Job Description
(ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT)
Advertisement for position of Finance Officer (Short-Term) under Malawi National Adaptation Plan
Project under the Green Climate Fund
Position: Finance Officer – Short Term employment, National
Project Title: Building Capacity to Advance National Adaptation Plan Process in Malawi
Location: Lilongwe, Malawi
Duration: October 2024 to September 2025
1 – Context
The Government of Malawi, through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change under
the Environmental Affairs Department, has obtained a grant from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for
a project to build capacity to advance a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process in Malawi. The UN
Environment is the delivery partner for the project, with the role of supporting and overseeing the
project implementation, monitoring and reporting. The Project seeks to recruit a Finance Officer who
will be based in the Project Management Unit located in the Environmental Affairs Department and will work in close collaboration with the Environmental Affairs Department staff and the UN Environment
Task Manager.
The project entitled “Building Capacity to Advance National Adaptation Plan Process in Malawi” and
referred to as “Malawi NAP Readiness Project” is being implemented by a small project team headed
by a National Project Coordinator based at the Environmental Affairs Department. The NAP Project
is supporting multi sectoral, medium to long term adaptation planning and budgeting in Malawi and
promoting the integration of climate change adaptation aspects into development policies. Through
the project, systems for developing and sharing climate risk and vulnerability information will be
reinforced and sustainable financing mechanisms for climate change adaptation initiatives are set to be developed.
2 – Objectives
Under the supervision of the Director of Environmental Affairs through the NAP Coordinator, the
Finance Officer is responsible for executing financial and accounting operations of the Malawi NAP
Project in a timely manner and in accordance with the GCF Readiness Proposal and the Project
Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change, and UN
Environment.
3 – Tasks
Under the direct supervision of the Project Coordinator, the Finance Officer will have the responsibility to:
a) Execute financial management activities such as maintaining project bank accounts;
b) Prepare, in consultation with the Project Coordinator and with concurrence of the UNEP Task
Manager the semi- annual, annual and any other required project budgets and budget revisions
and Cash advance requests in accordance with UN Environment’s and GCF’s financial rules, format
and accounting requirements;
c) Regularly monitor the financial implementation of the project within the approved budget and
in accordance with the provisions of UNEP and the provisions of the financing agreements; Ensure smooth implementation of project accounting activities, including (but not limited to): timely and accurate bank reconciliation; managing purchase orders, arranging timely payments to consultants, vendors or suppliers, invoicing, monitoring of expenditure levels against budget and funding obligations, financial projections and submission of financial reports;
d) Prepare quarterly expenditure and financial reports, analysis and recommendations concerning
relevant financial issues for the project;
e) Maintain accounting records of the project in a complete and orderly manner both in soft and
hardcopy and in accordance with UN International Accounting Standard and Procedures;
f) Arrange and archive accounting records in an appropriate manner in accordance with UN
International Accounting Standards and Procedures Manual and provisions of the Financing
Agreements;
g) Undertaking monthly bank reconciliations
h) Preparing budgets for group meetings
i) Carry out year-end inventory (fixed assets, inventories, depreciation);
j)
Prepare and facilitate the conduct of Annual project audits and improve Internal controls
procedures by taking into account audit recommendations;
k) Perform any other NAP project related tasks assigned by the NAP Project Coordinator and the
Director of Environmental Affairs Department and with concurrence of the UNEP Task Manager.
4 – Qualifications/Profile Required
The successful candidate for the Financial Officer position should have the following profile:
a) Possess a first degree in Finance and /or Accounting from an accredited University/Institution;
b) Have at least five (5) years of professional experience in Finance and Accounting within a
programme, project, preferably executed with a UN or other international partner;
c) Those with a second degree as in (a) and have five (5) years of professional experience as in (b)
after obtaining the second degree will have an added advantage;
d) Excellent communication skills in written and oral English;
e) Ability to work under pressure, with short lead times;
f) Have excellent computer skills and a good knowledge of Microsoft Office applications (especially
Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint) and finance/accounting software (E.g. Sage, QuickBooks).
g) Professional experience with the United Nations system will be an added advantage;
h) Knowledge and experience in applying procurement processes of Government of Malawi.
6 – Remuneration
Remuneration will be negotiated with the prospective individual after selection, in line with
Government-Donor funded projects for similar assignments and within the budget limitations of the
grant from GCF to Malawi NAP.
7 – Application details
Interested applicants who meet the requirements stated in these terms of reference should submit
a signed application letter, accompanied with copies of degrees and Curriculum Vitae with names of
three (3) traceable referees in a well labelled envelop at the top “Finance Officer – NAP Readiness
Project”, no later than 16:30 hrs (4:30pm) on 11th September, 2024 to:
The Director
Environmental Affairs Department
Lingadzi House
Private Bag 394
LILONGWE 3