Finance Assistant

Location

Global

Department

Business Support Services

Reports to (Line Manager)

Head of Finance

About HelpAge

HelpAge International works with partners and a diverse global network of more than 170 organisations over 90 countries, supporting millions of older people to live safe, dignified, and healthy lives. Through our partnership and collaborations, we work to ensure the inclusion of older people across society and strive to deliver a just and fair world for everyone, whatever their age.

Our work is driven by our desire to deliver real impact for older people, to be inclusive, to work in partnership and to learn from our shared experience. Our 2030 strategy Ageing in a Just World sets out how we will work together to shape the future we all share. By ensuring that all our work promotes wellbeing, dignity and voice, we can be a positive influence in the lives of current and future older people.

HelpAge International is entering into an exciting phase of its evolution as we fundamentally transform what we do, how we do it and how we are organised. Driven by our commitment to the localization agenda, we are evolving the way we partner and deliver value at the country and local level. In the coming 3 years, we will localize our country offices and programmes, and develop new and diverse forms of partnerships globally. We seek to give primacy to local agents for change. To this end, we will replace all programmes delivered by HelpAge staff and resources on the ground with implementation by partners. This will apply across all our work -humanitarian and long-term development. Going forward, our value is framed around supporting, convening and thought leadership. A key way of creating value and bringing impact is collaborating across boundaries and by bringing different perspectives, skills and talent together. We will deliver our work through agile teams and a global operating model, with regional roots, to focus on impact and maintain the relationships at the national level to help build collaborations and support others to set their own agendas.

About the Job

We are seeking a passionate, professional and experienced candidate who will explore new opportunities to create value, to find new avenues, unique ways and novel partnership and collaborations to reach our shared goals.

We are looking for a talented Finance Officer who will be mainly responsible for the accounting of financial transactions to ensure all incomes are correctly recorded, payments and transferred to implementing partner and country offices are promptly made, and global bank accounts are properly managed. Moreover, the globally spread HelpAge team has an effective mechanism to have access to funds for their activities and settle their advances promptly.

Department information

The role of the Business Partner Services Department is to:

• Establish and provide an efficient (internal) client focused services that allows HelpAge’s teams and partners to deliver on the 2030 strategy.
• Provide professional business support services to portfolios, projects, and teams across the organization.
• The Department includes finance, human resources, operations and internal audit functions.

Team info

The Finance team has the following remits –

• Develop and continuously improve on providing a secure and compliant financial servicethat can respond to both traditional and nontraditional programmatic opportunities.
• Support the Business Development & Transformation team with the development of Income generating models and initiatives. In addition, continuously ensure the financial safety and security of HelpAge’s assets.
• Support the partner-led programming approach through combined development of systems with Global Impact and Business Development and Transformation teams to operationalise an effective partnership approach.
• Provide the oversight of risk management, and audit of HelpAge and partners work to the Directors and the board to meet legal and best practice requirements
• In collaboration with other departments, the development of global operations protocol, facilitating the rollout, implementation and monitoring of these at the various levels that we would be engaging in at any given time.

Key areas for impact/influence and responsibilities

These outline the broad areas of responsibility in the role, but in collaboration with your colleagues you will be able to help in smooth implementation of programmes and other activities by prompting disbursement of funds across the world to our partners, country offices and globally spread teams.

As a Finance Assistant you will:

• develop and manage digital payments and processing system with an auditable trail is in place for globally spread programme work and team.
• Process all payments into the internal banking system and onto our accounting system (Sun Accounts), maintain all bank accounts, undertake monthly reconciliations, and liaise with bankers.
• Ensure funds from strategic donors (unrestricted funds) are received in a timely manner. In consultation with Finance Business Partners, Portfolio Leads, Global Impact and Business Development teams, ensure income against restricted projects is properly recorded to the relevant project and donor.
• Develop and manage funds disbursement system to ensure a globally spread HelpAge team have a safe and secure system to access funds for their activities. The issuing of travel advances, the payment of all expenses and reconciliations and manage all receivables from the HelpAge global team.
• Managing petty cash accounts, processing cash transfers to International Offices
• Ensuring that funds are available to cover these transfers.
• Ensure that all asset and liability accounts are reconciled on a monthly basis.
• Prepare Business Support team budget monitoring reports and advise Budget Holders with key issues highlighted.
• Manage payroll entry and reconciliation and ensure that Fixed Asset Register is maintained and up-to-date, prepare VAT return and submit to HMRC.
• Support the year-end procedures including posting Accruals and prepayments.
• Work closely with Finance and Business Partners, Finance Analysist/System Accountant and Finance Business partners in maintaining, updating and preparation of cash books, trial balance reconciliation and assist Head of Finance to prepare Management Accounts.

Skills and experience required

You will be someone with:

• Excellent organisational and planning skills
• Good attention to detail and high levels of accuracy.
• Sound communications and reporting skills (verbal and in writing).
• Excellent organisational and planning skills to manage job workload and work to deadlines.
• Good analytical skills and the ability to think logically.
• Excellent skills in IT, Excel spreadsheets and Word
• Ability to work across cultures.
• Creative, innovative, ability to spot opportunities, explore and develop new ideas
• Experience of working with different currencies and making overseas payments.
• Cash management skills, VAT and Payroll
• Experience of working with bank systems and SUN accounting system.
• AAT or Relevant accounting experience.

Key Behavioural Competencies

At HelpAge International, we believe in the importance of empowering our people to be change makers and leaders at all levels. We expect our people to embrace and live our values, challenging themselves every day to identify issues that are most important to older persons and their communities, and to make an impact that matters.

In addition, as an HelpAge employee you are expected to:

Competencies

Description

Working Collaboratively with Others

Work collaboratively, building mutual trust and respect, with external organizations and partners to achieve our strategic aims and objectives; being accountable for the work we do together.

Adaptability and Flexibility

Adapt to new directions or opportunities arising within the organisation and in our work area; being flexible in our role, constantly using the feedback to learn more and evolve further.

Supporting and Facilitating Change

Lead behavioural and cultural change through embracing a supportive, collaborative and highly inclusive environment where everybody feels supported, respected and engaged.

Extend HelpAge’s Reach and Impact

Extend HelpAge’s reach and impact by creating and identifying new business development opportunities and building relationships with new partners.

Diversity and Inclusion

Lead and promote a culture of including the voices of older people across our support, convening and thought leadership roles, in a way that is transformative, empowering and highly inclusive of those marginalised by gender, economic status, disability and other factors of discrimination.

Leading Others (for managers)

Demonstrate strong leadership to own unit/department and manage people in a well and reputable manner. Create an atmosphere of trust and an enabling environment where staff can contribute their best and develop their potential.

Safeguarding

HelpAge International is committed to safeguarding the communities with which we work, our partners, staff and any others who we come into contact with. The post holder will also be responsible for:

• Preventing harm and abuse from our people, operations and programmes to anyone that encounters our work.
• Reporting all safeguarding incidents you see, hear, hear about or suspect, using our internal reporting mechanism.
• Complying with all safeguarding framework policies and practices.
• Completing mandatory training courses relating to our safeguarding policy framework and complying with HR vetting procedures.