SMEX is recruiting a Finance Manager to lead the organization’s Finance Department by setting a strategic financial plan and managing budgets.
Key responsibilities:
Leadership and Oversight
- Develop the annual budget of the organization in coordination with management
- Prepare forecasts and monitor expenses and reconcile the funding outlooks with needs
- Identify funding gaps or cash deficits and alert in an opportune manner on the necessary budgetary adjustments
- Provide financial information required for proposals or grants modifications and take part in grant agreements review
- Meet deadlines and prepare the financial statements for grants reporting in the correct formats
- Setup a secure filing system for financial documentation
- Act as a focal point during audits, enforce internal and external audit recommendations in a timely fashion. Secure an adequate budget and resources to enable the audit activities
- Maintain healthy financial practices across the organization, projects and programs
- Enforce finance working documents and training as needed to ensure staff adherence
- Ensure all financial practices implemented across the project comply with standards
- Review and authorize transactions within the threshold
- Enforce “four eyes principle” and other appropriate control systems to prevent errors, inappropriate use of funds, unsupported expenditures, fraud, or any other ethical breaches
- Make recommendations for ongoing improvements in functionality as required.
- Oversee the financial statutory reporting to local authorities
- Provide the leadership oversight and administrative direction to the Finance and Admin Team
- Partake in the recruitment process, orientation, and training of staff with financial functions
Financial Management and Processing
- Prepare and develop budgets for submission to the management and donors/funders in coordination with Operations Manager
- Provide financial reporting of actual expenses against work plans & budgets as/when required to the Executive Director and Operations Manager. Maintain excellent relations with the banks and other stakeholders
- Oversee the financial record-keeping function of the organization. Control the reconciliation of documentation (expenses, banks and cash, payroll and tax, etc.)
- Upload the financial information needed on the system (Quickbooks and other)
- Respond to Project Managers requesting budget summaries for their activities
- Process scheduled/required payments and channel to the Operations Manager
- Ensure a proper recording of accruals in line with contracts and agreements
- Support the preparation of annual and project audits and approve them before final submission
- Prepare and submit the answer to the auditors’ management letter
- Prepare periodical and annual financial statements
- Prepare monthly accounting reconciliations (banks, petty cash) to be approved by Operations Manager
- Prepare and manage the payroll and support all other employer payroll related requirements
Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in finance, business administration, management, or economics with completed accountancy qualification (CIMA/ACCA/ACA or similar)
- Good command of English, and Arabic; French is an asset
- Minimum 5 years of relevant work experience, preferably in similar roles with NGOs (at least 2 years’ experience with NGO(s) in Lebanon)
- Proficient with Excel and other office applications, including QuickBooks and/or FreeAgent
- Willingness to integrate up-to-date digital tools in financial processes
- High attention to detail
- Ability to process large amounts of data
- In depth knowledge of financial regulations and account processes
- Ability to handle multi donors and multiyear budgets
- Donor/contract management experience and donor policy knowledge
- Very good communication skills
- Good organizational skills
- Honesty and discretion
Interested candidates should send a motivation letter explaining their interest in this position and a current CV to jobs@smex.org with “Finance Manager” in the subject line.
