FLAT / Finance intern

Department: Finance
Position: FLAT / Finance intern Contract duration: 6 months Location: Kinshasa, DRC Starting Date ASAP

I. Background on ACTED

ACTED is an independent international, private, non-partisan and non-profit organization that operates according to principles of strict neutrality, political and religious impartiality, and non discrimination.

ACTED was created in 1993 to support populations affected by the conflict in Afghanistan. Based in Paris, France, ACTED now operates in 34 countries worldwide, with over 200 international and 4000 national staff. ACTED has a 110 million € budget for over 370 projects spanning 8 sectors of intervention; including emergency relief, food security, health promotion, economic development, education & training, microfinance, local governance & institutional support, and cultural promotion. For more information, please visit our website at www.acted.org.

II. Country Profile

Capital Office : Kinshasa National Staff : 182 Areas : 2 On-going programmes : 12 Budget : 4.3 M

ACTED started its projects in RDC in 2004. The history of this country is marked by 30 years of dictatorship (1967-1997) followed of two wars (on 1996 and 1998). As the crisis in DRC is taking a long and sustained turn, poverty and exactions by armed groups are weakening populations’ social fabric and capacity for resilience. Beneficiaries are therefore no longer being targeted by status (e.g. displaced, returnees, host families, etc.), but increasingly by proneness to vulnerability. In 2010, many evaluations were therefore conducted in ACTED’s traditional areas of intervention as well as in areas with a strongly impacted humanitarian situation, deprived of relief actors. Methodology and expertise capitalization has been another aspect of ACTED’s intervention oriented towards our beneficiaries, partners and national staff. Restructuring work has thus helped ACTED emphasize the relevance of its actions in 2010, which have covered a wide array of activities including food security, livelihood and water sanitation and hygiene improvements, or community infrastructure rehabilitation. Following recent evaluations, ACTED will focus on areas forgotten by aid workers and where populations are particularly vulnerable. In this regard, ACTED will continue actions in Shabunda Territory (in the North-West of South Kivu province) and will intervene in Province Orientale’s Haut Uele districts and the Makanza Territory in Equateur province throughout 2011. ACTED will begin its interventions in these areas by improving access to basic services (hydraulic works, road infrastructure, etc.). ACTED will also strive to give vulnerable populations the means to keep up their own livelihoods through food security programs and community infrastructure works. This will allow a reinjection of funds into the local economy through Cash for Work activities. In parallel, ACTED will extend its involvement in the country’s reconstruction and stabilization programs, through school construction in Equateur, the poorest and long forgotten province in DRC.

III. Position Profile

The Country Finance & FLAT Compliance intern is in charge of the implementation of ACTED’s compliance process in the relevant country and in preparing management indicators to help Country Coordination in decision making and project management.

Major Responsibilities: 1. Supervise the whole FLAT process :

• Compile and file all project related financial, logistics, administrative, and programme information in the designated project Compliance folder. During this time the FLAT Compliance Officer should ensure that all Compliance folders are duplicated (photocopied) regularly with any arrival of a new document;

• Follow-up of the Compliance process at base level by ensuring the regular (fortnightly) transfer of the project(s) Compliance documentation to the capital office;

• At the end of the project, ensure the centralization of all Compliance folders at the Capital office;

• Facilitate the country Compliance review process once the project has been terminated and ensure the accurate documentation of costs/expenses allocations within the documentation;

• Submit the completed Compliance folder (final version) to the Regional Office once the Compliance review process has been completed and ensure that the duplicate Compliance folder is securely archived.

1. Contribute to ACTED compliance and accountability:

• Provide timely supplementary quality control of the Compliance documentation by checking the accuracy and consistency of the information between the related documents and report discrepancies immediately to the department concerned for corrective action;

• Facilitate and report compliance of all audit recommendations/action plans under the authority of the Country Director and provide accurate feedback immediately;

• Conduct a quarterly market-price survey of the materials/services identified the current country market basket (frequently procured items/services). The data gathered should then be tabulated against the actual prices paid by ACTED in the transactions incurred during that month. The actual pricing should be retrieved from the contracts or payment vouchers filed in the Compliance folders. The FLAT Compliance Officer should ensure that he/she can provide evidence of the source of the market information and then accurately demonstrates the correlation by a reference to the specific transaction (payment voucher references). This table will be part of the Monthly Compliance Report annexes;

• Comply with the Audit Department Code of conduct.

1. Reporting :

• Prepare a Monthly Compliance Report giving as much detail as possible for all existing projects that are ongoing and completed but are yet to be reviewed and submitted to the Regional Office. The Compliance report is both a narrative report and includes annexes with specific analytical information and should be submitted to both the country director and the regional audit team;

• Facilitate the preparation for country external audits and regularly update the Country Director, the Regional Audit Manager and the Audit Manager of the progress through the relevant follow-up memo;

• Report the updates of the Compliance situation for all projects during the country compliance meetings.

Functions in terms of Finance Control

1. Cost Analysis:

• ACTED [Country]’s monthly running cost;

• Conduct a market survey upon the request of the CFM;  Monthly output (i): Memo on Presentation of [Country]’s cost analysis to CFM and Country Coordination for the decision making on control of costs.

1. Allocations Controls:

• Follow up of ACTED’s resources allocation on projects at country level;

• Cross-check of allocations with Human Resources and Logistics departments;  Monthly output (ii) Memo on Presentation of [Country]’s resources allocation to CFM and Country Coordination.

1. Budget and Financial Reports Controls

• Cross-check Saga, Budget Follow-up, Contract Follow-up, Debt follow up, etc.

• Review of Financial Report: accounting data, cross-check between annexes to the financial report and Saga (staff list, assets, stock, significant procurement contracts, crosscheck financial vs. narrative info, draft narrative financial report etc.).  Monthly ouput (iii): updated BFU/CFU/allocation tables submitted to CFM for approval.

1. Links with other departments

• Ensure that Log/HR procedures are respected (Payroll, Contract Follow-up, …)

• Reinforce links with these departments and create transversal follow up tools.

1. Funding Structure:

• Analysis of ACTED resources to be funded on new proposals;

IV. Qualifications:

• Msc in Administration, Business Management or equivalent. • Finance and accounting skills required • Willingness to undertake serious responsibility and manage stress efficiently • Excellent communication skills, including advanced written and oral English

V. Conditions:

Field Intern benefits include: a 300 USD per month living allowance, coverage of all accommodation, food, and travel costs, a luggage allowance of 50 kg., and the provision of medical, repatriation, and life insurance.

How to apply:

V. Submission of applications:

Please send, in English, your cover letter, CV, and three references to stages@acted.org Ref : FI/RDC/SA

ACTED Att: Human Resources Department 33, rue Godot de Mauroy 75009 Paris FRANCE

For more information, visit us at http://www.acted.org