Finance and Administration Officer - Palladium Group

Palladium is currently seeking a Finance and Administration Officer to support the implementation of the Data.FI award in South Africa (SA). The Finance and Administration Officer is a full-time position to support the local activities and oversee the Data.FI SA project finances and operations. While there is a preference for the candidate to be based in either Pretoria or Johannesburg, other locations will be considered for the right candidate.

The Finance and Administration Officer will be the administrative and financial lead in overseeing the operations that support the implementation of the project contract and will include responsibility and accountability for leading financial and accounting administration, administrate office operations, procurement/recruitment support, coordination of travel for project staff, and ensuring all relevant administrative and financial documentation are kept up-to-date and filed appropriately. The candidate will be responsible for overseeing project finance, HR, payroll and administration such as staff deployment, recruitment and office management.

If you are a problem-solver, collaborator, and doer, and you have expertise in financial management and project administration, we are interested in hearing from you. We are a learning organization and provide growth opportunities from the start. We pride ourselves on giving you the freedom, resources, and guidance to chart a fulfilling career!

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

The position reports to the Country Director on a day-to-day basis with specific financial reporting to the Project Management Unit at Palladium’s US office in Washington, DC. This position may also supervise finance and administrative staff located in South Africa.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage and lead the day-to-day financial and accounting administration, budget administration, banking, cash management, and the financial reporting in compliance with the Data.FI project and donor policies and in coordination with the project’s Country Director and the Palladium DC office staff.
• Ensure compliance with local tax legislation and other statutory requirements.
• Prepare and track project budgets and budget projections, and review expense reports, vouchers and payment requests, including proper back-up documentation to ensure compliance with established Palladium systems and the client’s rules and regulations.
• Oversee timely payments to vendors, contractors, consultants, and staff, and ensure that proper documentation is present, including tracking all tax withholding information and ensuring it is readily updated and available to project leadership and ensuring all field vouchers are prepared accurately, supporting documents are in place, and all transactions are coded in accordance with chart of accounts and project charge code(s).
• Work closely with Project Delivery to implement monthly payroll accurately and on time, keep accurate and updated records and conducts regular reviews of staffing financial information.
• Ensure that all associated administrative and financial documentation and supporting documents are filed appropriately in hard and soft copies including (but not limited to) medical aid, provident fund, banking registration, the fixed asset register and other relevant Palladium SA documentation are kept up-to-date and filed appropriately.
• Work with the Country Director, Regional Manager (RM), and Project Delivery Manager in Washington DC to develop annual budgets, projections, financial plans, costing estimates, timely submission of month-end accruals and monthly cash forecasting.
• Maintain regular communication with the DC staff and submit timely project financial reporting requirements (including month-end accruals) for planning and decision-making purposes.
• Ensure all systems and processes are compliant with project, donor, and country policies and identify potential areas of financial and compliance vulnerability and risk and develop or implement corrective action plans to resolve problematic issues.
• Assist in procurement processes, which includes recruitment activities.
• Maintain up to date personnel files and ensure compliance with local labor laws and with Palladium policies.
  Coordination support of travel planning for project staff in compliance with project and Palladium policies and ensure employees’ Travel Expense Reports (TERs) and Travel Advances (TAs) are submitted on time and reconciled properly.
• Serve as point of contact for the Palladium security team.
• Lead and oversee the development, management, and complete life cycle of a variety of possible procurement mechanisms, including but not limited to purchase orders and sub-contracts.
• Participate in regular meetings (phone, Microsoft Teams, or Skype) with Washington DC staff to discuss financial items.
• When applicable, assist with an internal or external audit activity.
• Perform any other responsibilities as may be directed.

Required Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree (minimum), or a Master’s Degree (desirable), in Accounting, Business Management, or other relevant field.
• At least 5 years of work experience in broader finance and administration management with an international organization, including office management, HR and finance.
• Knowledge of local labor, banking, and tax laws and reporting procedures for South Africa.
• Demonstrable financial management experience on U.S government-funded programs, including U.S. government policy, procedures, and reporting requirements.
• Experience developing, managing, and reporting on multi-million-dollar budgets.
• Excellent financial and analytical skills.
• Proven problem identification and resolution experience with budgeting, forecasting, banking, tax authorities, foreign currency transactions, and other related issues.
• Able to communicate effectively and excellent interpersonal skills to form effective working relationships.
• High level of computer literacy, including experience with excel, and other accounting and budget monitoring tools such as SAGEPayroll and CostPoint.
• Written and oral proficiency in English.
• Ability to travel locally within South Africa.
• Must be legally authorized to work in South Africa.