DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

Position Title: Director of Finance and Administration

Location: Monrovia, Liberia

Reports to: Chief of Party

Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) is recruiting for an anticipated USAID-funded bilateral community health award that aims to deliver quality health services at the community level through community health cadres and their supporting systems.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

The Director of Finance and Administration (DFA) is the primary financial and administrative officer of the project. They will be responsible for comprehensive financial, operations, and administrative oversight to the project. They will provide support to the Chief of Party (COP) on financial aspects for reporting and relationships with USAID/Liberia Mission and implementing partners. The DFA is responsible for the timely and effective implementation of the project’s technical scope of work by ensuring all financial transactions are complete, accurate, timely, adequate, and appropriate, and the activity staff and office are operating smoothly. This is a Key Personnel role approved by USAID.

Specific duties and responsibilities include:

• Ensure that financial functions support the timely and effective implementation of the program’s technical scope of work. This includes ensuring all financial transactions are complete, accurate, timely, adequate, and appropriate.
• Ensure that resources are allocated and used in compliance with award requirements, JHU policy, and applicable USG regulations.
• Ensure compliance with Liberian law, including timely submission of all tax and benefits
• Be responsible for comprehensive financial, operations, and administrative oversight for the project.
• Support other project partners to ensure financial compliance.
• Follow appropriate protocol for reporting suspected internal controls violations.

Financial Systems and Tools

• Provide guidance on CCP finance and operational policies and procedures, where applicable.
• Ensure the completeness, accuracy, timeliness, adequacy, and appropriateness of all financial transactions and related support (i.e., all financial transactions meet audit standards).
• Immediately inform, guide, and request revision to supporting documents that do not meet donor, JHU, or audit requirement (e.g., incomplete or inaccurate forms, missing support, illegible photocopies, missing printed names, signatures, dates, etc.)
• Work with the Senior Grants and Contracts Analyst (Sr. GCA) to align country-level workplan budget with overall project budget.
• Ensure compliance with CCP procurement policies and procedures.
• Manage the country’s audit process for internal and external audits in coordination with CCP finance.
• Prepare the monthly bank reconciliation and ensure the monthly financial reports and required supporting documentation are submitted to the CCP imprest team.
• Prepare monthly payroll ensuring receipt of all timesheets and leave requests from HR, calculating and filing of PAYE, social security remissions, and other statutory payroll requirements.
• Maintain petty cash box securely as per country operations manual including issuing petty cash upon request, following up on receipts, reconciling the petty cash monthly, performing cash counts, monitoring physical cash to QuickBooks, and immediately addressing discrepancies.
• Prepare petty cash vouchers and ensure receipts are attached timely.
• Maintain adequate and appropriate levels of petty cash formally requesting changes as needed via the CCP imprest team in Baltimore.
• Conduct ad hoc petty cash counts/reconciliations and document the process.
• Routinely review the project’s asset register and just-in-time consumables inventory worksheets to ensure timely and accurate updates are being made.
• Conduct routine and ad hoc physical inventory verifications and document the process.
• Review and prepare the annual and quarterly USAID-required report of foreign taxes (VAT reports) and provide feedback or guidance if necessary.
• Timely prepare and remit all statutory taxes to the Liberian Revenue Authority, including payroll and other financial items as required.
• Assist non-finance staff to prepare adequate justifications to support budgets and transactions.
• Orient travelers on correct and appropriate travel policies and procedures before taking advances.
• Follow-up weekly on outstanding advances for program activity or travel ensuring adherence to organizational policies and procedures.
• Maintain and communicate to staff on appropriate allocations for shared office costs based on space and effort.
• Make field visits as necessary to provide support, verify, and document verifications of transactions as required.
• Review fleet management supporting documents to ensure proper accounting and use of project vehicles including a review of vehicle logs and tracking rep
• Accrue for severance in QuickBooks.

Budget Tracking

• Participate in the annual workplan budgeting process by drafting the country-level budget and justification to update staff and salary information, reviewing historical expenses to forecast future expenditures, and reviewing and incorporating program activity budgets.
• After approval of the workplan budget, ensure that the country-level budget is coded, codes disseminated to country teams and Sr. GCA, and relevant operational forms updated with the annual codes.
• Create and maintain a country-level budget tracker to work with the project’s overall tracker for CCP’s monthly reconciliation process and to facilitate the quarterly reporting process to the donor.
• Work with the Sr. GCA to align country-level tracker with the project’s overall project tracker.

People Management

• Manage the work of direct reports and provide supervisory responsibilities.
• Conduct routine staff trainings on diverse topics in finance and administration to improve the quality and efficiency of processing submitted documents.
• Conduct an annual ethics and conflict of interest training to include topics of fraud, waste, and abuse. Document this meeting for the files.
• Promote staff development through training, counselling, and performance evaluation of the staff of the CCP Liberia under your supervision.
• Ensure that direct reports are implementing duties as assigned.
• Conduct timely annual performance reviews for direct reports.
• Manage performance of direct reports timely and in a way that facilitates growth and improvement in accordance with CCP Baltimore HR guidance.

Professional and Organizational Growth

• Recognize and address factors that might strategically impact a program or CCP and lead implementation of solutions.
• Proactively seek opportunities to expand finance, administration and leadership skills.
• Request or initiate quarterly check-in meetings with supervisor to assess performance, strengths and areas for improvement in your current position and establish professional goals.
• Identify opportunities for bringing new skills into CCP, including attending JHU courses and seminars, conferences and external trainings.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of U.S. Government cost principles, rules, and regulations. Specifically, working knowledge of the 2 CFR 200/700 and of other U.S. Government cost principles, rules, and regulations is required.
• Exceptional computer skills, particularly in Microsoft Excel and QuickBooks, and experience using commercially available accounting software programs.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to work in a team-oriented environment.
• Ability to work well with others.
• Ability to work independently in a high profile, fast-paced and multi tasked environment.
• Experience in Liberia.
• Exceptional communication skills in written and spoken English.

Minimum Qualifications (required)

• Bachelor’s degree in commerce finance, business administration, or related field.
• At least ten (10) years professional work experience in accounting, business administration, or a related field.
• At least (10) years’ experience in financial management of donor-funded programs of similar size and scope.
• Certified public accountant (CPA).
• Oral and written fluency in English.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing USAID projects/activities, including USAID sub-agreements.
• Liberia national.

Other Requirements

• May require up to 25% travel in Liberia, and internationally, as needed.
• Collaborate with US-based team on a routine basis.
• Excellent past performance references.
• Other duties may be assigned.

How to Apply

All candidates are encouraged to submit e-mail applications with copies of their current CV, cover letter and three professional referees. Please indicate which position you are applying for in the subject line of the email.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and must be received no later than 11:59 PM Liberia local time on September 20, 2024, at ccpliberia-hr@jh.edu

Please note: this position is contingent upon securing award and USAID approval of key personnel (if applicable).