Admin Finance Officer (AFO)

Re-Vacancy Announcement 

Unification Nepal Gorkha (UN-Nepal), registered in the District Administration Office (DAO) Gorkha and Social Welfare Council (SWC) in the year 2009, is a non-profit making child-focused organization formed by a team of youth NGO professionals for sustainable development across the country.

UN-Nepal has been implementing Room to Read funded Literacy Program and Girls Education Program in selected Schools of Gorkha district, Nepal. The primary goal of the project is to make an independent reader and ensure their SEE level education so that they can make their life long decision in their life. For this UN Nepal will closely working with teachers, SMC, PTA and local government along other stakeholders. Now, UN Nepal is seeking qualified and dynamic Admin Finance Officer for the Room to Read funded Education project in Gorkha.

A. ORGANIZATION PROFILE OF ROOM TO READ

Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, Room to Read is creating a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality. We are achieving this goal by providing support during the two most critical time periods in a child’s education: primary school for literacy acquisition and secondary school for girls’ education. Our Literacy Program trains and coaches teachers, creates quality books and curricular materials and establishes libraries filled with diverse children’s books in local languages that can be enjoyed at school or home. Our Girls’ Education Program helps girls build skills to succeed in secondary school and make key life decisions by providing life skills curriculum, opportunities for mentorship and peer support, and family and community engagement. We deliver additional remote solutions that leverage local logistical infrastructure, broadcast media networks and internet-based technologies to facilitate learning beyond the classroom. Room to Read collaborates with local communities, partner organizations and governments to test and implement innovative models that can be integrated into the education system to deliver positive outcomes for children at scale. To date, Room to Read has benefited more than 39 million children and has worked in more than 182,000 communities and 23 countries, providing additional support through remote solutions that facilitate learning beyond the classroom. Room to Read plans to benefit 40 million children by 2025. Learn more at www.roomtoread.org.

B. UN NEPAL ORGANIZATION PROFILE

Unification Nepal (UN-Nepal), Gorkha is registered in the District Administration Office (DAO) Gorkha and Social Welfare Council (SWC) in the year 2009, is a non-profit making, child-focused social organization formed by a team of youth NGO professionals for sustainable development across the country. It is an autonomous and apolitical organization governed by its constitution, financial and administrative policy, code of conduct, and other various policies. UN Nepal Gorkha has envisioned peace and prosperous Nepal and is currently focusing on six thematic priorities such as Education, Resilience Livelihood, Safer Migration, Gender and protection, DRR and CCA, and organizational development. To date, UN Nepal Gorkha has completed many projects with various national, international, and intergovernmental organizations in Nepal. Currently, UN Nepal is working with Room to Read for quality education and gender empowerment in Gorkha district of Nepal. For more details- www.unnnepal.org

C. ROOM TO READ IN NEPAL

To date, Room to Read in Nepal has partnered with government schools to establish over 4,814 school libraries to encourage a habit of reading in primary school children, published 403 children’s books for quality materials to read, constructed over 1,249 schools, renovated 46 schools, and helped create an enabling learning environment through comprehensive Reading & Writing Instruction program in 1,642 primary classrooms. Room to Read in Nepal has supported over 11,608 girls from underprivileged families to complete secondary education and beyond by providing material, academic, and life skills education support through our Girls Education and Gender Equality Program. As per our global strategy, Vision 2025, our focus has been to scale our programs in a strategic partnership with the government to reach more needy children, schools, and communities in urgency. Room to Read works in two thematic areas: Literacy Program (LP) and Girls’ Education and Gender Equality Program (GEP). We are at a growing stage and working to expand our coverage more in the future.

Position: Admin Finance Officer (AFO)

Required No: 1

Job Description:

Administration and Finance Officer (AFO) is responsible for overseeing the administrative and financial transactions of the organization with technical and financial support of Room to Read. The position is tasked with developing budgets, monitoring transactions, and preparing financial reports. H/she possesses strong accounting and analytical skills. In addition, he/she supports the conduct and management of audits, prepares donor and operational budgets, and facilitates procurements. H/she plays facilitation role during overall procurement process of the organization and need to play lead role for logistic arrangements. H/she is responsible for the day-to-day management of financial transactions and procedures in line with organizational policies and principles.

Accounting & Finance

• Maintains books of account accurately and regularly. Makes posting/Approves all the expenses to the relevant books of accounts as per UN Nepal and Room to Read’s requirements.
• Checks the authenticity of the bills, vouchers, and other supporting documents of Room to Read project before releasing the payment to assess the accuracy, and completeness for the payment procedure.
• Calculates tax and other deductions to deduct from the source while making the payment.
• Prepares payment authorization and submits it to relevant authority for approval on timely basis with proper and complete supporting documents.
• Carries out the bank & cash operations and controls including issuing cheques, bank transfers, and stop payments, other correspondence with the bank.
• Conducts vetting of vendors through watchdog screening before entering into contract with vendors and releasing payment for amount equal to $ 500 (USD) and above.
• Processes all payments to vendors and employees within the reasonable time frame.
• Ensures that all the expenses for a particular month are booked including uploading soft copy documents into the accounting software within the month and coordinates with the other department colleagues/vendors for obtaining related documents on time for booking of financial transaction(s).
• Conducts monthly reconciliation of petty cash and bank.
• Prepares monthly cash forecast for submission to Room to Read.
• Supports program team in preparation of yearly budget and necessary amendments as per Room to Read’s requirements.
• Maintains proper filling of accounting and financial document with indexing in hardcopy and/or digital platform for efficient retrieval. 
• Completes monthly TDS reconciliation, deposition and verification within timeline as per Income Tax Act, 2058 and other statutory requirements. 
• Prepares TDS certification for vendors or employees on request.
• Prepares annual payroll tax reconciliation (accounting software vs payroll registers vs TDS upload /verification sheet).
• Assists program manager/program coordinator in supervising financial administration of UN Nepal thereby, ensuring daily processing of the financial transactions and meeting minimum internal control requirements.
• Supports colleagues in clarifying all policies, Government requirements etc.

Administration and Logistics

• Carries out all administrative related work including procurement in the organization in coordination with program and procurement team. 
• Acts as a member secretary of procurement committee to facilitate vendor selection and recommendation on timely basis in compliance with Room to Read’s procurement policy. 
• Ensures that procurement committee minutes and documents are properly maintained and signed by each procurement committee member. Safeguards such minutes documents.
• Orients procurement committee members in procurement policy and procedures.
• Provides overall logistics support such as: arranges venue for seminars/meetings, arranges for the field visit/manages vehicle etc.
• Maintains and updates the record of inventory of fixed assets and other materials available in the organization.
• Prepares agreement with vendorss, consultant or others parties and prepares reconciliation on quarterly basis. 
• Repairs and maintains office assets, including two wheelers.
• Procures goods and services as appropriate. 
• Collects quotations and prepare comparison sheets for procuring the materials locally. 
• Keeps records of all documents and correspondence; files it and maintains a systematic filing system in the organization. 
• Collects and forwards documents, parcels, materials sent from the organization and forwards it to other stakeholder and vice versa. 
• Assists the admin/logistic associate for the letter in and out registration. 
• Carries out other functions as per need and periodically and rationally suggested by the supervisor.

Policy Compliance

• Ensure all relevant applicable Government Acts, Rules, and Regulations are complied.
• Ensure Compliance with all organization specific internal and donor specific policy and guidelines.

Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

• Support program team to develop and prepare the implementing calendar(IC), prepare budget expenditure tracking sheet in line of standard operation guideline. 
• Support program team on Budgeting and implementation of IC based on annual budget and plan. 
• Supervise and provide need-based support to Admin-Finance associate.
• Analyze budget and expenditure, recommend way of being cost effective and reduce variance on budget utilization.

Reporting

• Prepare monthly and quarterly financial reports and submit to the supervisor and ensure all the compliance as per the UN Nepal & RtR compliance
• Assist program team in preparing justification and full year estimate on monthly financial budget vs actual.
• Prepare action plan on audit recommendations for the betterment on financial status of the organization.

D. QUALIFICATIONS

Required: 

• At least Bachelors Degree in Management or a related field (Semi qualified CA/ACCA is preferred).
• Strong planning and time management skills.
• Knowledge of government regulation and tax system of Nepal in relation to procurement and financial management. 
• Ability to travel frequently to program locations throughout the district.
• Good verbal and written communication skills in English and Nepali. 
• Proven track record of achieving results. 
• Experience in administrative initiatives. 
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Having valid driving licenses (at least of two wheeler).

E. EXPERIENCE

• At least 5 years of experience in the field of Accounting, Finance, or Auditing in I/NGOs. 
• Knowledge of accounting software is desirable. 
• Proficiency in using computers with adequate knowledge of MS Office.
• Strong analytical, reporting skills, and time management skills.

UN Nepal/Room to Read has zero tolerance when it comes to child abuse and exploitation and believes that all children have equal protection rights. The colleague will be expected to adhere to the Room to Read’s Child Protection Policy, Code of Conduct and standards.

For the application form, please click on the below link:

Link: Application Form

Application Procedures: 

Interested and qualified candidates shall send cover letter detailing their experience and motivation for the current position with an updated CV to hr.unnepalgorkha@gmail.com on 14 September 2024. Please mention the position you are applying in the subject line. Please mention your expected salary in your application letter. 

Only those shortlisted candidates who meet the criteria will be invited to a written test, interview and group discussion. No telephone calls will be entertained. UN Nepal encourages Women, Dalits, Marginalized Groups, People with Disability, sexual minority are highly encouraged to apply.

UN Nepal is Child Rights organizations, so we need to keep children safe. Our selection process reflects our commitment to the safeguarding and protection of children in all our programs. Therefore, the selected candidates will be subjected to background check.