Terms of Reference
Position: Head of Finance
Position Type: Consultant
Contract Duration: Until July 2022
Reports to: Team Leader
Location: Dhaka
Project: Platforms for Dialogue – Strengthening Inclusion and Participation in Decision Making and Accountability Mechanisms’ programme in Bangladesh
Role Purpose
About us
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educationalopportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK andother countries. We do this by contributing positively to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections, and engendering trust.
The British Council has been working in Bangladesh since 1952 and has operational centres in three cities (Dhaka, Sylhet, and Chittagong) with 150 staff. We engage with over 2.5 million people a year. We have three key areas of work – Education and Society, English, and the Arts. Through these areas, we engage with leaders and policymakers in Bangladesh, influencers and opinion formers such as teachers and business leaders, and young people in education or just starting their careers.
Background: Programme Objectives and Scope
Platforms for Dialogue (P4D), a European Union-funded project in partnership with the CabinetDivision, is working to improve good governance and engage civil society organisations and citizens ingovernment accountability mechanisms. With our partners, Platforms for Dialogue increases citizenrights awareness, promotes democratic ownership, and supports government officials to improveaccountability and responsiveness. Implemented through the British Council, this multi-year project isa unique initiative working directly with both citizens and CSOs and the government to advance SDG16 and contribute to good governance in Bangladesh.
The overall objective of the programme is to strengthen democratic ownership and accountability mechanisms in Bangladesh. The programme’s specific objective is to promote a more enabling environment for the effective engagement and participation of the citizens and civil society in decision-making and oversight. The programme is organised around three converging Result Areas:
Result Area 2: “accountability and responsiveness of government officials raised through enhanced capacity building of decision-makers and engagement with CSOs”;
Result Area 3: ”New tools and policy platforms for more effective dialogue between citizens and government are developed and utilised”,
Implementation of the programme commenced in February 2017. The initial implantation period of the programme was 36 months. P4D project is extended till June 2022, with an additional time for reporting and closeout activities. More information about the project is available from our web site at www.p4dbd.org
Accountabilities, Responsibilities, and Main Duties
The Head of Finance will be accountable and responsible for the effective operation of all financialaspects, including financial control and management, risk management, financial planning anddelivery, following up, and reviewing. This comprises:
- Effectively manage all financial requirements of the project aligning with the BC financialrules, regulations, and compliance.
- Control all aspects of accounting, financial and risk management.
- Strongly follow and adhere to the British Council financial guideline and SOP.
- Support the Team leader and other senior management team members in makingappropriate decisions.
- Provide support to the British Council management on project finance issues.
- Provide leadership on any upcoming audit and ensure cooperation from relevant staff andthe British Council finance/procurement team.
- Work closely with the Team Leader and Senior Management Team Member in preparing workplans and annual budget.
- Liaison with the regional team and ensure all compliance issues are followed and allinformation is shared with them.
- Cash flow management, FX reporting, and liaison with the central treasury team
- Management of relationship with the Service Shared Centre, making sure country needs andexpectations are met.
- Liaison with the Cabinet Division’s relevant personnel and provide monthly, quarterly, andannual financial reports, per the government requirements.
- Fulfill any additional project-related financial reporting requirements by the Cabinet Division.
- Coordinate advice on financial and legal aspects of commercial negotiations
- Ensure that all financial operations are incompliant with accounting and audit principles.
- Delivery of on-going efficiency savings
- Generate various reports as per BC and EC requirements
Key result areas
- Effective project operations
- Good financial results against plans and forecasts.
- Total reliability on financial information that evaluates financial performance and highlightskey risk areas.
- Efficient use of resources
- Good audit report
- Effective communications across stakeholders and critical relationships
Key relationships
- Finance Manager
- Programme Manager
- Project Team Leader
- Project Director
- Regional Senior Project Manager
Location and Duration
The Head of Finance will be based in Dhaka for the programme’s duration, with associated countrytravel.
Person Specification
- Professional qualification in finance and/or accounting (e.g., ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA, etc.) orequivalent.
- At least eight years of work experience in financial management on bilateral donor-fundedprojects (preferably EU).
- Track record of leading finance function in international/multinational organisation in similarcontext/project.
- Must know EU/EC reporting requirements, Civil Society Organisation (CSO) financing, andforeign donations rules and regulations.
- Must know government financial requirements, particularly Technical Assistance ProjectPerforma/Proposal (TAPP) requirements, and knowledge about Public Procurement Policy(PPP).
- Management experience and ability to line-manage an of professional colleagues.
- Budgeting and data analysis skills with the ability to prepare high-quality analytical reportsand recommendations
- Knowledge of Microsoft Office 365, with advanced knowledge of Excel, is a must. Ability towork in the SharePoint environment, using Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and Planer.
- Fluent in written and spoken Bangla and English.
How to apply
To apply, please send 1) a cover letter presenting the relevance of your skills and experience to theposition advertised and 2) an up to date curriculum vitae (CV) to the following email address Shariful.Haque@bd.britishcouncil.org with a copy to Siamul.Rabbany@britishcouncil.org
Please mark in the subject line “Application for Head of Finance – P4D”.
No hard copy applications will be accepted. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for the next step of the recruitment process.
Closing date: 27 February 2021
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