Finance Assistant Intern At European Institute of Peace

The European Institute of Peace (EIP) is looking for exceptional individuals who share our vision for a world where people live in safety and peace because conflicts and grievances are resolved through inclusive dialogue and lasting political agreements.

We provide practical experience, technical expertise, and policy advice on conflict resolution. We use a variety of tools to help us do this, including analysis, mapping and design of peace processes and agreements, facilitating policy discussions, and proposing practical engagement, for example through inclusive dialogue and mediation support.

Based in Brussels and active in over a dozen countries, the European Institute of Peace is an independent organisation working collaboratively with European decision-makers, the parties to the conflict, and those who represent people suffering from insecurity or at risk of violence, as well as the conflict prevention, resolution and mediation community.

Our innovative approach to peace enables us to be agile, creative, and effective in everything we do, and these are key qualities we look for in our team members. See www.eip.org for more information.

We are looking for a young professional Finance assistant Intern to join our finance team and to support the Institute’s operations on the different finance projects.

Terms of reference

The Finance assistant intern supports the Operations team and work alongside the Senior Finance Manager, Finance Officer, Accountant and Grant officer to gain a valuable hands-on experience with a variety of finance functions.

Duties and responsibilities

Processing of expenditure and payments:

Give clerical support to the finance department by ensuring that the initial financial information is well presented and supported and make payments:

• Checking and compiling payment requests for all invoice, expense claims, and partner expenditure;
• Ensuring that all income and expenditure is adequately authorised prior to payment/receipt;
• Helping to guarantee that all bank and cash payments are properly disbursed and coded;
• Making sure all payments are well documented, supported and coded;
• Preparing payment in Isabel, a payment platform.

Reporting:

• Ensure fair cost allocation to projects by calculating the monthly staff time allocation.

Finance Digital and Hard copy Filling:

• To maintain and keep all finance files updated making sure that on a daily basis all the relevant accounting documents are filed correctly and in a timely manner;
• To scan and archive the accounting documents of the 2019-2020 financial year;
• To help the finance team during audit in providing the required documents.

Fixed asset register and inventory

• Conduct an asset inventory to keep track of all IT equipment.

Profile

• Bachelor or Master Degree in accounting or finance; or other relevant field;
• 6 months – 1 year of work experience in a similar role or a recent graduate with a Master’s degree;
• Knowledge of Belgian bookkeeping standards;
• Excellent command of English and at least one of the two official languages of the Brussels region (French and Dutch). Any other EU language is a plus;
• IT literate – excellent knowledge of Excel;
• Organised and methodical, self-disciplined with excellent attention to detail and an ability to meet deadlines;
• Detail-oriented and able to demonstrate careful attention to routine systems and procedures;
• High level of inter-personal skills and showing integrity at all times;
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team;
• Good communication skills;
• Ability to stay on top of complex procedures and plan ahead;
• The right to work in Belgium (Belgian or EU citizen or currently in possession of a Belgian work permit).

The Institute offers

• 6 months internship contract with a possibility of extension at €1,000 per month;
• Lunch vouchers;
• Contribution to public transportation to and from the office;
• 40h/week (with 6 RTT days – one day earned per month);
• Contribution to teleworking allowance: €15;
• An exciting, international environment.

Start date: as soon as possible

The successful candidate will need to reside in or relocate in Belgium when the employment contract starts.