Director Finance and Operations John Snow Inc.

Position Title: Director, Finance & Operations

Position Type: Full Time

Location: Lusaka

Job Summary

The Director, Finance and Operations is a full-time position based in the Lusaka office. S/he will be responsible for the day-to-day oversight of the program financial and administrative operations. S/he works in close coordination with the Finance Director, HR Director, Operations Director, and lead Procurement staff and oversees all finance and administration staff including those in three Regional offices. The Director of Finance and Operations reports to the Deputy Chief of Party, Finance and Operations.

Primary Responsibilities and Duties:

• Assist the Deputy Chief of Party, Finance and Operations and other key personnel with daily program management, contributing to program decision-making by providing input on the financial health and status of the program and ensuring coherence between program and financial units;
• Assist Deputy Chief of Party, Finance and Operations to address contract-related issues, ensuring that contractor financial controls and systems comply with generally accepted accounting practices and meet USAID standards;
• Ensure compliance with USAID procedures and regulations in the implementation of all program activities;
• Ensure compliance with JSI policies and procedures especially the Operations Manual and Local Hire Employee Manual;

Finance (20% of time)

• Assist Deputy Chief of Party, Finance and Operations during PEPFAR annual reporting;
• Supervise and approve program financial transactions, purchase orders, contracts, and petty cash for the Lusaka and regional offices in Northwest, Copperbelt and Central;
• Conduct file audits for Lusaka & provincial offices. Primary audit areas include contracts, personnel, procurement, finance, and project inventory. Oversee actual audits (if any).
• Ensure that the monthly close-out of financial accounts is completed correctly and on schedule by all finance staff;
• Manage, monitor, and update program (workplan) budget and obligated funds; review and analyze variations and share with DCOP F&A and JSI/Boston;
• Review the quarterly financial work plan monitoring tool and ensure that it correlates with the work plan activity tracking tool.

Human Resources (20% of time)

• Ensure the appropriate management of project staffing, recruitment, compensation and benefits, training and development, performance management, and labor relations;
• Oversee consultant contracting and hiring;
• Conduct periodic trainings for staff in coordination with the DCOP F&A to highlight key F&A/HR policies;
• Supervise Finance Director, Operations Director, HR Director and Procurement Director;
• Participate in Fraud Response Teams, as assigned;

Procurement (50% of time)

• Lead Procurement Staff to ensure that program procurement is completed according to the procurement plan
• Approve purchase requests and purchase orders according to the threshold
• Coordinate with Boston Office for any required USAID procurement approval
• Review the procurement plan tracker on bi-weekly basis
• Assign the procurement committees based on the SAFE procurement policy
• Liaise between procurement team, technical team and headquarters team
• Ensure the procurement plan is fully completed by the end of the year

Operations (10% of time)

• Oversee the management of project inventory to ensure items are tracked as per USAID and JSI guidelines;
• Oversee and provide support to Operations Director in fleet management;
• Travel periodically to provincial offices to conduct checks and provide support;
• Coordinate with Compliance team during audit and review;
• Carry out additional responsibilities as may be assigned.

Desired Qualifications:

• A Master’s degree or higher in accounting, finance, business management, or a related field is required;
• At least 15 years of senior-level financial and administrative experience, with at least 3 years experience in the management of programs of the same complexity and size;
• International working experience is an advantage
• Demonstrate leadership skills with experience in senior financial management position preferably with an International NGO;
• Demonstrated experience in management, supervision, and coordination of a team of senior finance, HR and operations professionals
• Demonstrated successful experience in procurement management
• Good working knowledge of local labour laws and policy interpretation
• Ability to maintain confidentiality
• Advanced skills in budgeting and financial reporting.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
• Superior attention to detail; organizational skills; planning skills; problem-solving skills; analytical skills and critical thinking skills
• In-depth knowledge of USAID financial and procurement management rules and regulations, and reporting;
• Knowledge of basic accounting packages (QuickBooks preferred); and
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel.
• A Zambian national or holds official residency in Zambia.