Regional Finance Officer

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is the national voice of municipal governments, representing the interests of cities and communities with the federal government.

Position:          Regional Finance Officer, PMI-LED
Department:    FCM International
Location:          Regional office Hanoi-Vietnam
Duration:          One year, with possibility of renewal

Background

Since 1987, FCM has been working in partnership with the Government of Canada through GAC (Global Affairs Canada) to share Canadian municipal expertise with developing countries in order to strengthen local governance, service delivery, and international municipal relations. FCM’s international department, FCM International, is responsible for managing the organization’s externally-funded international programs and coordinating its international relations.

The five-year (2016-20) Partners for Municipal Innovation in Local Economic Development (PMI-LED) program focuses on supporting sustainable and equitable economic development in selected developing countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Its specific purpose is to support local governments and local government associations (LGAs) in Vietnam, Cambodia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Nicaragua and Bolivia to enable them to provide more effective services that advance sustainable and equitable local economic development. PMI-LED also supports the engagement of program partners in regional knowledge sharing, and in global policy development and program coordination. The crosscutting themes of the program are environmental sustainability and equality between women and men

Major Purpose

Under the direction of Regional Program Coordinator (RPC) with a functional reporting relationship with FCM Finance Department in Canada, the Regional Finance Officer will work in close collaboration with the thematic Program Managers and with the other members of the team.

The Regional Finance Officer would coordinate all aspects of the finance and accounting activities of PMI-LED project in the region, including, but not limited to: ensuring compliant and timely project reporting, supporting the associations and other partners in the financial aspects of the project and reviewing contractual agreements to ensure compliance with project agreements, and monitoring project progress against budgets.

Key responsibilities:

• Financial Administration of Regional Office
  
  • Ensures that all transactions are properly recorded in the project accounting system daily, as well as ensures their accuracy and consistency with invoices, receipts or other supporting documents.
  • Prepares monthly reports regarding project office operations, according to parameters set by Canada Office.
  • Ensures the availability of sufficient cash in the project bank accounts and establishes ongoing balance monitoring systems.
  • Manages the project’s daily cash position and performs monthly cash and bank reconciliations, reconciling differences between the cash balance shown on the bank statement, and the amount shown in the accounting system.
  • Manages the Petty Cash of project office, or delegates the management of the Petty Cash to Administrative Assistant.
  • Under the supervision of the RPC, executes payments, transfers and other finance transactions related to the project.
  • Ensures that bank accounts are managed in accordance with country laws and relevant procedures determined by Canada Office. Coordinates the opening and closing of bank accounts and maintains an accurate list of signatories.
  • Provides support to project staff regarding travel expenses (advances, expense claims etc.) and verifies that all expense reports related to travel are accurate and properly documented.
  • Ensures that all documents are complete, properly filed, and kept in strict confidentiality.
  • Ensures compliance with the provisions and laws of the country related to accounting, tax and other laws that would affect the project.

• Support to the Regional Program Coordinator
  
  • Prepares, with the RPC, cash forecasts for partners and regional office.
  • Supports the RPC on all financial matters, procedures, and issues related to the project.
  • Provides support for development of activities’ budgets and contracts negotiations of financial clauses with project providers, consultants and government departments.
  • Supports the RPC on ad-hoc projects.

• Support to Partners
  
  • Reviews and analyses monthly financial reports from project partners. Analyzes financial results, working with partners to explain any major discrepancies against partners’ budgets, presents financial results and analyses to RPC and Canada Office.
  • Ensures monthly financial data is received from project partners as per set deadlines and performs quality reviews before upload in the finance system.
  • Prepares/reviews monthly cash and bank reconciliations of partners’ accounts.
  • Reviews all partners’ disbursement requests to ensure compliance with contracts, regulations and requirements.
  • Ensures all advances to partners are disbursed to partners in a timely manner
  • Carry out the follow up of advance payments to partners and report to different areas concerned.
  • Ensures that project expenses are coded according to the project’s Chart of Accounts. Supports partners on their questions about coding and classification of expenses related to the project.
  • Supports the organizational capacity of partners, identifying training needs and supporting Canada Office to develop training contents. 

• Support to Canada Office
  
  • Collaborates with annual work plan projects budgeting process with Canada Office.
  • Is responsible for the reliability of the information contained in financial reports and ensures their submission according to schedule required by Canada Office.
  • Supports Canada Office in the implementation of accounting systems, standardized, integrated financial systems, policies, procedures, and internal controls for the project, ensuring the compliance with relevant directives from Canada Office and donors.
  • Supports the conduct of internal and external audits on the project by handling all internal process requirements, serving as the primary finance liaison between Canada Office and partners.

Skills and experience:

• Requires experience in accounting or finance typically acquired through a college or university degree and a minimum of 5 years direct practical experience in an accounting role.
• Excellent computer skills: Microsoft Office Word, Excel, Internet, email; experience working with Great Plains, MS Management Reporter, Quick Books or similar accounting software.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures).
• Solid analytical and problem solving skills.
• Ability to organize and coordinate service oriented activities.
• Ability to work with teams, with people of different cultures, and to work at a detailed level to understand the larger picture.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.

Language requirements

• Must be fluent in the predominant language of the region.
• Preference will be given to candidates who speak English

Please be sure to submit your cover letter, your resume and your salary expectations to the following link: http://bit.ly/2eA8REG

For more information on the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, please visit www.fcm.ca.

Deadline for applications is November 18th, 2016.

We thank all candidates for their interest; however we will only contact those selected for an interview. All the applications will be kept on file for six months following the hiring.