LATIN AMERICA – COUNTRY ADMINISTRATION MANAGER At Solidarités International

Desired start date: July 2021
Duration of the contract: 6 months
Location: Bogota, Colombia

ABOUT THE MISSION…

SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL is a French humanitarian organization that provides aid and assistance to victims of war or natural disaster. For over 39 years, our organization has worked towards meeting the three basic needs – water, food, and shelter – of vulnerable and crisis-affected populations and has been more specifically committed to fight against waterborne diseases, leading cause of death in the world. SI’s interventions are carried out based on its expertise in the field of access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene promotion, but also in the essential ones of food security and livelihoods. SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL is currently present in about 20 countries where SI staff – a total of 2,000 people comprising expatriates, local staff, HQ employees and some volunteers – implements programs with professionalism and commitment whilst being mindful of respecting other cultures.

SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL has started its activities in Latin America in 2019. After several exploratory missions were carried out, missions were opened and progressively increased their scopes of intervention in Colombia and Venezuela. They now include activities such as WASH in health facilities, schools and targeted rural or urban communities through the improvement of water services and hygiene practices. SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL operated in Latin America within Consortiums with other French NGOs and some of its activities are implemented through local partners.

SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL is looking for a Country Administrative Manager based in Bogota to take the lead on the country programme financial aspects, and to act as a deputy of the Administrative Coordinator.

ABOUT THE JOB

General objective:

The Country Administration Manager will implement and supervise all financial operations at country level. He/she will organize financial support for programs, in respect of Solidarites International’s and donors’ procedures. He/she will assist the administrative coordinator in the implementation of these procedures and ensure a high level of quality of the financial information. He/she will supervise accounting operations and cash management in conjunction with the field offices.

General Technical Support:

• Provide technical support and advice to the Finance teams in the field and at coordination level on accounting regulations
• Support the harmonized use of the organization’s chart of account in the field offices
• Provide support to the field finance teams and regularly travel to make sure financial procedures are respected in each office
• Identify training gaps among finance staff in collaboration with the Administrative Coordinator, and support and partake in the preparation of financial trainings and workshops

Accounting:

• Supervise the accountant in processing payments and bookkeeping at coordination level
• Ensure that bookkeeping in every office delivers a financial information of high quality and that all the field offices share an adequate level of technical accounting knowledge according to the organization’s and national regulation standards (Colombia and Venezuela) in support of the Administrative Coordinator
• Proceed to the creation and amendment of projects in SAGA according to the budget structures approved by Donors and use of the organization’s chart of accounts
• Proceed to the creation of co-funding parameters between projects and that accounting entries are correctly registered as co-funding in SAGA
• Ensure that shared cost allocation of salaries and other support costs are posted according to the organization’s shared cost policy
• Make sure exchange rates are adequately set up and anticipated in SAGA according to the procedures. Also make sure that exchange rates differences are monitored and correctly accounted for
• Proceed to the control of the payroll journal on a monthly basis, make sure all employee advances are correctly closed every month, and that social contributions are adequately accounted and paid to the social tax collectors
• Proceed to a monthly reconciliation of accounts (banks, G/L, accounts receivable and payable) and monitor any anomaly so that monthly statements of accounts are perfectly balanced
• Support the administrative coordinator in monthly closing processes to ensure closures are held on time and according to Solidarites International’s policies and deadlines
• Ensure cash counts, bank statements and bank reconciliations are shared with the Administrative Coordinator on time and are reconciled
• Overview the implementation of paper and digital archiving procedures and the backup of finance files
• Ensure an internal control of the quality of the documents with regular spot check on the mission archive
• Ensure the security and confidentiality of administrative documents and accounting documents Ensure regular closure of contract in SAGA: preparation of the contract closure sheet for the Administrative Coordinator validation
• Participate in the yearly accounting closure preparation in support to the Administrative Coordinator: prepare the final cross check of the accountancy of the past year, prepare the annexes and documentation necessary as per Solidarites International standard

Statutory reporting:

• Follow the evolution of fiscal and administrative related national laws and policies, and proactively suggest adjustments of procedure and policy to the Administrative Coordinator for approval
• Proceed to calculation of VAT and tax, levies and statutory returns on a monthly basis and proceed to the payment to GoC administration
• Validate the calculation of the payroll employee and employer contributions and proceed to the payment the GoC administration
• Prepare the monthly accounting cash books according to Colombian accrual based system, ensuring an easy-to-use translation of the organization’s accounting system into the Colombian system
• Proceed with the VAT exemption application to APC for Solidarites International´s projects when signed
• Prepare and ensure sign-off of statutory documents at country level, including consolidated financial statements, tax forms, withholding tax forms and annual activity reports

Treasury:

• Ensure the adequate implementation of the mission cash supply and security system across all offices, identify opportunities of improvement and propose policy adjustment to the coordinator for validation
• Supervise the management of cash boxes and bank accounts at the coordination office in Bogota, guaranteeing their security and confidentiality of information, prepare Cash Flow Requests to be submitted to Headquarters in France, and follow-up on transfers upon validation of the Administrative Coordinator
• Monitor Bank reconciliations on a monthly basis, provide explanations for any discrepancies and raise alerts in case of unexplained anomalies
• Initiate fund transfers to the field offices with the Administrative coordinator validation

Audit:

• Participate in the preparation of audit upon request and in the sending of accountancy archive to HQ
• Follow up on internal and external audit recommendations in collaboration with management and each office

Team management:

• Organize and evaluate the work of the finance team under direct supervision of this position, with support from the Administrative Coordinator
• Train and support team members under his/her supervision

Administration:

• Support the Administrative Coordinator in relations with local administrative authorities (Camara de Comercio, Notaria, DIAN, APC, Planilla, SGSST)**

YOUR PROFILE

Specific skills and experience:

• A minimum of 3 years of experience in finance management with a certification in public accountancy and capacity to certify accounts – the selected candidate must have a valid accountant professional permit.
• Knowledge of Colombian accounting and tax regulations
• Experience working with INGOs highly appreciated
• Relatively high level of autonomy and organization of priorities
• Creative and dynamic style of working, to set up a team of highly expected standards
• Ability to build an working environment for the team
• Full professional proficiency in Spanish
• Full professional proficiency in English – minimum required B2 according to CEFR

Soft skills:

• Good communication skills in both written and verbal Spanish and English
• Reactive, Flexible and resourceful
• Solution-oriented management

For this role, the best candidate will also demonstrate ability to think beyond evidence, to deliver results and solve problems. He/She will show wit and ambition as well as a long-sighted mindset.

SI WILL OFFER YOU

Contract : Fixed-term contract of 6 months (renewable upon new projects and continuity of fundings)

Salary: According to experience, starting from 4,166,800 COP gross salary per month (+ 13^th month and Cesentia). Please note there is 3% of salary increment for seniority reward within SI, each completed year

Benefits:

• a full coverage of medical care with Colsanitas – possibility to afiliate family members upon request at the candidate’s expense benefiting from the employer’s negotiated cost
• 18 days annual leaves per year

This job is the opportunity for the selected candidate to take part to an ambitious organization and an ambitious team, tackling social problems faced by vulnerable families affected by the Venezuelan crisis in Colombia. Upon taking this position, the candidate will have the opportunity to learn deeply about the intricacies of financial management in International Organizations and to gain insightful knowledge about the sector.