Finance Assistant

Job Purpose

BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international development organisation, and we believe in the power of media and communication for good. We work in more than 20 countries around the world, supporting the independent media essential to democracy and development. Each year our projects and programmes reach over 100 million people facing poverty, inequality and insecurity with information they can trust, helping to improve health, bridge divides, challenge prejudice, and save and change lives. We follow the editorial standards and values of the BBC, but we rely on funding from donors and partners to carry out our work.

This role will be in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia programme and report to the Finance Manager
 

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

The Finance Assistant, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, contributes to the effectiveness and impact of the programme by supporting the Finance Manager to ensure sound financial, grant management, and administrative practices across the EECA programme.  The post holder works with the Finance Manager and Project Managers to ensure that the financial systems and procedures are of high quality and compliant with requirements of BBC Media Action and our donors. 

Duties and responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

General Team Finance
•    Process invoices for the EECA team through the BBC systems and liasing with BBC finance team.
•    Set up new customers ensuring bank details are all correct
•    Monitor and track invoices received in the EECA team and ensure they are processed promptly and accurately;
•    Track and reconcile consultants’ invoices 
•    Support Finance Manager in the budgeting and forecasting process Collate and review timesheets from EECA staff 
•    In close coordination with Finance Manager and other members of the EECA team, review relevant programmes’ internal finance systems and procedures to contribute to ongoing capacity building and programmatic standards 
•    Check reports for financial accuracy and proper coding of expenses in line with relevant systems and procedures;
•    Ensure customers are checked against sanctions list.
•    Contribute to the improvement of finance systems within the wider organisation

Project Finance
•    Ensure project budgets are up to date, accurate and available to all;
•    Assist in compiling donor financial reports, including preparation of supporting documentation
•    Support Finance Manager in the set-up of project budgets;
•    Track donor income
•    Review expenditure to ensure compliance with donor guidelines
•    Support the EECA team with project related procurement.
•    Provide support on project audits, including preparation of audit file

Safeguarding
This role may involve working with groups of vulnerable children, youth, and adults. For the successful candidate, mandatory training will be provided on BBC Media Action’s safeguarding policy and staff code of conduct. BBC Media Action operates a zero-tolerance policy concerning all forms of abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people. A police background check may form part of the recruitment process. 
 

Knowledge, Skills, Training & Experience

Essential

●    Organised with ability to prioritise own workload effectively, to coordinate activities and conflicting demands to ensure that tight deadlines are met.
●    Experience of working in the charity sector and knowledge of donor funding
●    Effective communication skills with the ability to work well with range of people at all levels.
●    Meticulous attention to detail, particularly in regards of financial data management
●    Proficient computer skills with strong experience of office software packages and experience of finance packages(i.e. Word, Excel and PowerPoint.). 
●    Ability to use own initiative with minimal supervision and deal with routine queries as they arise, escalating to others as necessary. 
●    Experience of reviewing project financial reports and reconciling financial data

Desirable 
●    Relevant finance qualification.
●    Experience of SAP and/or Access Dimensions
●    Experience of countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
●    Second language (Russian or Ukrainian)