British Council recrute un(e) ” Contracts Finance Partner” Retour vers les opportunités

Role Title : Contracts Finance Partner

Role Information : 

Role purpose : 

The purpose of the Contracts Finance Partner is to oversee and manage the financial systems, processes and budget of the 9.7 M euros EU-funded Tfanen programme in Tunisia. This includes effective management of financial risk, compliance, planning, grants provision mechanisms, management reporting and financial analysis for the programme.  S/he will ensure that finance-related activities within the programme are established and delivered to the required standards of the financial control framework to enable successful delivery of the project and meet British Council and Donor standards, requirements, audit and reporting needs.

S/he acts as the main point of contact for the project, Country and MENA Regional Teams for all queries relating to the project finances, planning and forecasting and commercial information within a matrix of responsibility defined by the Senior Programme Manager/Team Leader.

S/he will work with a range of internal and external stakeholders to ensure that the programme

is managed in a way that maximises:

• value for money
• donor satisfaction
• compliance with British Council internal policy
• compliance with the donor contract requirements
• contribution to cultural relations impact.
• promote transparency and integrity in dealings with stakeholders and advocating best practice at all times

About us : 

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.

We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.

Geopolitical/SBU/Function overview:

Politics, population, economics

There are deep historical ties between the Middle East and North Africa and the region remains critically important for UK security and prosperity as well as a high priority for the British Council.

The region is currently blighted by conflict and instability, rooted in the geopolitical struggle between regional powers and weakening of the social contract between governments and their populations. The Iran-Saudi and Shia-Sunni conflict is playing out in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and is having a huge impact more widely in the region. It shows no sign of abating.  The breakdown in the social contract that drove the 2011 anti-government uprisings has occurred due to a number of longstanding barriers to political, economic and social progress.

• Dominance of ruling monarchies, authoritarian regimes, and limited democratic institutions.
• Exclusion of young people from political processes and few opportunities for them to express themselves freely.
• A very young demographic and mounting youth unemployment at 30%, twice the global average.
• Poorly performing education systems and low learning outcomes against international benchmarks.
• Inequality of opportunity for women; most development indicators show that women have an increasing participation in education but are under-represented in economic and political life.
• An under-developed sense of citizenship and weak civil society.
• An economic model heavily dependent on oil. Lower oil prices are already having an impact on the social contract in the Gulf.

The majority of young people are finding their path to economic independence and self-fulfilment blocked and given the limited legitimate outlets available to express their grievances and create change, radical thinking and radical action has powerful appeal.

The region is now at a crossroads in its transition, with huge generational shifts taking place in politics, society, geopolitics and the economy. As well as creating conflict as different parties contest the direction of this transition, it is also generating significant opportunities – the new generation is more connected, more educated, more entrepreneurial, innovative and expressive than previous generations. They have the potential to drive sustainable economic growth and stability. Moreover, governments have greater impetus to engage with youth due to their rising numbers and the end of the oil boom, which has increased their need to diversify their economies away from oil and towards a model based around harnessing the region’s human capital.

British Council response

British Council MENA contributes to the following corporate plan objectives:

• Greater stability in priority countries in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia and countries affected by the Syrian refugee crisis.
• International opportunities and connections for young people and institutions in the UK

Our regional vision in MENA is:

‘Changing young people’s lives, inspiring hope, connecting opportunity’

Main opportunities/challenges for this role:

Opportunities

• Tfanen Tunisie Creative is in its third year of delivery with further funding secured until late 2021. Additional funding for a wider ‘Jeunesse’ programme beyond this date is anticipated
• Programme visibility has been exemplary with senior representatives from the European Commission (and on occasion Heads of State from EU member countries) engaging with the project during visits to Tunisia
• Tfanen is a high impact, high value programme delivered on behalf of the largest donor globally. This is a highly attractive post for someone interested n the rapidly expanding field of culture and development, in a country with significant opportunities for additional projects in the foreseeable future
• There are significant requirements for high-level stakeholder management with both the EU and EU member state cultural entities

Challenges

Tfanen is delivered for the European Union by the British Council in partnership with the EUNIC (European National Institutes of Culture) cluster for Tunisia. This implies quality insurance on various levels to follow and implement a variety of compliance policies.

With the approval of the Senior Programme Manager /Team Leader, in addition to the main responsibilities in Tfanen, the post holder may exceptionally also provide ad hoc support in any of his/her areas of work to support other projects within the MENA region as work priorities and capacity allow.

Main Accountabilities:

Financial systems and controls

• Maintains an effective and efficient system of internal controls which comply with British Council’s corporate standards to support Tfanen Senior Management Team.
• Financial systems and processes effectively aid operational programme delivery and are compliant with client Head Contract requirements and corporate British Council standards.
• Financial policies and guidelines are regularly reviewed to ensure they continue to be implemented appropriately.
• Ensures that all financial records and accounts are compiled on a timely basis and that audit requirements are considered in day to day project delivery. The audit trail is visible, transparent and maintained by all members of the team.
• Ensures invoices are raised in accordance with the programme plan and collected in accordance with the agreed payment terms.
• Leads on monthly monitoring and reconciliation of the contract budget and works with the Senior Project Management Team to identify and report risks and issues.

Financial planning & Reporting

• Detailed annual and quarterly programme budgets are prepared in line with Head Contract requirements; multi-annual planning budgets are revised to accommodate contractual changes.
• Lead on financial planning, (re)forecasting, cash flow, reporting and analysis, working with the Project Team to ensure accurate, timely and complete financial management of the project budget on SAP meeting British Council standards and compliance.
• Preparation of yearly financial reports; client reporting formats and conditions complied with and internal corporate financial processes are undertaken on time and to standards specified
• Ensures internal audit receives a ‘satisfactory’ rating at minimum; facilitates and leads the programme team preparation for external audits; leads the programme management response to audit recommendations.
• Audited accounts summary prepared in sufficient time for presentation in Annual Report and for presentation to Programme Governance bodies.
• Ad-hoc periodic reports for budget holders, senior management and donors prepared to standards required.
• Financial support is provided to the project team to facilitate value for money analysis.
• Additional ad hoc financial reporting on the programme as required.

Risk Management

• Ensures corporate Financial Control and Compliance Framework (FCCF) and Enterprise and Risk Management Framework (ERMF) are followed and meetings are held in line with the corporate standard and schedule.
• Process owners understand the framework requirements and report risk adequately and effectively; undertakes supervision, coaching and mentoring of process owners and ensures that appropriate trainings are held at the right time.
• Support the Programme Manager in the completion of the Management Control Checks.
• Manage information created and received in compliance with the British Council’s information management standards, policies, the UK data protection principles and local legislation.

Key Relationships:

Internal: Senior Programme Manager Tfannen, Programme Director/SRO, Local Country office staff, Regional Management team, Regional Business Support Services teams, Business Unit Management team, UK Finance Support team

External: Vendors, donors, FCO / British Embassy / Consulate / Donor and its Beneficiaries, Partners

British Council Core Skills: 

Financial Planning and Management- (level 3)

Uses financial systems and processes

Uses corporate financial systems and processes appropriately as part of the job and on behalf of a team.

Managing finance and resources (level 3): Supports budget management

Monitors and controls an agreed budget within a defined area, producing reports and analyses and contributing to planning.

 Managing Risk (level 3):

Develops the culture.

Has track record of analysing risks, promoting risk awareness and holding others to account for their practices.

Managing Project (level 2):

Analyses project data, examines project data and performance, reporting on progress and recommending corrective action as needed.

Using technology (level 2)

Operates as an advanced user

Works as an advanced practitioner in the use of office software and/or British Council standard (SAP) and social media platforms and trains or coaches others in their use.

Managing people (level 2)

Supervises a small team

Supervises a small team of people doing similar jobs to deliver short term tasks to agreed quality and time standards.

British Council Behaviours

Behaviours assessed during interview stage of recruitment process:

 Working together – more demanding

Making it happen – more demanding

Being accountable- more demanding

Behaviours not assessed during recruitment process

 Connecting with others – more demanding

 Shaping the future – more demanding

 Creating shared purpose – more demanding