Job Description and Person Specification
Job Title: / Financial Systems ManagerDirectorate/Cluster: / Finance and Operations / Unit/Team: / Systems and Processes
Grade and Salary: / Grade D / Contract Type: / Permanent
Location: / GS Hub Office ( London Johannesburg, or Nairobi) or AA Country Office / Budget Holder: / Yes o No o
Reports to: (incl matrix reporting) / Applications Systems Manager
Direct Reports : / None
Matrix Reports: / None
Operational Remit: / Global o Regional o Country Specific o Global Secretariat o
DBS (CRB) / Police Check: / Yes o No o
Job Role
Role Overview: / Act as a Change Agent for the Finance Systems team and Financial Systems User community, promoting teamwork and collaboration within the Finance Systems team and to the wider Federation. Also to lead on the application lifecycle for the Federations global financial system Infor Sun 6.3, including development and operations.
Provide technical advice and business support to all finance system stakeholders in the Federation. Responsible for the development and maintenance of strategies and plans aligned to the needs of the Federation.
Working with internal and external partners to deliver the federations needs and expectations.
Areas of Responsibilities / Key Activities
AAI Values Practice & Strategy Change Priorities / 1. Leading Innovation and Change Establish a culture of excellence in respective team that values experimentation and continuous improvement
2. Feminist Leadership: Championing feminist leadership principles and values including commitment to diversity and inclusion (race, gender, power)
3. AAI Values Practice: Ensure personal and team culture that demonstrates all of AAI values including: Mutual Respect, Equity and Justice, Integrity, Solidarity with People Living in Poverty and Exclusion, Courage of Conviction, Independence and Humility
Delivery on Strategic Priorities / Systems Maintenance and Administration
1. Undertake Systems Maintenance tasks and work closely with Finance IT Infrastructure team, Project Management Office and external vendors to ensure that system reliability and performance is optimised.
2. Oversee the systems administration for the global finance systems to ensure that systems integrity is maintained and exceptional support is provided to the user community.
3. Manage software and hardware assets, ensuring a central register is maintained, support contracts are maintained, licenses are utilised efficiently and changes to the systems are completed through a change control process.
4. Technical problems are identified, appropriately investigated (collaborating with country IT teams, IT infrastructure teams and stakeholders) to ensure timely resolution and where residual risks remain that these are communicated at a suitable level within the Federation.
5. Responsible for establishing and maintaining System Performance Measures (including Periodic Reviews), their analysis, and responses to any deviations in line with the needs of the Federation.
User Support and Training
1. Act as a Change Agent for the Finance Systems team and Financial Systems User community
2. Lead and manage the Finance Systems within a clear performance management framework, contributing to Performance Management assessments regarding objectives and competencies.
3. Promote teamwork and collaboration within the Finance Systems team and to the wider Federation.
4. Provide support, information and guidance to all finance users
5. Evaluate user needs and system functionality and ensure that the Financial Systems meet these needs
6. Provide appropriate training to end users through the design and development of appropriate training materials including on-line and workshop based training.
7. Monitor, evaluate and review the quality and effectiveness of training, and adopt continuous improvement techniques to enhance training interventions
8. Facilitate induction training for new financial systems in conjunction with country leadership and Financial advisors
Manage Finance Champions and coordinate the Finance support structure
1. Coordinate the overall Finance systems support structure (including the Support Network) through Peer to peer support and Regional SME’s
2. Coordinate and organize training workshops for the support network members.
Systems Development
1. Working collaboratively with key stakeholders, develop and maintain a systems strategy, supporting roadmap and high level plans.
2. Manage the software development life cycle for all finance systems, working with 3rd party development teams to improve quality and delivery
3. Develop and continually strive to improve change processes and deliver effective management of change strategies.
4. Working with Finance Transformation Projects, champion and support changes to Financial systems to meet the objectives of the project where systems changes or development is required, and incorporate these within support and training assessments.
5. Analyse financial systems needs from a strategic and operational perspective; determine requirements and resources and make relevant recommendations.
6. Implement changes through the Development instance, employing project management practices with the appropriate level of testing involving the user community.
7. Maintain system documentation including specifications, configuration tables, architecture diagrams, change logs, testing documentation and system reviews/reports.
8. Oversee the set up and configuration of financial systems in new entities within the organisation.
Systems backup and recovery
1. Develop and control the IT security policy for related financial systems.
2. Ensure that appropriate systems backup procedures are maintained in all country offices.
3. Work with IT and strategic partners to develop an effective ITSC plan
4. Ensure that all country offices meet minimum standards on systems usage and maintenance.
5. Review country office databases to ensure that they are well maintained and developments are within the core structure. The review should be regular quarterly or half-yearly.
6. Contribute to the monitoring of vendor performance from a global perspective, seeking opportunities for continuous improvement.
Person Specification
Education, Language & Qualifications / · Professional accountancy or computing qualification and proven track record of working predominantly with Infor Sun 6 financial systems including participation in their design.
· Fluent in written and spoken English
Essential Knowledge, skills and Experience / · Substantive knowledge of Infor Sun finance systems 6
· Demonstrable experience, with track record of administering and developing Infor Sun 6 in a complex global organization.
· Experience of designing and deliver training to end users
· Proven capability in IT project and IT infrastructure management.
· Excellent understanding of current and emerging technologies, standards and practices.
· Solid experience of executing IT projects through contracted vendors and suppliers.
· Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to quickly develop effective working relationships with a diverse stakeholder group
· Proven track record of problem-solving and resourcefulness with minimal management and oversight
· Experience of interacting with the user community in scoping and requirements gathering for IT projects.
· Proven track record of excellent communication and influencing skills.
· Ability to work in a Multicultural context/ environment, engage in social justice activism/advocacy and demonstrate innovative practices
Desirable Knowledge, skills and Experience / · Excellent knowledge of financial processes and transactions
· Experience of leading and managing a team focused on meeting the needs of stakeholders
· Experience of working with 3rd party development teams
· Working knowledge of the service lifecycle, ITIL environments
· Project management qualifications would be an advantage
· Working knowledge of Cognos TM1
· Working knowledge of application integration techniques and tools, experience with Infor ION would be an advantage.
Competency Profile
Leading Organisation / Strategic Perspective / Demonstrate alignment of the Organisation’s strategic priorities and goals.
Change Management / Uses effective strategies to facilitate organisation change initiatives and overcome resistance to change by involving others, listening and building commitment.
Decisiveness and Agility / Prefers quick and appropriate actions in many management situations, able to adapt and respond to fast changing eco system/environment
Leading Others / Leading Teams / Attracts, motivates, and develops high performing teams.
Building Collaborative Relationships / Builds productive working relationships with co-workers and external parties, whilst valuing diversity (gender, race, culture).
Communication / Expresses ideas clearly and concisely; disseminates information about decisions and plans proactively.
Leading Self / Leading with Purpose and Credibility / Acts in accordance with stated values; has strong commitment to develop, promote and practice AAI’s values
Innovation and Taking Initiative / Takes charge and proactively seeks new ideas, experiments with new processes/practices that capitalizes on opportunities