Compliance officer – VSO International

VSO is the world’s leading international development organisation that works through volunteers to fight poverty. Working in 24 countries around the world, our unique role in international development is to place committed volunteers with carefully selected organisations where their skills can have the greatest impact. Our extraordinary volunteers live and work in some of the world’s poorest communities. Sharing their unique skills and experience to generate new ideas and new ways of doing things, helping the communities they work in lift themselves out of poverty. We’re not about delivering quick fixes, but instead we focus on long-lasting, sustainable change, that will impact generations to come. Join us and help us work towards our vision of a world without poverty.

Job Purpose:

The purpose of this position is to ensure successful management of grants funded by donors. This will be achieved through the implementation of project management best practices, implementation of donor rules and regulations, and other non-donor regulations that affect the implementation of the project. Another key aspect of the role will be supporting finance department in the enforcement of internal controls.

Responsibilities and Duties:
• Develop and implement an effective legal compliance program.
• Create sound internal controls and monitor adherence to them.
• Proactively audit processes, practices and documents to identify weaknesses.
• Assess compliance risk to procurement and financial regulations.
• Conduct spot checks to ensure prices paid for goods and services reasonable compared to market prices.
• Educate and train staff on compliance requirements for donors, organisational practices and other stakeholders.
• Identify gaps in existing internal control systems and provide recommendations to strengthen them.
• S/he will monitor and following-up on recommendations from the internal and external auditors to ensure the recommendations have been implemented and adhered to.
• S/he will plan, perform and report back on internal assessments to ensure that financial control, financial guidelines of donor organization and other control procedures are in place
• Prepares quarterly audit, investigations, and status of audit recommendations reports for submission to head of Internal Audit and implementation Lead, if applicable.
• Provide ad-hoc advice, helping staff to achieve the goal of establishing sound risk management and internal control systems; offer practical advice on how best to comply with financial policy and donor guidelines.
• Stay abreast of laws, directives, and current trends in the local legal and NGO environment.
• When necessary, collaborates with internal and external audit on investigations of whistle-blower cases, suspected fraud, mismanagement, loss of assets, etc.
• Prepares detailed reports of each compliance review and other task assignments, with prioritized findings and recommendations.
• Documents internal control weaknesses and compliance deviations and their impact and makes recommendations to address these weaknesses.
• Identifies gaps in knowledge and skills and provides recommendations for training.
• Tests internal controls, targeting high risk areas, including workshops, vehicle usage, cash advance management, and payroll.
• Periodically reviews and updates the compliance monitoring checklist and other tools to stay current with VSOR procedures and policies.
• Develops an annual customized compliance monitoring plan, including evaluation tools, standards, ethical considerations, and schedule to evaluate all project locations, and to revisit sites needing extra attention.
• Develop standard contracts in line with VSO guidelines ensuring that VSO Rwanda interests are protected and that the resultant contract is legally compliant
• Educating suppliers so that they comply with VSO Rwanda’s procedures and provide proper documentation that will ensure timely payments to be made.
• Monitoring and reviewing all contracts to ensure that all activities of VSO Rwanda comply with legal and contractual obligations, especially that timely payments are made; reporting to the appropriate accountable manager in the case of non-compliance
• Monitoring supplier performance, working with suppliers on issues management and changes as required.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience:
Essential criteria (must have to be able to carry out the role successfully)
Knowledge/qualifications:
• BSc or BA in finance, business administration or a related field
• Professional certification (ACCA or CPA is a Plus)

Experience:
• Good technical accounting skills. Experience of financial planning, bookkeeping practice and principle, knowledge of internal controls, general ledger, cash management and reconciliations, 1-2 years of experience of partnership management, compliance and monitoring especially in I/NGOs.
• Experience of donor compliance for non-profit organisations. Knowledge of donor financial reporting and donor procurement procedures. Experience of working in multiple foreign currencies.
• Proven experience as a Compliance Officer or internal auditor.
• Familiarity with donor rules and regulations.
Skills/Abilities:
• Analytical, investigative, and decision-making.
• Risk assessment.
• Integrity and professional Ethics.
• Ability to interpret and make sense of data.
• Detail oriented.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communications skills.
• Flexibility to adapt to new situations, with a positive attitude to working in an international organisation. And ability to travel occasionally to the VSO in Rwanda Sub-offices.

Desirable Criteria: (skills that could be an advantage in the role)
• Previous experience with I/NGOs.
• Must be able to work with less supervision.
• Good level of computer skills (Windows, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Word, Outlook, Internet)
• Experience of using SUN system
• Must have experience of working effectively and comfortably in a cross-cultural environment and with multi- and interdisciplinary teams in a large

VSO reserves the right to close this job early if we receive a sufficient number of applications.

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