Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) Area Administrator At CESVI – Cooperazione e Sviluppo Onlus

WORK CONTEST

Cesvi has been working in Venezuela since 2019, implementing its projects in the field of emergency and protection including child protection and prevention of SGBV. Cesvi is currently implementing projects in Caracas DC and Miranda State, in consortium with local and international partners. The ongoing projects are funded by ECHO and Venezuela Humanitarian Fund (UNOCHA).

The main projects’ activities include:

• Psychosocial support and legal assistance to children and women;
• Case management to women survivors of SGBV;
• Strengthening of protection space at community level;
• Food assistance to vulnerable households;
• COVID-19 prevention activities

In Colombia, Cesvi is working since 2019 in close coordination with the program in Venezuela, supporting Venezuelan migrants, refugees and hosting communities, with focus on protection and livelihood sectors.

Cesvi has been working in Haiti since 2009, implementing its projects in the field of emergency, children’s rights, food security and watershed management in the South, North and West departments.Currently actions are concentrated in two areas of Haiti: Port-au-Prince (PAP) and Les Cayes Ongoing projects are funded by ECHO, DEVCO and UNWOMEN

JOB DESCRIPTION

The collaboration will start in August/September 2021.
The main duty station will be the Country Office in Caracas with remote management and regular missions to Colombia.

Upon request, ad hoc missions to Haiti.

The Latin America & Carribean (LAC) Area Administrator will respond to the Head of Mission (HoM) of Cesvi Venezuela

According to the assigned countries He/she will work in close collaboration with the Administrative Coordinators and Area Managers at HQ level, and field staff.

He/she will manage local finance and admin staff in Venezuela and remote management of finance/admin staff in Colombia.

The LAC Area Administrator is in charge of the punctual financial management & control, accounting and financial reporting to Cesvi HQ, donors and other stakeholders and promotes cost-effectiveness in project activity implementation.

Main tasks and duties:

With reference to Cesvi Venezuela:

• Financial monitoring of the projects implemented in the Country
• Supervise the staff that work in updating the Prime entry and Balance Forecast Update (BFU) on monthly basis
• Submission of BFU to the HQ in collaboration with the PM and under the supervision of the HoM
• Update Share costs plan in strict collaboration with HoM
• Supervise local admin staff for the management of petty cash, cash book and bank books and sign (after verification) the reconciliation
• Prepare draft of interim financial reports and final financial reports
• Assist each PM in the preparation of the cash flow needed and the Requests for Funds or Requests for Payment to the HQ
• Assist each PM in the preparation of the procurement plan for yearly project management and its update
• Assist each PM in the procurement procedures
• Organize training meetings on administrative procedures (for partners and local staff)
• Support PM/HoM in drafting new budget proposals
• Donors’ Audit and Expenditure verification: Supervise the organization of all Donor’s Audit requests and Expenditure verification in coordination with HQ, according to Cesvi external audit procedure.
• Supervise and coordinate the Country Audit – according to local law requirements
• Support the efficient office management
• Apply Cesvi internal procedures in the Country and contribute to their update and improvement in collaboration with the HoM and HQ
• Guarantee the correct HR management for local staff and supervise that staff contracts are defined according to local laws
• Revision of the monthly payroll and salary payments
• Verify the correct allocation of staff costs
• Supervise that contracts are regularly registered by the competent authorities and that taxes and social insurance are deducted and deposited according to national tax regulation

With reference to Cesvi Colombia:

• Perform regular missions to Cesvi office in Colombia (Santa Marta) to ensure accounting and financial monitoring of the ongoing projects;
• While in Caracas, provide remote support, supervision and monitoring of the financial and administrative staff in Colombia, in particular ensuring supervision of Prime entries and BFUs, appropriate and timely financial reporting and overall supervision of the application of Cesvi and Donors’rules.

With reference to Cesvi Haiti:

• Perform ad hoc missions to Cesvi office in Haiti (Les Cayes/PaP) to support financial management of the ongoing projects. Specific Terms of Reference will be defined before each mission, in coordination with the Administrative Coordinator and the Area Manager.

ESSETIAL REQUIREMENTS

University degree in accounting, finance, economics or related disciplines
5-8 years’ experience in financial and administrative management of cooperation and development projects
Extensive experience of working within a senior management role within a complex country programme in an emergency response or fragile state;
Experience in reinforce existing procedures and systems for financial management and control, and review them for efficiency when appropriate;
Good knowledge of main donors’ administrative rules and procurement procedures, in particular: ECHO, UNOCHA, DEVCO, AICS; Strong budgeting and financial management skills;
Accountancy skills;
Ability to prepare financial reports/ new budget proposal/ forecast and financial planning
Experience in managing grant contracts;
Communication skills with ability to work closely and support CESVI local, expatriate staff and partners;
Solid diplomatic skills: the ability to manage a variety of internal and external relationships, especially with partners;
Highly result oriented with the ability to manage workload and stress
Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills;
Excellent organisational and time management skills;
Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures
Self-motivated, able to take initiative, resilient and able to work independently.
Cross cultural awareness, sensitivity, and patience;
Very flexible and with a positive attitude;
Availability to frequent travels
Computer literacy, particularly in Microsoft Office Programmes such as Word and Excel as well as accounting packages & other database competencies;
Fluency in English and Spanish (written and spoken).

DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS

Prior experience in Latin America & Caribbean area;
Skills in developing, delivering and evaluating training for staff members;
Knowledge of French (written and spoken)

Safeguarding

Cesvi has a zero-tolerance approach to any harm to, or exploitation of, a child or a vulnerable adult by any of our staff, related persons or partners.

Cesvi commitment to being a safe organization begins with the staff recruitment process which includes meticulous checks, such as criminal records checks or check disclosure of previous convictions, to ensure children and vulnerable people are safeguarded and abuse is prevented. Safeguarding checks are part of the selection process performance.

Please note:due to the high number of applications we receive we are unable to provide feedback if unsuccessful at applicant stage. Only short-listed candidates will be updated on the status of their application.