Program Accountant

Vacancy Number:  A/057/14

Department:  Animal Science for Sustainable Productivity Program (ASSP)

Duration:  Two years

The position: ILRI seeks a qualified Program Accountant to provide financial and budgetary support to staff in Animal Sciences for Sustainable Productivity Program (ASSP).

General: The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works at the crossroads of livestock and poverty, bringing high-quality livestock science, communications and capacity building to bear on poverty reduction and sustainable development. ILRI is one of 15 centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ILRI has campuses in Kenya (headquarters) and Ethiopia, with other offices located in other regions of Africa (Mali, Mozambique, and Nigeria) as well as in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka), Southeast Asia (Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam) and East Asia (China). 

Specific Duties:

Proposal development – Budget development

• Provides advice on project costing’s to staff toward development of proposal budgets;
• Prepares proposal budgets for review by Programme Management Officer and Project Leaders or budget holders;
• Support annual budget preparation by working with PMO;
• Uploads project budget to the Sun System or other system used by ILRI.

Financial Accounting, Project Management and Donor reporting:

• Prepares all projects’ payment requests for sub-grantees in collaboration with PMO and Project Leaders;
• Follows up with finance to ensure timely payments to sub-grantees and ensures transfer advices are shared with partners in a timely manner;
• Ensures project partners’ financial returns are submitted within set timelines. Reviews advance requests and financial returns by partners with reference to contractual obligations and partner financial obligations with liquidation effected in SUN;
• Develops and maintains appropriate databases to ensure project financial management is done to meet various program financial demands;
• Preparing detailed monthly, quarterly and annual internal financial reports as requested by PMO highlighting issues on over/under expenditure and adjustment of wrong postings in the system and also to facilitate monitoring and tracking of project finances, and decision making by Project leaders;
• Maintains proper financial and non-financial project records of projects both in electronic (soft) and hard copies;
• Prepares donor financial reports/statements in collaboration with PMO, Project Leaders and Finance department and maintains appropriate compliance donor reporting databases;
• Computes project accruals annually and during project close outs and ensures they are captured in the system;
• Ensures that all full costing recovery items are captured in the appropriate project;
• Raises invoices and follows up reimbursements and transfer advices from partners/donors;
• Leads project specific audit and supports external/internal audit as may be found necessary.

Project Settlements Reports, Travel Expense Reports, Travel Authorizations, Requisitions, Petty-Cash Replenish:

• Reviews Project Settlement Reports, Petty Cash Replenish, Travel Expense Reports, Travel Authorizations (TAs) and Payment Request;

• Following up project and travel advance settlements with staff and consultants to close outstanding accounts in short period of time.

Consultancy Management support

• Providing assistance to the Programme Management Officer, Administrative Assistants and Project Leaders in the financial aspects of management of consultancies.

Minimum Requirements

Educational:

• BA degree in Accounting or related field

Work Experience:

• At least 5 years’ experience in budget and project financial report preparations

Training:

• Professional training in Grants Management and Project Management are advantageous.
• Intermediate to advanced computer literacy, including spreadsheets and accounting software

Skills:

• Must be able to work independently with minimal supervision, but also participates as a team member in accomplishment of duties.
• Possesses excellent interpersonal and communication skills, good judgment and a high level of respect for confidentiality.
• Strong ability to co-ordinate, prioritize and organize workload; takes initiative and work under pressure.
• Highly effective planning, organizational and multi-tasking skills with a positive attitude and strong accounting service orientation.
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment.
• Excellent spoken and written English.
• Commitment to ILRI’s mission and core values

Duty Station: Addis Ababa.

Job level:            2C.

Monthly Base Salary: Birr 14,839 (Negotiable, depending on experience, skill and salary history of the candidate)

Terms of appointment:  This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position, initial appointment is fixed term for two years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and the availability of funding. The ILRI remuneration package for nationally recruited staff in Ethiopia includes very competitive salary and benefits such as life and medical insurance, offshore pension plan, etc. 

The ILRI campus is set in a secure, attractive campus on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.  Dining and sports facilities are located on site.

Applications: Applicants should provide a cover letter and curriculum vitae; names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to be included in the curriculum vitae. The position and reference number: REF: A/057/14should be clearly indicated in the subject line of the cover letter. All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com on or before 28 October 2014.