Finance Officer – DDP At Hivos

Region: Global

Office: The Netherlands (mostly working remote)

Hours: 32 hrs

Application deadline: April 1, 2023

The Digital Defenders Partnership, a program hosted by Hivos, seeks a new team member to support us with our Finance Operations.

Are you committed to defending human rights offline as well as online? Do you have working experience in finances of multi-donor projects, re-granting and risk management, and drafting financial reports for donors? Do you want to work in an international, diverse team? The DDP team would love to have you as a colleague.

About DDP

DDP was founded in 2012 by the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC), initially as an emergency grant mechanism in response to digital threats against human rights defenders (HRDs). Our program of activities has grown significantly in recent years, with the aim of providing a more holistic response to digital threats against HRDs. The annual DDP budget increased from 1.4 million in 2013 to 4.5 million in 2023, and the staff size grew from three EU-based people in 2013 to 36 team members in 2023 spread across six regions (Asia, Anglophone Africa, Francophone Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe/Caucasus/Central Asia, and the EU). Hosted as a program of Hivos, DDP is currently supported by seven governmental donors, all of whom are FOC members.

This is a particularly exciting time to join DDP. In 2023 we will undergo a further expansion, with the establishment of a team in the Sahel and Francophone West Africa. Moreover, this year we will develop our 2024-2027 Strategy in which we hope to further learn and deepen our commitment to feminist and decolonial approaches.

Your responsibilities

The main tasks for the DDP Financial Officer include:

Daily finance operations

• Ensure budget tracking, reconciliation of accounts and budget lines, quarterly spending projections, monthly spending reviews, and monitoring of payments.
• Assisting the preparation of monthly project spending and support the preparation of monthly financial reports to ensure budget vs actual are prepared and variance analysis report provided
• Ensure all financial transactions are in accordance with the relevant grant agreement and are properly processed and correctly recorded in All Solutions.
• Support the processing of new donor contracts as well as closing donor contracts through Hivos procedures, such as drafting project wizards.
• Support any ad hoc finance requests coming from DDP colleagues, Hivos or donors.

Re-granting

• Maintaining oversight of financial and contractual compliance of partner grants, in close cooperation with the grants team.
• Undertake due diligence and capacity assessments of potential sub grantee partners.
• Review financial reports submitted by the sub grantee partners and make recommendations to the Project Officer and Project Manager Operations for payments and further disbursements.
• Performs financial inspections of project partners as needed.
• Assesses audited financial statements of projects and Program partners.

Compliance and audit

• Ensure the implementation of Hivos and DDP risk management processes, and advice on fraud and irregularity procedures.
• Co-coordinates the annual program audit, including the preparation of the list of annual transactions.
• Supports in drafting donor specific financial reports, such as quarterly reports and VAT reports.

Team work

• Attending the weekly, bi-monthly and monthly DDP team meeting, including personal check in, updates on activities, administration team meetings, and coordination with DDP Manager of Operation and Project Finance manager

Your profile

Minimum criteria

• Level of professional and analytical ability: A holder of ACCA or a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting/Finance option) or other relevant degree.
• Minimum of 5 years relevant accounting experience, preferable in an international or donor organization.
• Exposure to reviewing, understanding and drafting financial reports (in English), as well as coordinating audits.
• Ability to work in a financially complex international projects, such as multi-donor and multi-regional.

Desired criteria

• Experiences in dealing with administration such as bidding documents, contracts, invoices, etc.
• Experience in grant and risk management.
• Practical knowledge spreadsheet and working knowledge of an Entreprise Resource Planning environment.
• General Knowledge of ICT, MS Office.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively; good command of oral and written English, Spanish and/or French is a plus.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Professional discretion.
• A willingness to work in a Queer-affirmative and feminist team, to assert your needs, respect those of your colleagues, and contribute to an empowering and joyful working environment. You agree to the DDP values (as addressed in our 2020-2023 Strategic Plan) and will sign the Hivos Safeguarding Policy and non-disclosure agreement of DDP.

Location

The ideal candidate is preferably based in The Netherlands, but note that work is to a large extend remote.

Diversity

DDP is dedicated to strengthening diversity in the field of digital and holistic protection, and in this regard, women and LGBTQIA+ people, persons with disabilities, as well as others traditionally under-represented in the field, are encouraged to apply. Applicants who disclose a disability and who meet the minimum criteria outlined above will be guaranteed an interview. If you would like to take advantage of this offer, please indicate this in your cover letter along with any reasonable adjustments you require for an online interview.

What we offer

This position will be for 32 hours per week. The salary in this role will depend on the location of the applicant. Hivos can only offer employment on local terms and conditions.

We offer an international and diverse team you will be working with. The direct manager will be the Project Manager Operations, and you will be working closely with the Finance Project Manager, the Project Assistants and the DDP grants team, comprising of 6 team members working from all over the world. The salary range is between €2.924,94 and €4.008,80 gross per month based on full-time employment (36 hours per week) and pending experience.

Background checks for final candidates

If you are selected for the final stage of the selection process, please note that professional references and background checks will be conducted due to our Safeguarding Policy. We may check social media -unless applicants states they do not wish us to do so. Accuracy of information in the curriculum vitæ will also be checked.