Roving Finance Specialist 60 views0 applications

Danish Refugee Council, one of the world’s leading humanitarian NGOs, is currently looking for a highly qualified Roving Finance Specialist to support our Ethiopia operations but the position to be based in Nairobi with frequent travel to Ethiopia.

Overall purpose of the role

The National Finance Specialist serves as the technical anchor for donor budgeting and reporting, financial analysis, forecasting, and BFU leadership across the country programme. The role ensures consistent & standard quality control, strengthens ERP/Dynamics data integrity, and provides targeted coaching and capacity-building to Finance staff and relevant stakeholders.

Operating with a high degree of independence and capable of remote management, the Specialist delivers timely, accurate, and compliant financial outputs across a complex, multi donor portfolio. The position plays a central role in coordinating and advising on all financial aspects of the country’s reporting cycles, ensuring that financial management practices align with donor requirements and the Finance Chapters of DRC’s Operations Handbook

Your main duties and responsibilities will be:

Donor Budgeting & Proposal Development

• Lead development of donor proposal budgets and revisions (ECHO, EU, SIDA, FCDO, BHA/USAID, DANIDA, GFFO, SDC, UNICEF, etc.) ensuring alignment with donor rules, cost eligibility, exchange rate assumptions, and internal cost‑coverage strategy.
• Draft/validate budget narratives, cost allocation rationales, and consistency check against logframes and procurement/HR plans.
• Coordinate with Program, HR, and Supply Chain to ensure complete, realistic, and on‑time budget packages.
• Responsible for providing specialized knowledge and operational know-how within a budgeting and reporting area.

Donor Reporting Leadership

• Own the end‑to‑end donor financial reporting cycle: calendars, data extraction, reconciliations, currency conversions, cross‑checks against GL/ERP and BFUs, and final QC.
• Produce clear, error‑free reports and management notes (variance explanations, risk flags, corrective actions).
• Support timely delivery of quality financial reports to donors and internal reports to colleagues and HQ
• Ensure compliance with relevant country statutory and other financial obligations such as tax, levies and statutory returns

BFU Governance, Financial Analysis & Forecasting

• Lead/coach monthly BFU meetings and analysis with Budget Holders and projects managers.
• Drive variance analysis and ensure timely corrective actions, issue concise executive summaries to SMT.
• Track BFU actions to closure; maintain “no‑surprises” cadence on risks and deadlines.
• Deliver forward‑looking financial insights: rolling forecasts, burn rates, runway, pipeline/prognosis, scenario analysis.
• Support the Master Budget (MB) gap analysis, cost coverage and resource allocation decisions with clear, data‑driven recommendations.
• Maintain a continuous overview of funding levels and pay particular attention to shared support costs, including staff salaries.

Data quality, compliance & internal controls

• Design and enforce QC checklists and sampling for allowability/allocability/reasonableness, supporting compliance with donor and DRC rules.
• Improve shared cost allocations, timesheet alignment (during adjustments), documentation completeness, and projects audit readiness.

Ensure thorough and effective budgetary control in the country office.

• Monthly financial briefings to Head of Support Services (HoSS) on quality, compliance and foreseeable risks.
• Liaise with relevant Managers on key financial issues for all programs in the country, including co-funding, financial reporting, key variances and any remedial action

ERP / Dynamics & reporting systems

• Strengthen correct use of Dynamics (dimensions, postings, categories, reconciliations, data extraction) and produce analytics from ERP outputs.
• Develop job aids and quick guides; troubleshoot common errors; collaborate with super users/ HQ ERP support.

Cross‑functional Coordination

• Run a financial calendar (budgets, reports, BFUs, audits) with clear inputs/outputs for Programs, HR, and Supply Chain.
• Clarify SLAs for information flows to prevent bottlenecks and late escalations.

Mentoring & capacity building (Remote‑First)

• Provide remote mentoring and targeted coaching to finance staff on budgeting, reporting, analysis, and Excel/ERP.
• Facilitate short, practical clinics (e.g., “variance analysis in 30 minutes”, “Power Query for BFU”).

Process automation & standardization

• Build/maintain standard templates (Excel Power Query/Power Pivot; optional Power BI) for BFUs, reports, and forecasts.
• Document SOPs and create reusable tools to reduce manual errors and speed up monthly cycles.

Audit & Partner support (as needed)

• Prepare PBC lists, reconcile samples, and package documentation for audits.
• Support partner reviews/capacity strengthening on budgeting/reporting and basic controls.
• Participate in potential partner due-diligence assessment
• Review sub-grant agreement for donor’s audit requirement, instalments, reporting, etc.
• Participate in partners project kick-off and close-out meeting
• Participate in partner capacity assessment
• Review and approve financial report of partner

Experience and technical competencies:

• Minimum 3 years of international practical experience in financial management in INGO/humanitarian settings.
• 3+ years leading donor budgeting & financial reporting.
• Proven multi‑donor expertise (ECHO, EU, SIDA, FCDO, BHA/USAID, DANIDA, GFFO, SDC, UNHCR, UNICEF etc.) with hands‑on compliance application.
• ERP experience – Microsoft Dynamics strongly preferred; other ERPs acceptable (SAP, NetSuite, SUN).
• Strong financial analysis/forecasting, scenario planning, and Master Budget support.
• Competence in providing technical guidance and training.
• Proven experience in working with national partners, local/government authorities
• Demonstrate expert proficiency in advance Excel (Pivot Tables, Power Query, Power Pivot, INDEX/XMATCH, SUMIFS, nested logic) with large/complicated financial data analysis and clear presentation of insights.
• Have a track record of achieving high targets in a highly demanding and challenging context with multiple conflicting priorities.
• Be able to multitask and deliver results while working independently.
• Be self-driven and solutions oriented, with a record of solutions created through personal initiative

EDUCATION: (include certificates, licenses, etc.)

• Master’s degree in finance, Business Administration, Accounting or related field.
• Professional qualification (ACCA/CPA/CMA or equivalent) highly desirable

LANGUAGE: (indicate Fluency level)

• Excellent written/oral English; ability to produce concise executive notes.

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’ five core competencies:

Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.

Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.

Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.

Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly.

Demonstrating integrity: You uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation to our values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

We offer

Contract length: 12 Months

Contract Type: National Contract

Band: G2 – Non- Management

Designation of Duty Station: Nairobi

Start date: 1st April 2026

Salary and conditions will be in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for National employees