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Job
Title:           Project
Accountant & Administrator (Lira & Soroti)

Organization: Farm
Africa

Duty Station: Lira
and Soroti, Uganda

Reports to: Project
Coordinator – CCP

About US:

Farm Africa, founded
in 1985, is an international non-governmental organization working in Uganda,
Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. We drive agricultural and environmental change to
improve lives. Our strategy has three pillars: agricultural expertise, management
and preservation of ecosystems, and the power of business to drive prosperity.
We believe Africa has the power to feed itself and are helping make this happen
by establishing and spreading the best farming and forestry techniques so that
poor farmers and herders have more food to feed their families and to sell. We
help smallholders manage their natural resources sustainably so that they can
withstand climate change challenges and shocks and ensure their families have
enough food in the future as well as now. Farm Africa works in partnership with
communities, government, local and international organizations, and the private
sector to innovate, learn and share best practices for maximum impact of our
projects. In Uganda, we currently have offices in Lira, Soroti, Motoro, Kotido,
Kanungu and Kampala.

About Commercialising Chilli Production Project:

aBi Trust recently
awarded Farm Africa and the North East Chilli Producers Association (NECPA)
funding for a three-year project focussed on creating a more competitive and profitable
chilli value chain within Lira, northern Uganda to capitalise on growing
international demand for varieties of Ugandan African Birds Eye (ABE) dried
chillies. The project will strengthen the technical capacity of NECPA and their
extension team to support market- orientated chilli production across their
entire area of operation.

Background to the
Sweet Potatoes for Prosperity project

For the duration of
2019, Farm Africa will be implementing the final phase of the Sweet Potatoes
for Prosperity project which focuses on improving the livelihoods and incomes
of 1,000 farmers in Teso sub-region through developing the production and
marketing of orange-flesh sweet potatoes (OFSP).

Job Summary:  The Project Accountant & Administrator
(Lira & Soroti) will ensure a high standard of financial management and
reporting for Farm Africa’s three year, Commercialising Chilli Production
project. Level of Effort (LOE) 90% until December 2019, LOE 100% January 2020
onwards To ensure a high standard of financial management and reporting for the
final year of Farm Africa’s Sweet Potatoes for Prosperity project. LOE 10%
until December 2019.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: 

Accounting and
Finance – managing income and expenditure processing, and maintaining accurate
financial records – in particular:

·        
Ensuring
prompt and accurate accounting for all project income and expenditure using SUN
templates in Excel format.

·        
Ensuring
that proper accounting records are maintained across at the field site
including debtor and creditor listings and staff working advance records,
carrying out monthly reconciliations

·        
Coding
and gaining authorisation for all expenditure according to Farm Africa and
where applicable, aBi procedures

·        
Maintaining
full, accurate and detailed hard copy records for each and every transaction
funded by aBi for quarterly donor verification

·        
Ensuring
timely payment of all invoices and expenditures

·        
Reviewing
the quarterly transactions for NECPA and uploading them to QuickBooks/SUN.

·        
Conducting
quarterly visits to NECPA offices to carry out internal auditing on processes
and documentation

·        
Ensuring
enough cash available for smooth implementation of the projects by preparing
and submitting monthly cash forecasts to the Uganda Country Office.

·        
Undertaking
regular banking duties including checking of balances, prompt cash and cheque
deposits, collecting bank statements periodically as may be required. And
acting as a bank agent for Farm Africa

·        
Performing
monthly general ledger accounting reconciliations and analysis ensuring
accuracy of ledger and month end reporting in accordance with GAAP,
organisational policy and donor regulations. This includes reconciliations of
bank, cash, SWA, Prepayments and creditors/Inter-project accounts

Financial reporting
including:

·        
Supplying
accurate and complete monthly project accounts to the Country Office team.

·        
Producing
financial reports in line with donor reporting requirements

·        
Reviewing
and feeding back on monthly Budget Monitoring Reports

·        
Monthly
submission of detailed transaction reports to Kampala as required for monthly
donor reporting

·        
Collating
and submitting all accountabilities on a quarterly basis to the donor for
physical verification

·        
Working
with the Finance & Administration Manager (based in Kampala) to ensure that
all donor reporting requirements are met

·        
Working
with the NECPA finance team to ensure they are conversant with and operating within
the donor financial reporting requirements

·        
In
particular review NECPAs monthly transaction reports and verifications and
share with Kampala team for onward reporting

Budgeting and
budget management tasks including:

·        
Assisting
the Project Coordinator with preparing and checking of budgets during the
annual planning process

·        
Assisting
the Project Coordinator with preparing and checking budget revisions during the
year as required

·        
Weekly
upload of all FA transactions to SUN templates

·        
Maintaining
accurate and up to date expenditure records that allow real time monitoring of
expenditure against budget for each and every budget line

Ensuring compliance
with standards contained in the Farm Africa Finance Procedures Manual and aBi
Finance Manual and in particular:

·        
Advising
the Project Coordinator, Program Manager and/or Country Director on relevant
budgetary control measures to address any identified weakness in policy and/or
practice.

·        
Feeding
back any pertinent financial management issues to the Finance Administrative
Manager, Program Manager and/or Country Director

·        
Ensuring
all procurement is carried out in adherence to Farm Africa’s and aBi’s
procurement policies

·        
Ensuring
that all expenditures are fully documented in line with aBi Financial
Management guidelines

·        
Ensuring
time sheets are completed where necessary (any staff member who is not 100%
dedicated to the project)

·        
Ensuring
driver and vehicle log books in place, that fuel records for vehicles are
analysed on a monthly basis, and that cars and motorcycles are comprehensively
insured are being maintained and serviced according to supplier guidelines.

Line management:

·        
Assisting
the Project Driver & Assistant with managing their workload in accordance
with the requirements of the Farm Africa and NECPA delivery teams

·        
Holding
supervision sessions with the Driver & Assistant at least once per quarter
(to discuss progress against work plans and targets and resolve any outstanding
issues)

·        
Ensuring
all direct reports have objectives in place and their performance regularly
appraised in line with Farm Africa’s systems and policies.

Playing a key role
in delivering the wider objectives of Farm Africa’s aBi Chillies project
including:

·        
Facilities
management for Lira Office,

·        
Assisting
with facilitating monitoring and communications visits from Donors and/or the
wider Farm Africa team

·        
Maintaining
proper personnel files for the aBi chillies project team such as leave records,
annual appraisals and general personal records M Undertaking any other duties
as reasonably requested by the project coordinator

Play an active role
as a member of the Farm Africa Country team:

·        
Contribute
to the development and implementation of Farm Africa’s strategy

·        
Identify
and explore opportunities to grow and expand the country project pipeline, both
in relation to the current project or related to new project opportunities

·        
Work with
the PM, CD and the UK Programme Funding Unit to prepare funding proposals where
requested, ensuring that any lessons learned during implementation are
documented and built into future project design M Participate in country-level
or Pan-Farm Africa programme meetings with other project coordinators, as
reasonably requested

NB: These
essential functions are not to be interpreted as a complete statement of all
duties performed. Employees will be required to perform other job related
duties as required. All work responsibilities are subject to having performance
goals and/or targets established.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience: 

·        
The
ideal candidate for the Farm Africa Project Accountant & Administrator
(Lira & Soroti) job placement must hold a Degree in Accounting or Finance

·        
At least
three years of experience working in an accounting position

·        
Demonstrable
experience of producing project budgets and monitoring activities against them

·        
Experience
of producing content for donor reports

·        
Experience
of managing procurement processes

·        
Experience
of managing other staff

·        
Experience
of facilities and/or fleet management

·        
Experience
of working with local CSOs and building their financial management capacity

·        
Experience
of establishing financial record keeping systems (online and offline) and
supporting partner organisations to do the same.

·        
Excellent
Excel Skills

·        
Strong
written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate
with people from a broad range of backgrounds

Desirable

·        
CPA
(III) Qualification

·        
Working
for an INGO

·        
Familiarity
with SUN accounting systems

·        
Experience
of working on aBi-funded projects

·        
Experience
of managing non-finance staff. 

·        
Experience
of maintaining HR and personnel records

·        
Experience
of managing project-level audits

·        
Negotiating
& managing partner relationships

·        
Experience
in leading teams in problem solving

How to Apply:

Please submit your
CV, salary history and a two page supporting statement demonstrating how your
skills and experience meet the requirements outlined in the person specification,
Download
Here to ugandarecruitment@farmafrica.org

NB: Please DO NOT
send additional documents such as certificates and references with your
application. Shortlisted candidates ONLY will be required to provide these
documents during the interview process. 
Interviews are expected to take place w/c 22nd July 2019 at Farm
Africa’s office either in Lira or Kampala. Only shortlisted candidates will be
contacted.

Deadline: Sunday 14th July 2019 by 5.00pm EAT

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