Regional Compliance Manager

Chemonics seeks a Regional Compliance Manager in support of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) 8 Decision Support (DS) project to be based in Nairobi, Kenya. The FEWS NET DS project maintains six regional offices (i.e. East Africa; Southern Africa; West Africa; Middle East, North Africa, and Europe; Asia; and Latin America and the Caribbean) that coordinate and oversee technical and administrative management of over 40 country offices. Each regional office is composed of a cadre of technical experts and administrative staff. The regional compliance manager will establish and maintain uniformity and accuracy in finance and compliance procedures across virtual/physical country offices and ensure that all field accounting practices adhere to USAID and Chemonics International Inc. regulations and policies. The RCM will advise country operations on financial compliance matters, review and analyze local account submission, and help projects devise approaches for asset and liability management. The RCM will travel to regional and country offices, as needed, to conduct finance and compliance reviews, and train appropriate field personnel in the correct use of accounting system. Interested applicants must currently, and in the future, have legal authorization to work in the country where their regional office of interest is located. We are looking for individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world.

While the preference is for candidates to be based in Kenya, highly qualified candidates who are based in other select countries in which FEWS NET 8 operates with legal work authorization may be considered. Countries are as follows:

• East Africa region: Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda

FEWS NET is an integrated set of activities funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is intended to provide timely, accurate, evidence-based, and transparent food security early warning information and analysis. The eighth phase of FEWS NET includes the Decision Support (DS) project which is charged with providing integrated monitoring and analyses of current and forecast acute food insecurity in countries worldwide to support the USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) policy and programmatic decisions. Based on an in-depth understanding of local livelihoods, FEWS NET DS Team monitors information and data on factors that affect food security, such as conflict, weather conditions and climate, crops, pasture, markets and trade, and nutrition. The work of the FEWS NET DS Team relies on close collaboration with international, regional, and national partners on food security data and information gathering and analysis. Major activities include joint monitoring and assessments, data sharing and exchanges, collaborative analysis and reporting, and technical capacity strengthening.

Responsibilities include:

• Providing support and training to local FEWS NET bookkeepers and regional staff on USAID and Chemonics International policies and procedures. Bookkeepers/accountants will be part-time and remote in the majority of project offices and may be embedded within Chemonics sister projects.
• Conduct field financial/operational reviews of the regional office and virtual/physical country offices with focus on the following areas:
  • Providing continual training on Chemonics accounting system- ABACUS.
  • Reviewing field accounts and provide training to ensure compliance with USAID/DCAA regulations and Chemonics’ policies, procedures. The field review involves a thorough revision of field office processes and procedures including a sampling of financial records for compliance with:
    • Timesheet management and approvals;
    • Travel authorizations and travel advance requests;
    • Expense report processing and approvals;
    • Petty cash management;
    • Procurement policies and vehicle controls;
    • Annual leave and sick time tracking, and medical allowance and reimbursements.
• Reviewing and reporting on a monthly basis to the HO-designated FAST Manager expenses and transactions incurred by the FEWS NET offices across the region including:
  • Tracking outstanding staff receivables;
  • Tracking project withholdings and payables.
• Compiling and reviewing bank reconciliations from regional offices.
• Tracking and reviewing, on a monthly basis, expenses incurred by FEWS NET offices across the region.
• Reviewing supporting documentation for all accounting transactions for the regional office and for project offices embedded within Chemonics sister projects.
• Reviewing proper transaction codes.
• Reviewing proper usage of project subaccount codes.
• Reviewing field asset and liability account balances.
• Working with FEWS NET country offices and/or Chemonics sister projects across the region in optimizing financial and cash flow management.
• Evaluating results of the finance and compliance reviews with the PMU to discuss areas of non-compliance or deficiencies, and work with the PMUs to bring project files into compliance.
• Assisting with virtual/physical field office closures during project close-out. The close-out review involves final reconciliation of regional and field offices accounts, as well as the closure and reconciliation of petty cash and local bank accounts.
• Other duties as assigned by the PMU, HO-designated FAST Manager or Regional Technical Lead.
• Assist home office field accounting and project management staff in reconciling intercompany accounts for the regional and country offices across the region.
• Respond without delays to home office accounting questions or concerns concerning regional and country offices across the region.

Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree in a related field is required; advanced university degree (master’s degree or higher) is desirable
• Minimum 10 years of relevant experience (with Master’s degree) or 12 years of relevant experience (with Bachelor’s) in financial management is required
• Advanced computer skills, particularly in MS Office, word processing, and spreadsheets are required
• Prior knowledge of accounting systems (ABACUS, QuickBooks) highly desirable
• Experience performing accounting audits or reviews
• Knowledge of USAID and its operations preferred
• Willingness to travel regularly within the region, as well as both domestically and internationally as required, security permitting
• Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity
• Proficiency in written and spoken English is required; other local language skills relevant to the region are desirable