Deputy Team Leader – Finance, Operations and Compliance

Appointment of Deputy Team Leader – Finance, Operations and Compliance

Somali Dialogue Platform

About RVI

The Rift Valley Institute (RVI) is an independent, non-profit organisation working in eastern and central Africa since 2001. The RVI is a research and educational organisation with a social mission: to create a better future for the peoples and communities of Eastern and Central Africa by advancing relevant knowledge of the region through collaborative research, education and training, public information and dialogues, and promoting culture and heritage. A UK-registered charity, the Institute has offices in Nairobi, Juba, Hargeysa and London.

RVI is a leader in practical social research, policy analysis, training and public information. Our field-based research emerges from and seeks to respond to ideas generated by the communities and institutions with which we work. RVI research projects, which involve collaborations between African and non-African researchers, include training and mentoring of young researchers to develop their skills and experience. RVI supports the right to information and the exchange of knowledge by publishing its research and disseminating it through public fora.

Our Vision, Mission and Values

Our Vision

Making local knowledge work for the benefit of the people of Eastern and Central Africa.

Our Mission

The Rift Valley Institute works to create a better future for the peoples and communities of Eastern and Central Africa by advancing relevant knowledge of the region through collaborative research, education and training, public information and dialogues, and promoting culture and heritage. The Institute bridges development practice and policy, elevating local voices, knowledge and action.

Our Values

The following values guide and underpin our work:

Respect: We demonstrate respect for local knowledge and the partners and the communities we work with and those who work with us.

Independence: We are independent in our thought and action and produce research and deliver programmes free from external interests.

Integrity*:* We work with transparency and honesty to ensure accurate and open access to information, and we are accountable for our work and to those we work with.

Collaboration*:* We believe respectful partnerships are the basis for successful development and we are committed to long term, mutually beneficial collaboration between indigenous institutions, local researchers and international specialists.

Excellence: We strive to produce original work and to sustain our strong reputation for research, public information and training.

The Somali Dialogue Platform

The Somali Dialogue Platform (‘The Platform’) is a policy dialogue and facilitation initiative, managed by the Rift Valley Institute (RVI), that responds to the need to support more collaborative, productive and inclusive political processes that can transform Somalia’s political settlement. The Platform works with the grain of Somali political culture—seeking to create dialogue spaces genuinely trusted and owned by Somalis, where they can confidently address past conflicts and grievances and collaborate to resolve fundamental differences in their ideas, moving past bargaining based on narrower interests. It does this by leveraging a coalition of Somali organisations and individuals, whose combined knowledge, networks, and convening power can support and enable productive, broad-based, Somali-led political processes.

The Role

The Deputy Team Leader (DTL) – Finance, Operations and Compliance will support the rapid refinement and set-up of systems for programme management – including programme financial management, procurement, operations and logistics, risk management and compliance, security. They will support the development of the overall governance and structure of the programme as it moves into its next phase. The DTL will be responsible for taking on temporary line management responsibilities of the Platform’s programme management unit, and will have the delegated authority to manage and ensure delivery of appropriate programme support systems. They will also be responsible for supporting the final transition of the role to a full-time RVI staff position.

The full details of the role are described in the Terms of Reference.

RVI will provide a flexible duty station either based in Nairobi or London with travel to Mogadishu, Somalia as required.

The Person

PERSON SPECIFICATIONS

Knowledge & qualifications

• Master’s level degree in Finance, Business Administration, Development or similar
• Accounting qualification (CPA, ACCA, CMA)
• Strong knowledge of compliance requirements of key institutional donors – FCDO, USAID, EU and other major donors
• Knowledge of a range of procurement and contracting modalities for different types of suppliers
• Understanding and experience of institutional safeguarding, duty of care and security risk management processes
• Proven knowledge of accounting systems, QuickBooks and general accounting policies

Experience

• Extensive experience leading and developing systems for programme financial management for multi-donor projects of at least $2-3 million per year in value
• Extensive experience managing high-value, competitive procurement process
• Experience in senior management of multi-year, multi-donor programmes positions in programme support, management and delivery in fragile-contexts, preferably Somalia
• Understanding of financial systems, for budgeting and reporting and familiarity with accounting and reporting software.
• Experience overseeing programme operations, security for programmes requiring extensive travel and operations in fragile contexts
• Experience developing and implementing security policies for small organisations highly desirable

Skills & abilities

• Excellent leadership and management skills, able to mobilise and motivate teams to deliver collectively
• A creative thinker, able to quickly solve complex problems as they arise
• Excellent project management and planning skills
• Ability to represent the Platform at high-levels
• Strong interpersonal skills with ability to work well with diverse people
• Ability to multitask, work with minimal supervision and work well in a high workload and fast-paced environment with tight deadlines
• Team management with ability to motivate and support performance of team members

Duration of Contract

Six months with expected start date of 1st November 2022