Based in Tunis, Beirut, Rabat, Amman or Brussels

The Organization
Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international non-profit conflict transformation organization. With headquarters in Washington, DC and Brussels, Belgium, SFCG’s mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict – away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. SFCG engages all parties in conflict, through a diverse set of tools and methodologies, to understand their differences and act on their commonalities. With a total of approximately 700 staff worldwide, SFCG implements projects in 49 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
The organization is an exciting and rewarding place to work, with dedicated and enthusiastic staff who love their work.  You will be joining a highly motivated and committed staff with a good team spirit.
 
Summary of Position
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Regional Finance & Compliance Manager is a member of the MENA Regional Support Team supporting a portfolio of country programs, regional initiatives, and expansion into new countries. In this function, the MENA RFM will work with respective country program teams to ensure excellent financial planning, accounting, budget management and compliance across all projects.  The MENA RFM will be responsible for trouble shooting and building the capacities of finance managers and country directors so that they are able to effectively manage all aspects of their work. He/she will report direct line to the MENA Regional Director and dotted line to the Controller and will work closely with other finance staff in Headquarters and field teams.
 
The MENA RFM will be assigned a portfolio of countries and will oversee all aspects of financial management and compliance in those countries. He/she will supervise, on a dotted-line basis, the Country Financial Managers, who report direct-line to Country Directors.
 
Work Environment
Search for Common Ground has a great work environment with a mission of peace-building in the world. SFCG is a stimulating and richly rewarding organization to work for – full of hard-working, friendly, bright, enthusiastic, and passionate people dedicated to the work they do. There are many opportunities for team-building and involvement in staff events. The organization has won numerous awards.
 
Responsibilities

• The central and overriding objective of the position is as follows:  For each country in his or her portfolio, to ensure that all costs incurred are eligible costs under donor awards and to ensure that all transactions are compliant with donor rules.  The success of the position is measured by the degree to which ineligible costs and audit findings are kept to a minimum.
• Through review of the monthly financial reports and other methods, the MENA RFM will insure that all costs being recorded are eligible under the terms of the grant to which they are charged. Where the MENA RFM detects potentially ineligible costs, he/she will call on the field office to make corrections and will ensure that the country team has the training, knowledge and tools to prevent recurrence.
• Varying by country and circumstances, the MENA RFM will undertaking some of all of the following activities, all with a view to achieving the central and overriding objective:

o   Capacity building & Training – Work with controller to create and implement a plan to strengthen the capacities of all finance staff across the region in the core competencies necessary for effective financial planning and management. Provide training (in-person and remote) to new and existing finance staff in SFCG’s financial system, field reporting formats, compliance and documentation. Provide on-going coaching to finance staff across the region and develop pool of trained Country finance managers.
o   Budget – Support Country offices in preparation of grant budgets and train non-finance staff on SFCG budget templates.
o   Staff Training/Orientation – Assist in hiring and training of new finance managers in the region.
o   Grant & country program start-up and close Compliance – Ensure that all financial procedures, including cash management, procurement, advance settlement, salary distribution, etc. are compliant with donor and SFCG’s policies and requirements
o   Support audits: Audit preparedness; oversight of corrective action plan; and conduct of internal audits for local audits, including spot compliance checks. Ensure adequate Finance Policies – Assist with the communication and implementation of new Finance and Compliance policies which are developed from HQ;
o   Troubleshooting – work with country program finance managers and CDs to troubleshoot challenges as they emerge.
 As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key duties.

 Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting & Finance
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in working on financial and administrative aspects of public sector donors, including EU, US government, UN, World Bank grants and contracts
• Track record, with sufficient knowledge to provide training and support on using accounting software
• Experience with operational budgeting and grants management
• Experience in the Middle East and North Africa region
• Willingness to travel on a regular basis (up to 50%) and live in challenging contexts
• Demonstrated ability to effectively to work with a diverse team, with attention to mentorship and professional development of staff
• Excellent written and oral communications skills in English and relevant language (Arabic, French)
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.

 
Salary: Commensurate with education and experience, with excellent benefits
To Apply:  In order to apply for this position, please send a cover letter and resume through our Application System.No phone calls please. Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. Please see our web site www.sfcg.org for full details of our work. Deadline for submission of applications: Friday September 30, 2016 (6pm Brussels time)
 
Postuler maintenant