Financial and Administrative Manager, U. S. Forest Service – Africa Regional Environment Program Accra, Ghana

The US Forest Service (USFS), as a part of the technical assistance activities in Africa, may require the services of a Financial and Administrative Manager to support the Africa Regional Environmental Program (AREP) office in Accra, Ghana.

• Salary: Relevant to the technical skill level of the position, but may be adjusted to account for additional experience and skills.


• Level of Effort: Part-time (20hours/week, M-F) for up to 12 months.


• Location: Accra, Ghana


•  Timeline: Expressions of interest being received through May 20, 2022

Background

The USFS has been working in the Africa and Middle East for more than 25 years and in Ghana for over a decade to help organizations improve lives through natural resource management. The USFS has successfully forged relationships with numerous natural resource management organizations, allowing for a wide range of programming and a breadth of technical exchange.

These partnerships allow USFS to leverage their expertise across Africa, promote meaningful scientific exchange, and further natural resource management strategies in ecosystem conservation, adaptation to natural hazards, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable energy production.

USFS activities across Africa broadly focus on community based natural resource management, landscape-level water security, youth employment, and resilience to climate change, and are designed to strengthen community capacity and promote public participation and ownership in forestry and natural resource management by working with community based organizations (CBOs), non-government organizations (NGOs) and government; increase technical cooperation on forest and ecosystem management through direct technical support; strengthen the capacity of academic and research institutions in natural resource management and resilience; promote global exchange of natural resource knowledge and skills; and address gender gaps while empowering women and youth in natural resource management.

In order to support activities in Africa, USFS is opening an office in Accra, Ghana through a contractor that will deliver administrative support services to USFS activities and partners.

Position Description

The Finance Manager will provide support for the entire AREP and also ensure that laid down policies, processes and procedure are followed. She/He will support program management through financial accounting, logistics, communications, and overall day-to-day administration to ensure that project objectives are met in a timely fashion. She/He will take on diverse responsibilities related to the project’s operations and ensure consistent and efficient office management through close cooperation with the program Director and other staff.

The primary duties of this position include:

• Providing inputs to developing of financial strategy, annual budgets, monthly/quarterly/annual funding forecasts, cash flows and funding requests, financial controls and resource allocation.


• Performing accounting duties such as preparation of relevant books of accounts, payments, and financial statements


• Ensure sound financial management by following the authorization of expenditure, payment of advance request and retirement, petty cash management


• Data entry of transactions into accounting system and management


• Preparation of Bank reconciliation statement for review and approval by West Africa Regional Advisor.


• Producing AREP financial and rreviewing Grantees financial reports.


• Assisting in the monitoring of budget, funds transfer, and asset management


• Develop electronic and hard copy filing system for financial and programmatic reporting and information management


• Ensure statutory compliance as directed by the state institutions for effective and efficient operation of the organization.


• Perform any duties that may be assigned from time to time by the West Africa Regional Advisor found to be within your competences and necessary to the achievement of AREP objectives.