DAI works at the cutting edge of international development, combining technical excellence, professional project management, and exceptional customer service to solve our clients’ most complex problems. Since 1970, DAI has worked in 150 developing and transition countries, providing comprehensive development solutions in areas including crisis mitigation and stability operations, democratic governance and public sector management, agriculture and agribusiness, private sector development and financial services, economics and trade, HIV/AIDS, avian influenza control, water and natural resources management, and energy and climate change.
Summary of Primary Duties
The Finance and Administration Manager oversees all project operations and human resources, including supervising staff responsible for finance, grants, procurement, and administration. He/She will play a pivotal role in overseeing adherence to project’s Field Operations Manual (FOM); USAID rules and regulations; contract requirements and limitations; financial, procurement, and grants policies and procedures; internal controls and operations reporting systems. He/She will be responsible for cash flow analyses, and the overall financial well-being of the project.
Essential Duties
Management
- Responsible for managing and providing training, guidance and direction to all project operations staff
- Responsible for gaining comprehensive knowledge of project’s Field Operations Manual (FOM) and for advising project management with options and recommendations
- Responsible for ensuring operations staff are properly maintaining documentation requirements, i.e. procurement, grants, logistics, Human Resources, and inventory management records
- Ensures that accounting policies and practices are carried out in accordance with GAAP standards; project internal controls are established and implemented in accordance with DAI policies, USAID rules/regulations and the terms of the contract.
Financial Management
- Develops and maintains reports of status of financial management activities (i.e. monthly and quarterly reporting)
- Responsible for ensuring that any/all contractual financial reporting requirements are identified and complied in a timely and accurate manner.
- Ensures that tax reporting procedures are well documented to facilitate preparation and submission in a timely manner
- Reviews and submits monthly reconciliation reports
- Monitors and submits advance, commitment, and grant reports as applicable
- Coordinate inputs and required project reporting to local authorities, based on registration requirements
- Oversees the reporting of expenses by regional offices
- Provides annual budgets of expenditure as well as quarterly forecasts against budget statements (accruals, pipelines, etc.) as applicable
- Ensures proper segregation of duties within the Finance/Accounting Department
- Manages banking relationships and coordinates periodic updates for checking account signers
- Reviews and approves bank reconciliations performed by the field accountant
- Prepares and reviews project cost data prior to submitting Oracle data reports to DAI Washington
- Supervises periodic cash counts
- Ensures that foreign taxes paid, if any, are tracked, recorded, and reported to USAID in accordance with ADS guidelines
Procurement Management
- Develop acquisition planning reports and present to Senior Management on a quarterly basis, or as required
- Monitor and track procurement activities and delivery status of goods and services, and help troubleshoot issues, as necessary
- Ensure DAI procurement policies and procedures, and USAID procurement regulations are followed and enforced
- Help project staff become familiar with procurement procedures and requirements through training
- Oversee solicitation bids and quotes from vendors in adherence with policies and approved requisitions, in support of quarterly procurement plans
- Determine source selection methods for complex procurements to ensure compliance
Serve as a non-voting chairperson on evaluation committees, in accordance with DAI policies and thresholds
Human Resources
- Identify and screen qualified candidates, participate in interviews, and make hiring recommendations.
- Coordinate with candidates on required testing, and notify applicants of the results of the selection process.
- Check professional references and prepare job offers
- Ensure recruitment and personnel actions are compliant with DAI policies and procedures, contract requirements, and USAID regulations
- Ensure applicants and new hires are provided with information about the job, including onboarding requirements
- Establish calendar and process for completing annual and probationary employee performance evaluations
- Ensure that all hard and soft copy personnel files are created and maintained in DAI systems
- Supervise Senior Administrative Assistant in reviewing timesheets and leave balance tracker on a monthly basis
- Manage termination procedures, including arranging exit interviews, and collection of all equipment and termination documents
Grants Management
- Oversees grants implementation staff, from executing and signing of the award, monitoring of and documenting grantee activities, administrative actions, as necessary, and final reports
- Review grantee proposals, applications, and budgets for cost reasonableness and adherence to grant management strategy and policies
- Support Grant Selection Committees, ensuring that Committee participants understand evaluation criteria, have no conflicts of interest, and are trained in the required evaluation process
- Oversee grant closeout procedures, including disposition plans, as applicable
- Mentor the Grants and Procurement Officer on his/her daily activities, and ensure he/she is trained on all grants policies and procedures
Facilities and Administration
- Oversee administrative support staff, including Senior Administrative Assistant and Drivers
- Ensure adherence to operational budget, and annual reporting of inventory
- Perform spot checks on inventory in TAMIS, and ensure that asset labels are affixed to all tracked property
Audit
- Manages preparation of internal and external audits
- Supports responses and 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)
Qualifications
- Masters degree in Business Administration or equivalent.
- 8+ years of relevant experience and progressive responsibility in finance and accounting, office administration, project operations at the mid-level of an organization
- Minimum 4 years’ experience managing USAID funded projects
- Experience leading and managing the operational aspects of USAID projects, including a demonstrated understanding of applicable finance, procurement, grants, and HR-related USG contracting regulations
- Accuracy in working with large amounts of data
- Experience supervising staff
- Ability to respond effectively to the most sensitive inquiries or complaints
- Experience with enterprise accounting software, and Microsoft office suite
- Demonstrated knowledge of internal controls and audit processes (e.g. procurement, local subcontract agreements, etc.)
- An articulate individual who possesses excellent communications and personnel management skills and who can relate to people at all levels of an organization
- 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
- Fluency in English is required
