The five-year (2020-2025) USAID Local Impact Governance Project (Local Impact) is helping Zambia build up a sub-national system of governance for devolved service delivery more responsive to citizen needs. The program is engaging national and sub-national authorities to expand the capabilities of partner provinces and districts to deliver sustainable development outcomes, increase effective citizen and private-sector involvement in development planning and monitoring, and improve public financial management and domestic revenue generation.
The activity is specifically working toward three objectives:
- Objective 1: Citizens improve their collective skills to effectively assess service-delivery needs and performance and constructively engage with government.
- Objective 2: The sub-national governance system becomes more responsive to citizen needs, generates, and accountably expends revenue, and improves service-delivery outcomes.
- Objective 3: The program generates learning and facilitates problem solving that supports the development of an effective, financially viable sub-national governance system for devolved services, capable of being scaled up throughout Zambia.
Local Impact is initially working in eighteen districts in Central and Muchinga Provinces to expand the capacity of district authorities to perform core functions, including strengthening the delivery of essential services, deepening citizen and private sector involvement in development planning and monitoring, improving public administration and public financial management, and increasing locally generated revenues. The Project is recruiting for the following positions.
1. Position One (1)
Position Summary
Position: Finance Manager
Location: Lusaka, Zambia
Contract Name: USAID Local Impact Governance Project
Type: Long Term Technical Assistance
Period of Performance: On/around September 1, 2022 – November 1, 2025
The Finance Manager is responsible for managing finance staff, ensuring compliance to financial regulations, and adherence to policies and procedures, He/She will play a pivotal role in overseeing adherence to financial policies in project’s Field Operations Manual (FOM); USAID rules and regulations; and internal controls. He/She will be responsible for and the overall compliance and financial well-being of the project, reporting to and working closely with the Finance and Operations Director.
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Compliance
- Provides oversight of accounting staff ensuring adherence to financial policies and procedures, as well as GAAP accounting standards.
- Ensures that any/all contractual financial reporting requirements are identified and complied in a timely and accurate manner.
- Reviews all finance vouchers for correct coding, complete procurement documentation and ensures that all signed off and saved on SharePoint before Field Expense Reports (FER) are submitted to Home Office.
- Works with the Finance and Operations Director to ensure that all staff adhere to separation of duties policies.
- Ensures that project internal financial controls are implemented in accordance with DAI policies, USAID rules/regulations and the terms of the contract.
- Works with the Finance and Operations Director to identify training needs for any staff on financial policies and procedures
Financial Management
- Coordinates with the Technical Teams and the Activity Manager in the preparation and review of annual workplan and activity budgets.
- Reviews all field expenses and travel advance requests to ensure that they are correctly assigned to approved annual work plan activities in TAMIS and in Field Accounting System.
- Coordinates with the Finance and Operations Director on a regular basis to ensure that funds for all forthcoming project activities are adequately planned for.
- Coordinates with Activity leads and administration teams to ensure that travel requests and advances for all staff travel are approved and in place before travel happens.
- Prepares and manages Field Expense Reports (FERs)submission to Home Office.
- Trains all staff on supporting documentation and submission of expense reports and advance settlements.
- Manages cash flow requirements and forecasts
- Ensures proper segregation of duties within the finance team
- Maintains banking relationships and procedures as required
- Prepares bank reconciliations ready for approval
- Prepares payroll, ensuring leave balances and taxes are accurately recorded.
- Ensures accurate and timely execution of payroll, timesheet review and maintains the leave balance tracker in FAS and periodically reconciles it to HR records.
- Prepares tax and other remittances.
- Ensures that foreign taxes paid, if any, are tracked, recorded, and submitted to the Finance and Operations Director for reporting to USAID in accordance with ADS guidelines, and in a timely manner.
- Provides responses and performs approved actions to internal audit comments.
- Conducts regular spot reviews of backup documentation to ensure completeness, accuracy, and full compliance with all regulations and the Field Operations Manual (FOM).
- Manages and provides training, guidance and direction to the accountant.
- Ensures the accountant is properly executing his/her role.
- Guides all staff on finance procedures relating to their role, including but not limited to expense management, USAID financial policies and procedures, and payroll.
- Coordinates with the Procurement and Administration teams ensuring that recurring payments to Vendors are timely paid and accurately tracked.
- Coordinates with the administration teams and ensure that monthly fuel records and reconciliations are timely submitted for review and replenishment of the fuel account.
Other duties
- Provides leave of absence cover for staff as required.
- Escalates any issues to his/her supervisor immediately.
- Prepared to travel to project provincial offices as required.
- Performs any other duties as assigned
PLACE OF PERFORMANCE AND REPORTING
- The position will be based in the Local Impact main office in Lusaka, Zambia and will report to the Finance and Operations Director.
- There may be some travel to provincial offices.
- The position will directly manage Accountants
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PERSONAL SPECIFICATIONS
- B.A. Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or equivalent.
- Must have current Associate Membership of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA).
- 9+ years of relevant experience in a finance position.
- Minimum 5 years’ experience supporting USAID-funded projects in an accountancy/finance role.
- Previous work experience with DAI in a finance role is an advantage.
- Demonstrated understanding of applicable finance-related USG contracting regulations.
- Experience handing compliance enforcement in a similar environment.
- Accuracy in working with large amounts of data.
- Ability to respond effectively to the time sensitive inquiries.
- Experience with enterprise accounting software, and Microsoft office suite
- An energetic, forward-thinking and creative individual with high ethical standards and appropriate professional image.
- An extremely well organized and self-directed individual with sound technical skills, analytical ability, good judgment, and strong operational focus.
- Able to maintain good working relationships with team members whilst retaining high levels of confidentiality and discretion.
- Fluency in English is required
