Main purpose of job:

The main purpose of this job is to work with the Post Accounts/Finance Manager and HR Manager to manage the Embassy’s people, budgets, accounts and bank accounts in line with FCDO guidance and help to ensure audit compliance and good financial management to bring us in at full spend. The person will be responsible for cash profiling and monitoring; ensuring the Embassy bank account is in line with appropriate levels. 

The person also ensures timely preparation of country-based staff’s payroll and manages the four social insurance schemes in compliance with the FCDO guidance and local labour law.

The successful candidate will need to develop good relationships across different stakeholders at the Embassy to scrutinise the finances, provide accurate financial forecasting and report them to the Embassy’s Management Board. The person will need to work quickly to generate accurate financial data when requested as well as pulling together reports for governance meetings.

The British Embassy provides a shared services platform for a number of different government departments which is governed by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The successful candidate will need to oversee the delivery of the MOU, including the charging mechanism through which we provide our services as well as monitoring the General Ledger where appropriate.

The successful candidate will need to have good analytical, interpersonal skills, possesses a customer services mind-set and be open to helping and supporting colleagues through our internal financial platform and answer questions they may have.  

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve:

The below sets out the role as we currently envisage it. The successful candidate will also be open to the role evolving as the context and business requirements change.

1. Financial Management 50%

• Act as a point of contact for budget holders and global transaction processing centres (GTPC) on budgetary queries.
• Monitor and where required highlight or escalate key performance indicators.
• Act as local contact for invoices and local payments. 
• Monitor cash and bank account and liaise with the GTPC on unreconciled items. 
• Responsible for cash box, including maintenance of balance, administration and monthly count.
• Prepare recharges, manual invoice requests, cash-in transit forms and cheques at Post.
• Identify and report potential efficiencies in finance processes.
• Invoice batch processing.
• Maintenance of Staff record files in accordance with Data Protection for use in salary preparation and for local law compliance.
• Deputising for absences of the Post Accounts/Finance Manager, including cashier duties.
• Support to Post Accounts/Finance Manager on various finance aspects on request.

2. Payroll and Human Resources Management 20%

• Support to Post Accounts/Finance Manager and/or Manila Payroll Team on monthly salary preparation and HR & payroll activities on request.
• Quarterly update of Embassy staff list and regular update of the extension list and the Whatsapp Crisis Group.
• Liaison with HR & payroll provider on various issues following Head of Corporate Services instructions.
• Support on various payroll and HR aspects on request.
• Own, review, and update on-boarding, induction, and exit processes and documents, ensuring they are up to date and tailored to local needs.
• Own maintenance of personnel records, ensuring compliance with data protection and privacy legislation.
• Review the arrival and departure tracker, understanding the MS flows to ensure that information is smoothly sent to all concerned stakeholders.
• Review of HR landing page, update all the relevant fields/sections.
• Support other members of the team as required and perform other related duties as required and assigned.

3. Procurement 20%

• Acts as local subject matter expert requisitioner and receiver for purchasing and supplier maintenance processes.
• Assist with compliance e.g. setting up new suppliers and reviewing existing supplier lists.
• Manage the local contracts database, flagging contract expiration dates and aggregate spend with suppliers.
• Act as global procurement card (credit card) holder for the Corporate Services team.

4. Team Support 10%

• Ensure compliant Corporate Services finance record retention.
• Manage and update content on Corporate Services systems. 
• Support other colleagues within Corporate Services as and when necessary.
• Act as back up to the Post Accounts/Finance Manager.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• Approx. GBP 2M for the Post/FCDO management

• In depth understanding of and minimum 1 year of experience in Accounting and/or Payroll;  
• Good understanding on local payroll system with social insurance;
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to multi-task;
• Detail oriented with high accuracy;
• A self-starter and team player. Ability to work independently with limited supervision and deliver to deadlines both individually and as part of a team;
• Ability to engage with various internal/regional/external stakeholders with credibility;
• Standard computer literacy skills. Above-standard skills in MS Excel.