Finance and Administrative Officer

Position Purpose

The Finance and Administration Officer (FAO) will be responsible for the overall administration and financial operations in the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities "APLA". The FAO will oversee internal quality control and auditing systems and procedures, operational accounting, financial reporting, grants financial management and monitoring, forecasting and budget realignments for APLA Projects and operations. S/he will also work closely with APLA- Executive Director to ensure compliance with all donors' regulations, Palestinian legislations and for effective and pro-active management.

APLA Background

Founded in 1997, APLA is an independent organization mandated to represent and lobby for the collective interests of Local Government Units (LGUs) by supporting capacity building among local governments, facilitating exchange of knowledge and best practices, and serving as vehicle for dialogue between the central government and LGUs. 

Project Background

APLA signed a grant contract with the European Union (EU) on 12 December 2021 with total EU contribution of € 1.9 million, to implement the project (APLA’s Multiannual Action Plan (MAAP) 2021-2025). This project has been designed to strengthen LGUs collaborations on service delivery and local participatory development, and improve contributions to territorial integration, particularly in Area C. Specific objectives of MAAP are aligned to APLA’s strategic plan and aims to support the role of APLA as LGUs representative and dialogue partner with the Palestinian Authority, in order to support the role of the LGUs in the building process of future State of Palestine.

Accordingly, APLA is looking forward to hiring a Finance and Administrative Officer to fulfill the following tasks:

Key Responsibilities

The Finance and Administrative Officer will be responsible for:

1.         Ensure adherence with APLA requirements, tools, handbooks and guidelines in line with adopted policies and procedures.

2.         Verify and ensure all supportive documentation of all payments before reviewed by the executive director.

3.         Responsible for all monthly financial transactions and closing process, by ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the ledger and all supporting documentation.

4.         Ensure that all administrative and logistics tasks are well monitored, documented and implemented.

5.         Work closely with experts to improve the APLA’s financial systems and procedures to streamline best practices of financial policies and procedures.

6.         Focal point person in any required audit of APLA’s throughout the year.

7.         Focal point for developing, execution, and monitoring of APLA’s fiscal sustainability plan.

8.         Prepare and develop progress reports based on the developed work plans and strategies.

9.         Deliver and write briefings, presentations, reports, and speeches relevant to her/his position.

10.    Monitor expenditure against budget headings, prepare tracking maps, and report any variances across all cost to the executive director, by review bank reconciliations on accurateness and correctness to ensure all the payments in the bank statements are well timely recorded.

11.    Ensure the quality and coherence of financial data in different databases and systems.

12.    In consultation with the Executive Director, periodically revise the financial status of the projects and alert on impending under/over expenditures.

13.    Provide support to the procurement personnel to ensure efficient and accurate operations inline with APLA’s manuals and procedures.

14.    Provide and update high level and well-balanced advisory services to APLA staff and LGUs’ in relevance with financial best practices.

15.    Participate in the strategy development, planning and preview/review meetings to identify staffing and administrative operational requirements.

16.    Maintain and develop relationships with relevant government officials, donors’ representatives, and internal and external stakeholders in order to get and provide advice that focuses on the day-to-day concerns of APLA.

17.    To perform any additional tasks as requested by the executive director of APLA.

Reporting requirements

The Finance and administration officer will work in APLA’S office to provide effective and efficient management of APLAs finances, including aspects of budget setting and monitoring, procurement. To assist in the day to day accounting procedures and recording of all financial transactions accurately on the financial software. She/he will report on a day to day basis to the Executive Director of APLA.

جميع الحقوق محفوظة لموقع جوبس.

Qualifications and experiences:

-      University degree in Accounting, Finance, or any other related fields.

-      Minimum 7 years professional experience in a similar tasks & duties, especially in local government sector and donors’ funded projects.

Skills:

-      Excellent knowledge of Ms. Office (word, excel, power point, outlook, very good background in archiving).

-      Good experience in using Bisan accounting system.

-      Proven experience in EU funded projects.

-      Hard working, ability to work under pressure, with teamwork spirit.

-      Attention to details, excellent organizational, communication and management skills.

-      Good knowledge of the Palestinian market.

-      Fluent in both Arabic and English.

-      Excellent time management skills and ability to conduct multi-tasks, problem solving skills.

Qualified candidates should send the most recent resume, including three professional references, and a cover letter detailing their interest for this position to the email address: [email protected] , indicating the position title (Finance and Administrative Officer) in the email subject line.

Deadline for submitting resumes with cover letters: 08/08/2022.

Short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview.

“APLA is an equal opportunities employer”