WeForest

WeForest is a fast-growing international non-profit organisaton headquartered in Belgium and with current projects in Brazil, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi,4 Senegal and Zambia. The mission of the organisation is to advance innovative, scalable and lasting solutions to restore forest and landscapes for climate, people and planet. We promote scientific evidence for the ways in which forests contribute to climate change mitigation, beyond their impacts as stocks of carbon, by increasing water availability, enhancing local biodiversity conservation and rural livelihood and resilience.

Job Summary

The Finance and Admin Officer will facilitate WeForest’s financial and admin work in the Muchinga WeForest Projects, as well as to provide support and training to the local Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) organisation with their finances and administration (MNRCS, CFMGs, etc). The works will focus on the Mpumba Community Conservation (MCC) Project and the Mukungule -Hearth Project.

The Finance and Admin Officer will report to the Regional Manager and will collaborate with the respective Project Managers of the Muchinga Projects. The role also has a dotted line reporting to WeForest Zambia Finance and Admin Manger to ensure alignment with the finance policies

The Finance and Admin Officer will be based in Mpika, with biweekly visits or more pending the need to the projects offices in Mununga (MCC Project, 90km South of Mpika along the Great North Road).

RESPONSIBILITIES

Finance

1. Responsible for the financials of the Muchinga Projects of the WeForest Zambia and ensure accurate and timely delivery of financial reports, including preparation of the project account cashbooks and bank reconciliation statements, project payroll management, ledgers and other aspects of local financial management.
2. Responsible for timely capturing/entering of Muchinga Projects financial information in all relevant WeForest financial systems, timely month end close, and maintaining all financial records for the Project.
3. Manage petty cash for all Muchinga Projects including preparation of petty cashbook
4. Prepare, examine, or analyse accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
5. Ensure the financial transactions for all Muchinga Projects have adequate supporting documentation, are authorized, recorded and properly filed.
6. Manage financial controls, analyse office and project budgets, financial forecasts and reports
7. Monitor budgets and expenditures and contribute to budget planning and revision.
8. Assisting the Muchinga Project Managers with retirement of imprest (staff advances) on monthly/quarterly basis.
9. Prepare the Muchinga Projects Funding Requests and payment processing including uploading all Muchinga Projects payments onto FNB banking platform
10. Support the Project Managers in coordinating and facilitating all finance and administration tasks.
11. Prepare and submit to the Project Manager timely and accurate financial reports for review/approval and subsequently submit to the Finance & Administration Manager (FAM) within due dates.
12. Responsible for procurement of project goods and services approved by the office.
13. Maintain and file records of expenditure, process invoices and claims for payments and track payments relating to office costs and programme activities
14. Prepare and submit project statutory financial declarations

Administration

1. Responsible for the administration of insurances, contracting and administrating services in accordance with the institution’s standards and policies.
2. Responsible for maintaining files containing job contracts and other important documents of all staff in soft and hard copy.
3. Responsible for maintaining files containing important documents related to the project in soft and hard copy.
4. Assist the Project Manager with planning and implementing project activities.
5. Manage the day to day running of the Project Office ensuring that office requisites and equipment are in place for all staff to perform their duties.
6. Manage fixed assets of the Muchinga Projects and periodically review and prepare inventories of the assets.
7. Assist the field staff with logistic arrangements for training and field work.
8. Organize field and meeting schedules with partner institutions.
9. Assist with other communication and reporting activities of the project.
10. Support where possible, the field team in facilitating their work such as, but not limited to, data entry, data analysis, transportation of staff to field sites whenever the project driver is indisposed and assist in field activities whenever necessary.
11. Assist with staff recruitment and onboarding processes
12. Support where applicable, local partners of WeForest Zambia through training and extensionist services in Finance and Administration such as, but not limited to, Farmer Associations.
13. Any other duties as assigned by the Project Managers.

CBNRM support with finance and admin

1. Together with the Lead Community Officer play an active role in building local CBNRM organisations to have a strong governance and ownership
2. Guide and support CBNRM organisations to manage their finances and accounts, including cash book management, payroll, ledgers and other aspects of local financial management to ensure each CBNRM organisations adopts good practices in finance and account management and is able to deliver timely and accurate financial reports
3. Guide and support CBNRM organisations with good budget management and financial controls
4. Prepare, examine, or analyse accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports from the CBNRM organisations to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards
5. Assist the CBNRM organisations with procurement of project goods and services approved by the organisations
6. Assist the CBNRM organisations with preparation of financial reports
7. Assist the CBNRM organisations to manage their assets through periodically reviewing and preparing inventories of the assets
8. Assist the field staff with logistic arrangements for training and field work.

Candidate Profile

a. Education:

• Degree in Accounting/ZICA Licentiate, ACCA II or equivalent
• A Degree in Business Administration will be an added advantage

b. Work experience and skills:

a. Minimum 5 years’ relevant work experience in accounting and administration, with demonstrated experience in financially and administratively leading projects with large and multi-component budgets
b. Software – MS Office and Accounting Packages such as SAGE Evolution, Odoo
c. Excellent communication and numerical skills
d. Knowledge of Zambia Tax Regulations
e. Possess skills to Create Annual Financial Reports
f. Ability to Plan own work, set priorities and complete under pressure with minimal supervision
g. Previous interaction with community based organisations and experience with training and local capacity building will be considered a plus
h. Exposure to and experience with the NGO sector and ability to work efficiently is considered a plus
i. Clean and excellent track record and references

c. Language: Fluent in English (both speaking and writing) and Bemba/Bisa

d. Other requirements

a. Must be a registered and paid up member of ZICA
b. All academic and professional certificates should be certified by the Zambia Qualification Authority (ZAQA)
c. Driving license
d. Be willing to relocate and live in Mpika, Muchinga Province of Zambia
e. Flexible in terms of travelling

Terms & Conditions

Position: Full-time employee, 5 or 6 days per week.
Base: Mpika, Zambia
Start date: As soon as possible
Package: Competitive package for a small organisation, level 3a salary package