JobDescription

Finance Business Partner – International Operations

Reports to: / Director of Finance and IS
Location: / Central London with overseas travel approximately 3 – 4 times a year
Salary / Circa £39,398 per annum
Staff Benefits: / 25 days’ annual leave, contributory pension, life assurance, health insurance
Hours: / 35 hours a week, 9am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday
Conditions: / Permanent
Closing date: / Wednesday, 19th March 2014

Departmental Structure and Position of the Role:

Purpose of role:

  • To provide guidance and support to the finance and senior management staff of the Brooke’s international branches, affiliates and partners in developing and maintaining robust Financial and Internal Control processesand systems including supporting and enabling the annual budgetary and forecasting process.
  • The role will require overseas travel approximately 3 – 4 times a year for approximately 10 days at a time. TheBusiness Partner – International Operations must be willing and able to travel to the Brooke’s countries of operation.

Key tasks and responsibilities:

Support for Overseas entities

  • Ensure that rigorous financial control is applied throughout all international partners, branches and associates, ensuring that appropriate policies, financial controls and procedures are in place to control expenditure and income.
  • Assist in the set-up of new international operations and partnership agreements.
  • Supporting selection of any new accounting systems in country programmes
  • Supporting the set-up of financialand internal controls systems and procedures for new branches, regional support offices and for Affiliates.
  • Capacity building for finance staff in country programmes.
  • Supporting recruitment and induction of overseas finance staff.
  • Providing ad hoc support and a point of contact for overseas finance staff by phone and email as required.
  • Supporting Programme Advisor’s and Head of Region with any programme finance issues and concerns.
  • Provide support to the Brooke UK branches with queries on SUN system and VISION reporting.

Review of Financial Reporting

  • Work with the Brooke’s international development department to ensure adequate financial monitoring of international branches, affiliates and partners.
  • Monitoring timely receipt of and reviewing quarterly financial reports from overseas programmes, raising and following up explanations on reported variances
  • Produce management reporting for Regional Desks and the UK International teams, including analysis of data and Key Performance Indicators and written commentary for senior management and trustees to provide insight and facilitate effective financial and strategic decisions.
  • Preparing quarterly report to Senior Management Team (SMT) on actual versus budget performance of overseas programmes, including explanation of significant variances.
  • Review of the annual statutory accounts and management letters for the Brooke’s international branches, affiliates and partners promptly highlighting any significant issues to SMT and IDUK, and ensuring that management letter points are promptly addressed.
  • Working to support overseas staff in improving the quality and timeliness of financial reports
  • Assist in developing financial reporting tools and management reporting.

Planning and Budgeting

  • Reviewing annual programme budgets and plans for the Brooke’s UK International teams, international branches, affiliates and partners, highlighting issues and working with the Programme Advisor to resolve any queries or issues
  • Assisting with the development of annual budgets, particularly for new entities and regional support offices and branches, helping to ensure consistent definition and application of overheads and other expenditures and appropriate project costs breakdowns in order to facilitate major donor funding.

Audit of Internal Controls

  • Manage the internal controls audit programme for the region, including timetabling, liaising with the International Development Team (IDUK), agreeing TOR and agreeing terms with any external auditor.
  • Performing internal control audits on overseas programmes, either working alone or in conjunction with an external auditor
  • Follow up visits to monitor resolution of issues following an internal control audit
  • Preparing a quarterly report to the finance committee on the progress of the internal audit programme
  • Document and improve financial processes of the Brooke’s international branches, affiliates and partners to ensure the effective use of resources and best practice.

Risk Management

  • Support to overseas branches, affiliates and partners in their risk management processes and maintaining their risk registers.

Restricted Income

  • Working closely with all stakeholders, provide support to country programmes in setting up Restricted Project budgets.
  • Review Financial reports in respect of restricted fund projects and ensure that they are submitted in a timely manner and in line with Donor requirements.
  • Prepare and/or Reconcile and agree Restricted Fund balances on a periodic basis.

Grant Payment Management

  • Produce foreign currency hedging schedule and support the execution of the charity’s hedging strategy.
  • Working closely with the regional desks, produce the monthly grant payment schedules for execution

Other

  • Ensure all Brooke financial (and related) procedures and documentation for overseas programmes is kept up to date and published on the intranet
  • Assist with the annual Finance conference and providing training or briefing sessions for programme staff/IDUK staff.
  • Provide support to the Director of Finance and IS in reviewing policies for the Finance Committee.
  • Work closely with other Finance Business Partners and Financial Accountant to ensure a smooth flow of financial operations.

General

  • Follow the Brooke’s equal opportunities statement which aims to clarify the value we place on diversity and steps we take to promote equality of opportunity for all.
  • Perform such additional tasks as may reasonably be requested from time to time by the Director of Finance and IS.

Brooke Competencies / Skills & Abilities
Self-Management / Taking responsibility for own actions, behaviours and outcomes
Learning / Taking responsibility for own learning and fostering growth and development in others
Relationship Building / Creating and maintaining harmonious and constructive working relationships with others internally and/or externally
Planning and Organising / Ensuring that time and resources are utilised to best effect for the achievement of the Brooke’s goals and our mission and that others are committed to agreed courses of action
Effective Decision Making / Making clear, informed and timely decisions that lead to effective outcomes in line with the Brooke’s mission.
Change and Improvement / Seeking out and developing new ideas and approaches, responding positively and constructively to change and fostering a culture of continuous improvement
Collaboration and Cooperation / Working respectfully, effectively and collaboratively with others in your team, across the organisation and externally to deliver effective outcomes
Communication & Influence / Communicating clearly, concisely and compellingly in a manner that is appropriate to the audience. Engaging respectfully with others both internally and/or externally to persuade them to adopt courses of action that are in the best interests of the organisation and the animals.

Person Specification

The skills, abilities, experience and knowledge outlined below provide a summary of what is required to carry out this job effectively. They also form the selection criteria on which the decision on who to appoint will be made. Please ensure that you show how you meet the criteria outlined below in your application.

Knowledge & experience / Essential / Desirable
1 / Qualified CAAB Accountant / X
2 / Proven experience of supporting the setup of financial and internal controls systems and procedures for projects / X
3 / Proven experience of working collaboratively with both overseas staff and UK based teams in an INGO environment / X
4 / Proven experience of auditing internal controlsfor overseas programs either independently or alongside an external auditor / X
5 / Highly skilled in the use of computerised accounting systems / X
6 / Proven experience of using the Sun financial system (and Vision) to a high level of efficiency / X
7 / Experience of implementing new computerised accounting systems / X
8 / Proven experience of reviewing the annual budgets and plans and providing feedback. / X
9 / Proven experience of creating management reports including analysing and interpreting financial information. / X
10 / Excellent relationship building skills with proven ability to form and maintain professional relationships across a diverse range of stakeholders. / X
11 / Excellent IT skills, in particular Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook. / X
12 / Proven experience of working overseas with staff and continuing to support the financial procedures from a distance. / X
13 / Proven ability to interact, communicate with and influence a diverse range of people in an appropriate and culturally sensitive way / X
14 / Ability to travel to countries of operation 3- 4 times a year for duration of up to 10 days at a time. / X
15 / Ability to speak one or more of the following languages - French, Arabic, Spanish, Pashto, Kiswahili, Amharic, Hindi, Urdu, / X

This job description is a written statement of the key aspects of the above job. This document details the main responsibilities, tasks and includes a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. A job description is not intended to be an exhaustive account of all aspects of the duties involved.

Additional information

The Brooke – How we started and what we do

The Brooke was founded in 1934 by Dorothy Brooke, who had been shocked at the plight of ex-war horses, sold into hard labour in Cairo's streets. She bought 5,000 of these horses - and went on to set up a free veterinary clinic. From that beginning, the Brooke has become the UK’s leading overseas welfare charity for working horses, donkeys and mules.

Working animals form the backbone of the economy in many developing countries, supporting countless poor communities where many people earn less than a dollar a day. One working horse or donkey can enable a poor owner and their family, on average six people or more, to survive – so we estimate our work also benefits over 4 million people.

Our mission is to work directly and through partners to do whatever will most improve the welfare of working horses, donkeys and mules through the alleviation of existing suffering and the development of better welfare practices and facilities to prevent and reduce suffering in the future.

The Brooke’s mobile vet teams and community animal health workers, and our partner organisations worldwide, provide free treatment to animals and train animal owners, local healers, farriers, saddlers, feed sellers, harness and cart makers – so making a sustainable difference. Our work is underpinned by methods developed with Bristol University Veterinary School.

We also raise awareness in the wider community of these animals’ vital contribution – and show how healthier, happier animals can be more productive – to help ensure that local, regional and national governments and other organisations work to improve access to the resources needed for better animal welfare.

The Brooke currently operatesacrossten countries in Asia, Africa,Central America and the Middle East, with over 800 highly-skilled staff working directly in the field.

Our goal is to increase the number of working animalswe reach from 800,000 every year to measurably improving the lives of at least 2 million suffering horses, donkeys and mules in the most need in the developing world.