Regional Finance & Procurement Officer at the British High Commission (BHC)

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.

We are recruiting to fill the vacant position below:

Job Title: Regional Finance & Procurement Officer (Internal Only Campaign) (20/17 LOS)

Location: Lagos
Grade: B3 (L)
Type of Position: Fixed Term
Working hours per week: 37
Job Category: Other British Government Departments (Partners across Government, including UK Visas)
Job Subcategory: Immigration Enforcement International (formerly RALON)

Main Purpose of Job

• The British Deputy High Commission is looking to recruit a Regional Finance and Procurement Officer to work in the Immigration Enforcement International office. Immigration Enforcement International has secured funding for a programme of upstream border capacity building in Africa.

The objectives of this programme are:

• Improved border and migration management capacity in key irregular migration source countries - supporting a reduction in irregular migration flows.
• Improved capacity to sustainably re-integrate and rehabilitate returned migrants, including Victims of Trafficking - supporting increased returns and improved protection for vulnerable groups.
• Improved upstream co-operation on tackling the push factors that drive irregular migration at source - supporting a reduction in irregular migration flows.
• Improved Value For Money – Working upstream, at source, to prevent and reduce illegal immigration to the UK to reduce downstream costs to the UK taxpayer. Building capacity of key partners through frequent, targeted, responsive and intelligent liaison/expertise transfer as a more cost effective approach than large scale programming and/or equipment investment.
• Improved security system management through building capability to detect fraudulent documents and prevent inadequately documented passengers from travelling; increasing investigation and intelligence skills to tackle the underlying criminality behind immigration crime
• Manage 1 locally engaged Regional Capacity Building Assistant
• The successful candidate will be expected to adhere to the FCO policy and guidance on expenditure when carrying out their duties. This may include but not limited to large scale procurement, flight booking, accommodation and venue booking.
• The Successful candidate will be responsible for managing the budget for the capacity building programme in Overseas Development Aid (ODA) countries within the Africa region. The role will focus on developing technical knowledge and strengthening institutional capacity on migration, human trafficking and border security management, aiming at long-term sustainability.
• The programmes aim to build capacity in three areas:
  • Developing institutional capacity
  • Developing human capacity
  • Developing operational capacity
• The position is for an initial one year contract, and may be subject to renewal.
• Regular regional travel across Africa will be required please take this into consideration when applying for the position.

Roles and Responsibilities

• The successful candidate will work closely with colleagues in London and across the Region to ensure good financial management across the portfolio, providing advice on best practice to team members and delivering high quality financial reporting.
• The job holder will be a source of guidance and quality assurance on financial issues for project implementers and involved in all stages of the project cycle from scrutinising budget proposals and drafting contracts to processing payments and assessing financial returns.

Duties will include:

• Overseeing and managing the budget while working with Programme and project managers; the jobholder will ensure high quality financial management and record keeping. They will deliver accurate finance forecasting and reliable reporting of financial performance to the Programme Board. Using excellent communication skills the job holder will deliver effective ad hoc briefings as well formal reporting; Assist in developing and managing a clear, coherent programme/capacity building plans.
• Managing financial/budgetary plans, exercise quality control over all procedures and documents, and ensure proper follow-up as necessary.
• Developing existing procurement strategies across the Africa region in regards to the full spectrum of purchasing requirements.
• Studying proposed budgets and suggesting suitable amendments in accordance with the Home Office/FCO spend policy to the budget holder and or management as appropriate.
• Establish and maintain a working relationship with local Corporate Services whilst also researching and prospecting developments to be implemented regionally.
• Prepare and develop appropriate templates to be issued across the region in order to standardise the departments approach to budget management and record keeping.
• Collate budget forecasts across Africa for the ODA allocation, examining them for correctness, accuracy and completeness in accordance with the Home Office/FCO procedures and regulations.
• Monitoring procurement and spending throughout the year in order to ensure that all purchases are made within the allotted Home Office/FCO limits.
• Maintain the local asset register in line with Home Office/FCO policy.
• Consolidate budget data for presentation to Immigration Enforcement, UK.
• Co-ordinate the timely submission of reporting on programmes, including ad hoc, monthly, interim, quarterly, annual and end-of-project reports.
• Working with HO training teams develop and deliver training courses, as well as "training of trainers" programmes in order to facilitate knowledge sharing.

Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experience 

• Candidates must be British passport holders who are able to obtain UK Security Clearance or other nationals who have recently lived at least five consecutive years in the UK and may be eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance.
• Have strong communication skills in English; with an ability to communicate clearly and concisely with internal and external stakeholders and to understand how to present information to senior stakeholders in an appropriate format
• Must possess good computer skills with familiarity with software packages MS Word, Excel and straightforward databases
• Experience in financial management, ideally in a project/programme management context
• Have good attention to detail
• Be an enthusiastic and proactive individual with the ability to identify where they are able to add-value to the team through their work; with an understanding of when they are able to take decisions or need to refer to senior managers
• Be well-organised, able to balance a busy workload with a number of competing priorities and to manage and organise this workload effectively and systematically, whilst adhering to HMG processes and procedures.

Desirable Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply Certification
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office Budget Manager Training
• Previous experience in a training environment is preferable

Required Competencies:

• Seeing the Big Picture, Collaborating and Partnering, Delivering Value for Money, Engaging Internationally

Starting Monthly Salary
N610,536

Application Closing Date
10th January, 2018

Work Start Date
10th February, 2018.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• Suitably qualified member of existing BHC*/DFID/British Council staff (who currently hold SC clearance) wishing to submit an application must also seek approval from their line manager prior to applying
• You must also enclose a copy of your passport bio-data page together with any visa which permits you to work in Nigeria.