibilities

1. Internal Audit Management

Participate in the implementation of the approved national internal audit plan: lead and supervise internal audit missions by adopting a risk management approach

Audit Plan: Participate in the implementation and update the country audit plan (including IP due diligence);
Conduct country internal audit missions: conduct country / zone audit missions according to the country audit plan and ACTED internal audit methodologies;
Review the country / zone internal audit missions conducted by the country / zone audit and compliance team before validation by the coordination;
Carry out the implementation of due diligence with partners, participate in the monitoring of mitigation plans;
Suggest measures to mitigate risks to the country transparency and compliance manager, discuss the main results and recommendations with the CD during the mission; Draft an action plan (AUD-04B) to be discussed during the debriefing session;
Audit report: send the audit reports (AUD-04A) to the country transparency and compliance manager for review before region or HQ validation;
Follow up on recommendations and actively participate in their implementation,

Implementation of standard ACTED guides and the FLAT system in the capital, zones and at partner level

Control the monthly flow of documentation from zones and partners to the capital office; review the level of compliance of documentation on a random basis;
Supervise the National Compliance Officer by compiling, archiving and verifying monthly all project information related to finance, logistics, administration, HR and program (including documentation from zones and partners) in the FLATS binder designated for each project (FLA 01 and FLA 03);
Support the Compliance team in identifying problems by completing compliance checklists (FLA 02);
Follow the action plan (AUD04B),
Prepare the monthly compliance report (FLA 04) and the TITANIC audit, request proofreading and validation from the country transparency and compliance manager and send it to HQ,

When necessary, help to monitor compliance with the country’s rules and laws at the request of your coordination and in conjunction with the country finance manager.

Follow up on litigious cases (suppliers, staff);
Monitor national and local legislation (tax exemption, social security, labor law);
Monitoring of tax and VAT exemptions: monitor ACTED’s compliance with tax laws and ensure that exemptions are requested within the allotted time,

Provide support to mitigate identified “high risk” risks

Provide support to the Finance, Logistics, Administration and Program departments and participate in the implementation of the action plan to mitigate the risks identified in 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 at the request of the Country Director and / or the Audit, Legal and HQ transparency,

2. External audit: Guarantee the preparation and follow-up of external audits and due diligence

Participate in the preparation of external audits and due diligence in close collaboration with the HQ Audit department, the Country Finance Manager and the Country Director;
Elaborate the draft of the preparation of the external audit (AUD-01) and ensure the update of the Project, FLAT and External Audit monitoring (AUD-00);
Help train implementing partners and country / zone staff in the preparation of external audits;
Contribute, in conjunction with the Country Finance Manager, to the management of the preparation of external audits by making the link with the expenditure of the implementing partners,
Contribute in close collaboration with the Country Director and the Country Finance Manager, to facilitate and coordinate the audit, organize the launch and closing meetings of each external audit.
Contribute to drafting a response from ACTED Management to the audit report, to be approved by the country transparency and compliance manager, by the Country Finance Manager and the Country Director first, then by the HQ Audit department. Monitor the receipt of the signed audit report;
Help ensure the updating of the follow-up to external audit recommendations (AUD-02) and ensure the implementation of external audit recommendations;
When relevant, when registering a project or an assignment, provide technical support to select external audit firms,

3. Training sessions / lessons learned / best practices

Training and skills development
Provide practical training on specific points of ACTED procedures;
Supervise Compliance employees in the country,

Lessons learned

Contribute to a proactive dissemination and use of lessons learned during audit activities (internal and external audits) among national and international staff;
In the absence of the country risk and compliance manager, Participate in launch and closing meetings and share lessons learned from previous audits and focus on technical guides from donors,

Process improvement

Strengthen the current processes and the quality of ACTED’s internal control, based on international best practices, donor requirements and the results of internal and external audits:
At the request of the country risk and compliance manager or the audit director, participate in the development of specific policies,

4. Transparency

Contribute to minimizing the risk of corruption fraud by ensuring compliance with FLATS procedures, ACTED’s code of conduct and anti-fraud policy;
At the request of the country risk and compliance manager, the country director and / or the audit director, participate in the investigation of cases of fraud (FRA-04):
Actively promote ACTED’s anti-fraud and whistleblower policy within ACTED offices in the country,

5. Internal coordination

Provide training and skills development for members of the compliance team to increase the level of technical capacity and skills within the department
Manage the transparency and compliance intern (if there is one) by following the action plans and day-to-day activities;
Supervise the transparency and compliance intern and the country compliance officer in order to strengthen their technical capacity,

6. Other

Provide regular and ad hoc updates on progress and challenges, to coordination and other team members
Notify the Country Director and the HQ in the event of a major problem having a potential financial or reputational impact on the mission.

Qualifications and skills required

Bac +5 finance, accounting, management control, audit, ESC diploma
Significant experience in finance, auditing, financial control / logistics or data analysis, and if possible in the field of development and international relations
Writing skills
Experience abroad
Ability to work in tense and pressured situations
Management and training experience is a plus

Terms & Conditions

Salary defined by the ACTED salary scale according to the level of studies, expertise, level of security and level of experience
Living allowance of 300 USD
Accommodation and food paid for by ACTED: guesthouse accommodation or housing allowance (depending on the length of the contract and the country)
Round-trip plane tickets and Visa supported by ACTED
Social security, mutual insurance (MSH) and repatriation assistance (SOS International) supported by ACTED