Job Description
The National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) was established in 1999, in 2012 NICE become a Public Trust incorporated under the Public Trustees Act 1962.The overall objective of NICE as an independent and autonomous Trust is to contribute towards strengthening and deepening of democratic process and improved governance in Malawi for accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction.
Position Overview
NICE is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Finance Manager to join our dynamic team. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in government financial management and European Development Fund (EDF) procedures. This role is critical in ensuring the financial integrity and sustainability of our programs and operations.
Job Title: FINANCE MANAGER
Grade: NC3
Location: NICE Secretariat – Lilongwe
Reporting: Executive Director
Responsible for: Finance Officers
General description of the Job
The Finance Manager shall be the head of Finance at the National Initiative for Civic Education. He/she shall provide strategic leadership, direction and guidance on prudent use and management of financial and material resources and investments.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
A) Leadership and Strategy
Lead development of financial strategy to ensure the Trust achieve financial sustainability
- Guiding and overseeing the finance function in line with the NICE goals
- Represent the Trust on financial matters involving government, donors, and other stakeholders.
- Provide technical guidance and participate in the development and implementation of financial Strategies.
- Establish and enforce financial policies and procedures to ensure compliance with government regulations, EDF and other donors guidelines.
B) Financial oversight and Resource Management
- Manage the operational and strategic functions of the finance department to ensure compliance and efficiency. Compliance shall entail regulatory compliance, donor compliance and compliance to organizational policies and procedures.
- Establishing and/or maintaining effective financial controls and systems and ensuring compliance with NICE and donor procedures and making sure that expenditure does not exceed budgetary limits.
- Oversee the development of budgets including overall institutional budget, project budgets, annual expenditure projections, annual cash flow projections, and forecast financial requirements on a regular basis.
- Maintain sound financial management and accounting policies, systems, regulations, and procedures for the organization, including the regular revision and updating of the NICE financial policies and procedures manual.
- Ensure timely production and dissemination of periodic financial reports to the various stakeholders, including management reports, donor reports, annual final accounts, and other special purpose reports
- Identify financial risks and develop mitigation strategies to safeguard NICE’s financial health.
- Provide leadership audit reviews and assessment processes.
- Coordinating, consolidating and monitoring budgets.
- Coordinating preparation of timely and detailed financial statements
- Coordinating external audit services and implementation of audit recommendations
C) Governance
- Advising the Board, Executive Management and other managers on financial matters
- Secretary to the Finance Committee of the Board
Representing the Trust on local or international fora on financial matters.
D) Resource mobilization
- Negotiating for major projects, loans and grants and liaising with the Government on the same.
- Mobilizing resources and monitoring their effective, efficient and economic utilization.
E) People Management
- Manage performance of staff within finance unit
F) Stakeholder Engagement
- Collaboration: Work closely with program managers, donors, and government officials to ensure financial transparency and accountability.
- Donor Relations relationships with donors, ensuring compliance with funding agreements and timely reporting.
- Government Liaison: Serve as the primary point of contact for government financial matters, ensuring compliance with all relevant regulations.
Minimum Education Qualifications and Experience
- Master’s Degree in Finance/Accounting/Business Administration
- Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy or Finance Must be a Chartered Accountant
- Registration with Malawi Accountant Board
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in financial management, with a focus on government financial management and EDF procedures.
- In-depth knowledge of government financial regulations, EDF/ other Donors procedures, and best practices in financial management.
Key Competencies and Attributes
The ideal candidate must:
- Demonstrate ability to meet deadlines in terms of financial reporting.
- Accounting and general management skills.
- Strong organisational and analytical skills, and ability to meet deadlines.
- Ability to lead a multi-disciplinary team of professionals and work as a team member with leadership skills for coaching and developing employees.
- Mature and good communicator with adequate negotiating skills, and
- Be decisive, self-motivated, assertive, and have excellent interpersonal skills.
- Be of high integrity, discretion, and excellent negotiation skills.
- Proven command of oral and verbal communication in English and preparation of high-quality documents without supervision.
- Be computer literate (Microsoft office: MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
- Proficiency in various accounting packages such as Sage, as well as financial software and Microsoft Office Suite.
Method of application
Applications including detailed Curriculum Vitae with three accessible referees, photocopies of relevant Certificates and National Identity should be sent to the address below not later than 22nd January 2025:
The Executive Director
National Initiative of Civic Education
P O Box 1046
LILONGWE 3
Email: info@nice.mw
Only shortlisted candidates will be acknowledged and invited for interviews.