Career Opportunities at Plan International

ROLE PROFILE

Reports to: Administrative Coordinator

Travel required: 10%

Grade: C1

ROLE PURPOSE

This position is to ensure that communication between Plan’s internal and external audience is conducted in a smooth manner and provide administrative back-up and secretarial support services to facilitate the implementation of program activities in the country office and program unit.

Dimensions of the Role

1. Area of Responsibility – Country Office
2. May be nominated to serve on Purchasing Committee from time to time

Accountabilities

• Receives incoming and makes out-going calls and records them to ensure a free flow of information towards effective implementation of work as well as keep track of calls for review and allocation of cost towards the reduction of telephone bills.
• Keeps, maintains and manages the front desk to receive both internal and external clients as well as enhance the image of the organization without any disruption of work or complaints from the public.
• Receives visitors and directs them appropriately to provide effective client service and always maintains a good working relationship with the public without any negative feedback.
• Ensure the reception area is never left idle. Always find a suitable replacement when not present at the reception.
• Keep record of incoming and outgoing mails and document to ensure the effective outflow of work without any reports of missing documents or mails.
• Provides logistical support for in-house training, staff meeting and international travel to ensure the successful organization of such events without any adverse complaints about the adequacy of logistic items.
• Assists in the preparation of material receiving report to account for and keep a track of all items ordered for program implementation without any losses incurred by Plan Ghana.
• Responsible for the management of petty cash to ensure the effective disbursement, utilization and account of petty cash without any reports of mismanagement or misappropriation of funds.
• Assists in the receipt and banking of funds received to keep a track of funds for program activities and always ensures the security and safeguarding of funds without any reports of loss of funds.
• Provides back-up support services to the Country Director (CD) in the absence of the incumbent to ensure that the CD’s office is always well resourced without any disruptions of his/her work.
• Always adheres to Plan’s Child Protection Policy to safeguard and protect the child without any reports or incidents of child abuse.
• Performs any other duties that may be assigned from time to time to ensure the effective implementation of the Country’s program.
• Follow up, collect and collate monthly over-time work sheets from drivers across Programme Units and submit to Administrative Coordinator per the deadline.
• Liaises and/or assists the Human Resource Department in the coordination, induction and introduction of recruits to the country office to enable a smooth settling in of new starters. (E.g. Sitting position, knowledge of office environs.)
• Purchase of office supplies and maintenance of store room inventory; this includes tracking and notifying the Administrative Coordinator when items are at the established critical levels. Inventory of stock should never go beyond critical levels established.
• Upon notice by the Administrative Coordinator, coordinate the repair and maintenance of office equipment and machinery.
• Any other tasks deemed appropriate and commensurate with the position’s level of responsibility.
• Maintain a register for fixed and low value assets and lead a team to conduct annual verification
• Dealing with Problems:
• Understands the importance of fostering and maintaining a good image for the organization and acts in ways to achieve this objective with the public
• Exhibits a good sense of judgment and responsibility in dealing with challenges associated with the provision of client service
• Works with minimum supervision
• Refers all final decision making to a senior manager. Ensure the principles and guidelines on the new Global Policy on Prevention of Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse is fully embedded and in your area work.
• Ensure all concerned person, Child, member of a community where Plan International works and/or Programme Participant knows how to and feels safe and empowered to report any concerns, allegations or suspicions of Sexual Harassment, Exploitation or Abuse and the report is taking seriously.
• Create and strengthening the capacity of all staff, Associates and visitors to prevent and respond in a timely, effective, safe, comprehensive and confidential manner to all complaints, allegations and incidents on Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse.

Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Key relationships

• Keeps and maintains a high contact with external clients to foster and build a good working relationship with them on behalf of the organization and present a good  image for the organization
• Maintains a high contact with all country office staff to ensure the free flow of information towards the implementation of work
• Maintains medium contact with staff from the program unit offices to offer back-up support services and information regarding administrative related issues

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

Essential

Gained through education, training, & experience

Qualification and Experience

• Diploma/HND in Secretary-ship, Management Studies or equivalent
• At least 3 years working experience in a similar position. 
• Experience working with an international NGO would be an advantage

Skills

• Skills Specific to the post needed to put knowledge into practice.
• Good communication and ICT skills
• Good inter-personal skills
• Good client/customer relations
• Good writing and reporting skills
• Strong team player
• High level of discretion and responsibility
• Good Planning & organizational skills
• Culturally sensitive

Behaviour

Demonstrated behaviors needed by the post-holder to successfully perform the role:

• Timeliness and proactive in the discharge of duties 
• Good planning organizational abilities
• Communicates  in a manner that inspires confidence and professionalism
• Good human relations and listening abilities
• Open to feedback and willingness to adopt to new approaches and processes
• Ability to inter-face with all levels of management
• Analytical and pays attention to detail
• Good team player
• Safety and security conscious

Physical Environment

This position requires 5% in the field to offer the required support for administrative related activities at the Program Units.

 Level of Contact with Children:

Low contact:     No contact or very low frequency of interaction

Mid contact:     Occasional interaction with children

High level:        Frequent interaction with children

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ROLE PURPOSE

Plan International is fully committed to creating a safe and inclusive culture that allows children, programme participants, staff, associates and visitors to thrive and feel secure while engaging with Plan International; and supports people to report any concerns and understand and exercise their rights.

We are fully committed to providing a safe, protective and supportive environment for all and promoting their welfare, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other differences. We promote the active involvement of children and programme participants in their own protection

The Global Safeguarding Unit at Plan International’s Global Hub based in Woking, Surrey UK provides the strategic direction for child and programme participant safeguarding (which includes PSHEA - preventing sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse of children and programme participants) interventions in Plan International.

This includes the implementation of our safeguarding and PSHEA policies, our intersectional approach to safeguarding, and the management of reported policy breaches, incidents and concerns.

This role will significantly focus on case advisory and supporting the case management of all safeguarding and SHEA cases which emerge from our offices in the Regions of the Americas (ROA) and West and Central Africa (WACA) in a professional, sensitive, coordinated and accountable way, and in line with policies and best practice, meeting all deadlines and maintaining strict confidentiality.

Location: The location of this role can be flexible where Plan International has an office* that can employ on behalf of the Global Hub and you have the pre-existing right to work and live.  

You may be office, home or hybrid based.  

Role: 2 Year Fixed Term Role with the possibility of extension

Salary: We will be happy to disclose the salary and applicable benefits to applicants as part of this process, however, please kindly note that the salary and employment benefits will be set according to your location and therefore it is not possible to include full details here

Closing Date: Tuesday 21st March 2023 

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The Opportunity

As the Project Finance Account Manager you will contribute to transforming the approach to all the financial aspects of all Plan International Inc. (PIIs) projects (Sponsorship, grants and other funded) ensuring they are well managed, compliant and maximise utilisation of funds to achieve lasting change for children.

In this role you will be required to work in close partnership with the Global Hub (GH) Projects team and provide support to colleagues in country offices and programme units(in the region you are account manager for) to ensure they are able to fulfil the financial aspects of projects efficiently and effectively in particular to maintain adherence to Plan International grants finance management standards.

The Individual

We are looking to recruit an individual with who is a Part (or fully) qualified chartered accountant, working towards a qualification or with relevant experience.

You will need to be customer support orientated, with excellent technical IT and analytical skills: fluency with complex financial system / ERP and advanced Excel skills.

Knowledge and demonstrable experience of complex international multi-company, multi-currency organisation accounting challenges.

To be successful in this role you will need to be a strong team player with excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, and the ability to communicate complex technical matters effectively to a non-technical audience.

DIMENSIONS OF THE ROLE

• Provides guidance, training and interpretation on Plan International financial policies and processes with regards to grants and sponsorship finance including cost recovery.
• Provides guidance and training to Plan offices to enable effective use of financial systems for accounting, budgeting and forecasting with regards to grants and sponsorship -ensuring benefits of YODA implementation are maximised.
• Work through a network of Project finance specialists in country offices, regional office and national organisation to ensure knowledge and expertise is cascaded down.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

1. Advise NOs, ROs, COs (CDs and CFMs) and other GH teams on grants and sponsorship accounting related matters.
2. Contribute to the development, implementation and maintenance of a one stop shop/first point of call online tool as guidance for all colleagues on key financial aspects relating to project accounting (grant finance, sponsorship finance, cost recovery, pre-financing)
3. Contribute to the design and delivery of training both online and/or face to face as required on all aspects of project finance including cost recovery
4. Respond timely to queries identified during monitoring meetings and originating from the Global Helpdesk (grants accounting functional calls).
5. Provide testing of grants finance related functionality in the Finance Systems.
6. Working with the other members of the grants finance team, identify issues that require resolution. Proactively ensure that these issues are resolved.
7. Supports the month end, quarter and year end processes for project financial management.
8. Support intercompany reconciliations as required
9. Provide surge support to countries in region if major issues require remediation, in global /DRM crisis, or to ensure audit preparedness if CO being audited.
10. Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

• CO: Grant Finance Managers
• Country Finance Managers
• RO: Regional Finance Managers
• Regional Grants Managers
• NO: Grants Finance Managers, NO FDs
• IH: Financial Planning and Analysis team
• Financial Accounting team
• Project Management team
• IT team (application support)

External auditors

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Essential

1. Part qualified chartered accountant (fully qualified an advantage)
2. Excellent technical IT and analytical skills: fluency with complex financial system / ERP and very good command of Excel.
3. Knowledge and Experience of complex international multi-company, multi-currency organisation accounting challenges.
4. Communication skills, appropriate to the audience and capability to communicate ideas and technical information to non-technical audiences
5. Able to build networks especially with grants staff across Plan globally
6. Costumer support oriented.
7. Values working in a team and willing to take on more responsibilities and support team members. Flexibility and patience.
8. Strong written and spoken English
9. Able to deliver on time, to work under pressure and prioritise.

Desirable

• Contribute to the design and delivery of training both online and/or face to face as required on all aspects of project finance including cost recovery
• Respond timely to queries identified during monitoring meetings and originating from the Global Helpdesk (grants accounting functional calls).
• Provide testing of grants finance related functionality in the Finance Systems.
• Working with the other members of the grants finance team, identify issues that require resolution. Proactively ensure that these issues are resolved.
• Supports the month end, quarter and year end processes for project financial management.
• Support intercompany reconciliations as required
• Provide surge support to countries in region if major issues require remediation, in global /DRM crisis, or to ensure audit preparedness if CO being audited.
• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

1. CO: Grant Finance Managers
2. Country Finance Managers
3. RO: Regional Finance Managers
4. Regional Grants Managers
5. NO: Grants Finance Managers, NO FDs
6. IH: Financial Planning and Analysis team
7. Financial Accounting team
8. Project Management team
9. IT team (application support)

External auditors

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Essential

1. Part qualified chartered accountant (fully qualified an advantage)
2. Excellent technical IT and analytical skills: fluency with complex financial system / ERP and very good command of Excel.
3. Knowledge and Experience of complex international multi-company, multi-currency organisation accounting challenges.
4. Communication skills, appropriate to the audience and capability to communicate ideas and technical information to non-technical audiences
5. Able to build networks especially with grants staff across Plan globally
6. Costumer support oriented.
7. Values working in a team and willing to take on more responsibilities and support team members. Flexibility and patience.
8. Strong written and spoken English
9. Able to deliver on time, to work under pressure and prioritise.

Desirable

1. Knowledge and experience in using SAP and Microsoft Dynamix,
2. Experience of the financial aspects of grant management from institutional donors in an INGO and Knowledge on how financial accounting and grant accounting interact
3. Appreciation of working in a multidisciplinary and multicultural environment
4. French or Spanish is an added advantage