Finance Manager At The Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security

Job Title Finance Manager

Reports to Position Title Project Director PVPSSA

Research Project Title Promotion of Vancouver Principles in Sub-Saharan Africa

Faculty/ Department Africa Center of Excellence, The Dallaire Institute

FTE (based on 35 paid hr work week) 100%

Duration 12 months. Full-time

Date Created/Updated 05/2024

About the Research
The Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security was established by retired Lieutenant-General the Honorable Roméo Dallaire, former Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). Our mission is to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed violence and transform cycles of violence.

The Dallaire Institute’s African Centre of Excellence has been funded to finance projects specifically designed to strengthen national security sectors’ capacity to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts in Africa.

Job Purpose
This role, reporting to the Project Director, serves as the Finance Lead for the PVPSSA project. Responsibilities include managing daily financial activities, guiding the Team involved in the project regarding financial matters, and ensuring alignment with organizational goals. It involves liaising with Dalhousie’s financial services department for donor funds and overseeing the financial activities in the countries of implementation. This position is responsible for the financial risk assessments and best practices implementation while helping meet the overarching goals and objectives of the project.

Capacity building in finance is also a key aspect of the role.

The Finance Manager will oversee budget planning and financial management and will be responsible for country financial monitoring and oversight for the project, including compliance, and donor reporting.

Duties and Responsibilities

General Management and Governance

• Manage the relationship and liaison between Dallaire Institute, Dalhousie University finance departments, and required external parties.
• Ensure adherence to the organization’s finance policies and procedures, ensuring proper systems of internal control and regular review of financial transactions.
• Advise on areas of financial risks and propose and implement solutions;
• Supervise finance staff related to the PVPSSA project and technical support to field offices.
• Provide capacity development support (either mentoring or coaching) to both finance and non-finance staff at HQ and the field offices as applicable.
• Prepare and submit financial reports and cash requests in collaboration with PVPSSA staff to administer processes and departmental invoices.
• Monitor program budgets, analyze expenditures, and advise on corrective plans.
• Lead quarterly re-forecasting exercises and oversee annual budget preparations.
• Maintain financial files according to The Dallaire Institute processes.
• Coordinate the review of financial and audit reports and liaise with the in-country and HQ finance personnel as needed.

Financial Management

• Preparation of monthly management accounts for approval by the Project Director for submission to HQ and donors adhering to the strict reporting deadlines.
• Overseeing cash management, including cash transfers to field sites and partners in cooperation with the Programme & Finance team ensuring that the implementation teams in each country comply with all relevant donor and internal guidelines.
• Ensuring complete and accurate financial documentation of all processes and their proper registration and storage.
• Continuous improvement of financial and accounting processes, implementing procedures and policies adopted by the HQ.
• Ensuring compliance with The Dallaire Institute’s standard accounting procedures and policies and actively monitoring internal controls to minimize risk to the organization.

Team Management

• Work closely with the Deputy Directors related to financial areas and other Finance team members in HQ and other PVPSSA Project members in the different countries to provide guidance and oversight of the finance function.
• Management, in a matrix structure, of the Finance and Accounting Team at the country level.
• Providing leadership, direction and capacity-building support for the in-country and Field Finance Team.
• Providing training and support to financial and non-financial staff regarding PVPSSA financial procedures, internal controls and budget management tools. Travel frequently to all sites to oversee financial capacity and support as needed

Budget Management and Administration

• Monitor funds to ensure that monies are spent in accordance with the organization’s/Dalhousie’s financial policies and procedures and respective Donor guidelines;
• Develop a regular forecasting process for the Project (Restricted and Unrestricted) and coordinate with the Project Director to manage any projected over/underspends;
• Prepare all financial reporting and analysis, as required for internal and external audiences including governance bodies, Dalhousie University, donors and partners and submit for sign- off to Dalhousie Research and Financial Services where applicable;
• Support the design, development, and implementation of sub-awards in coordination with The Dallaire Institute staff, ensuring compliance with donor and organizational policies.
• Monitor sub-award implementation, conduct monitoring and evaluation as required, and ensure accurate recording of programmatic outputs and impact
• Coordinate sub-awardee pre-assessments, cost, and price analysis, and facilitate communication to obtain donor approval.
• Assist with procurement and logistics assignments to facilitate project implementation and ensure value for money.
• Ensure compliance with tendering regulations, procedures, and internal policies in procurement processes.
• Provide information for contractual reporting purposes as needed.
• Oversee financial management, including sub-awards and subcontracts
• Ensure project expenses are reasonable, allocable, prudent, and spent in accordance with established rules and regulations
• Collaborate with the Project Director in budget planning and financial management
• Ensure transparency, accountability and effective use of project resources and assets
• Lead the annual work plan budgeting exercises to ensure the activities are captured in the program budget and work plan
• Led the completion and submission of the monthly field accounts reporting, including all the supporting documentation.
• Prepare and submit timely requests for funds to ensure the uninterrupted flow of funds to implement program activities
• Prepare regular and ad hoc reports as required
• Ensure compliance with standard accounting practices in all countries with active project implementation.
• Oversee compliance with all related tax requirements in all countries with active project implementation.

Other Responsibilities

• To proactively participate in planning and performance processes as outlined in the Employee Handbook including annual appraisals, regular meetings, and ensuring that annual reviews are an integral component of work plans and priorities;
• Promote a safe and secure work environment in line with the organization’s core values; and foster strong communication between teams within the organization;
• Demonstrate an ongoing commitment to child protection and commitment to the Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA);
• Comply with Dallaire Initiative’s financial and operational requirements and uphold high standards of honesty and integrity in personal conduct.

All staff are additionally responsible to:

• Proactively participate in planning and performance processes as outlined in the Employee Handbook including annual appraisals, regular meetings, and ensuring that annual reviews are an integral component of work plans and priorities.
• Promote a safe and secure work environment in line with the organization’s core values including the Dallaire Institute Workplace Principles and foster strong communication between teams within the organization.
• Demonstrate an ongoing commitment to promoting and protecting the rights of children, particularly the prevention of the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.
• Comply with Dallaire Institute’s financial and operational requirements and uphold high standards of honesty and integrity in personal conduct.
• This job description is a general outline of responsibilities and qualifications and is not intended to be an exhaustive list. The responsibilities and duties may evolve based on the organization’s needs, and additional tasks may be assigned as required.

Qualifications

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting or business administration (CPA designation preferred) with a minimum of 7+ years’ experience, of which at least 3 years have been in a global context;
• Proven experience in managing budgets and multiple administrative and finance tasks in fast-paced environments;
• Experience of working across countries and cultures, preferably in an international context
• Ability to take initiative to organize time effectively within a range of often conflicting deadlines and competing priorities;
• Possess well-developed analytical, problem-solving and decision-making.
• Capable of meeting professional challenges in a busy, deadline-driven environment; Must be able to work effectively in a team environment and be able to develop and maintain effective working relationships with multiple levels of partners, internal and external;

Skills

• Able to manage and be managed in a dotted line hierarchy;
• Superior attention to detail, reporting, and tracking of multi-million-dollar projects;
• Demonstrate ability to work effectively across multicultural, multilingual, and multidisciplinary teams both on-site and remotely;
• Fluent written and verbal communication skills in English.

Knowledge

• Experience working and collaborating with diverse sets of stakeholders, such as in- country NGOs, government officials, donor representatives, particularly in line with The Dallaire Institute mission.
• Ability to lead and manage project teams and operations remotely and ability to adapt management approaches.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office
• Experience in delivering monitoring and evaluation training in person and remotely.
• Ability to communicate technical concepts to colleagues.

Assets

• Working with a multi-currency environment;
• Multilingual skills would be an asset.

Working conditions

Hybrid role: The occupant will be eligible for hybrid work (a combination of in-person work and remote work) as agreed by all parties based on operational requirements and Institutional guidelines.

The candidate may be required to travel internationally from time to time.

Supervisory/managerial

The position is a managerial role that directly oversees a small team dedicated to Finance and Administrative duties and coordinates, on matrix structure, the Finance Officers in the Countries where the project will be implemented.