Location : Colombia based in Bogota

Starting Date : 20th June 2021

Duration of Mission : 6 months (possible extension)

Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious international aid organization. Our teams are committed to supporting civilians’ victims of marginalization and exclusion, or hit by natural disasters, wars and economic collapses, by answering their fundamental needs. Our aim is to provide emergency relief to uprooted people in order to help them recover their dignity and regain self-sufficiency. The association leads in average 190 projects by year in the following sectors of intervention: food security, health, nutrition, construction and rehabilitation of infrastructures, water, sanitation, hygiene and economic recovery. PUI is providing assistance to around 5 million people in 20 countries – in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe and France.

Find out about our history and values.

Humanitarian situation and needs

Since 2013, Venezuela is enduring a socio-economic crisis triggered by the fall of oil prices, contested economic measures, and ambitious social policies that fueled insecurity and a decline in the previously richest economy in Latin America. The political and humanitarian crisis worsened in 2018, with UNHCR estimating that thousands of Venezuelans were leaving their country each day to reach and remain in various destinations in Colombia. According the 2020 Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP), Colombia remains the country most impacted and largest host of arrivals from Venezuela, with an estimated 1,630,903 Venezuelans in the country as of December 2019 (52% male and 48% female, with only 641,825 having legal status), and the return of approximately 500,000 Colombians. This influx has put considerable strain on the Colombian system, meaning that those arriving now are facing harsher conditions than those of the past, as well as those arriving being generally poorer than those who were able to travel earlier.

The 2019 Colombian Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) stated that there are 1.9 million people in need in Colombia, consisting of 1,467,000 Venezuelan refugees or migrants and 403,000 Colombians. Of this, there is approximately 946,000 males (including 232,000 under 18 and 23,000 over 59 years old) and 925,000 females (including 227,000 under 18 and 24,000 over 59 years old). However, it is important to recognize that the data on Venezuelans is potentially underestimated, because it is believed that thousands are not registered due to crossing into the country informally, and it only reflects disaggregated data for people who have been assessed in need of humanitarian assistance in Colombia.

Beginning in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic spread quickly and exponentially throughout the world, and entered Colombia in March 2020. The Colombian government has since taken continually increasing measures to contain the virus, including shutting down the border (including that with Venezuela), installing curfews and travel restrictions, and imposing social distancing rules on gatherings. The general situation and conditions has significant impact on Venezuelan migrants and vulnerable Colombians, drastically increasing vulnerability throughout the country.

In 2021, PUI will continue and expand the humanitarian projects in North Santander/Santander and Arauca covering health, MHPSS, and protection. In North Santander/Santander, PUI will continue to support Venezuelan migrant and refuges, particularly PWSN, on the dangerous migration route from the border, while in Arauca PUI will expand the clinics and new mobile clinics supporting primary healthcare and MHPSS.

PUI’s strategy/position in the country

PUI will also be seeking to expand its humanitarian program into new areas, with a new country wide strategy taking into consideration the current and impending challenges related to the COVID-19 crisis. A potential project in Tibú is a continuation of this strategy, focusing on population affected by the armed conflict in the area of Catatumbo, in Norte de Santander. It will be an opening of new base for PUI in Colombia, within health and mental health programming intended to be implemented, also in collaboration with partners focused on protection.

As part of our activities in we are looking for an Administrative and Financial Coordinator in Bogota.

Overall Objective and Responsabilities

The Administrative and Financial Coordinator is accountable for the sound financial, accounting and budgetary management of the mission as well as the management of human resources and the administrative and legal records.

  • Financial, budgetary and accounting management: He/She is responsible for all aspects relating to finance, including budgetary and accounting elements, as well as the mission cash flow.
  • Management of human resources: He/She is responsible for the administrative management of the local and international teams, for the definition/updating of procedures and HR management tools in accordance with labor regulations in the intervention country and the HR policies of PUI, and for the monitoring of risks linked to HR questions.
  • Administrative and legal management: He/She supervises administrative records and guarantees that the status and functioning of the mission are in legal accordance with the requirements of the intervention country.
  • Representation: He/She represents the association in its relations with partners, authorities and different local players for the financial, administrative, legal and human resources areas of the mission.
  • Coordination: He/She centralizes and diffuses information within the mission and to headquarters for all financial, administrative, legal and human resources aspects of the mission, and consolidates the internal and external reporting for these domains.

Specific objectives and activities

ENSURING SOUND FINANCIAL, BUDGETARY AND ACCOUNTING MANAGEMENT FOR THE MISSION

Financial

  • He/She elaborates and updates monitoring charts to ensure the financial equilibrium of the mission and prevent risks. He/She analyses financial information, and shares his/her conclusions with the coordination team, the base managers and the appropriate technical managers, as well as with the audit manager at headquarters.
  • He/She ensures the implementation and correct use of financial, accounting and budgetary procedures and management tools throughout the mission. He/She is responsible for briefing new expatriates and local employees on these rules and organizes ad hoc training when necessary.
  • He/She ensures, amongst other things, that expenditure procedures are respected and implements an internal control system. He/She also participates in the validation of procurement files.
  • He/She is responsible for financial audits on the mission and supervises the transmission to headquarters of the necessary documents and information within the framework of headquarters’ audits.

Budgetary

  • He/She pilots the development of the mission budgetary framework for the year, and monitors/revises it at regular intervals, such as defined with the audit manager at headquarters.
  • He/She formulates project budgets within the framework of operations proposals (including budgetary narrative), respecting the procedures for each donor, in coordination with the coordination team and the appropriate field managers. He/She ensures therefore the cost coverage strictly linked to the proposed programs, but also to the fair distribution of mission operating costs throughout each project.
  • He/She prepares each month the budgetary monitoring for each project, which he/she communicates to the appropriate players in the mission and headquarters within 15 days following the end of the month, and analyses with them any discrepancies between forecast and actual figures.
  • He/She carries out budgetary projections at regular intervals in order to ensure the optimization of budgetary resources while respecting the eligibility and flexibility rules of each donor. He/She proposes where necessary budgetary adjustments, which could necessitate requests for contractual amendments. He/She takes into account the contractual timing required for presenting an amendment and ensures that all the documents are transmitted in due time to headquarters.
  • He/She ensures, throughout each project, that funds are correctly attributed, respecting the contractual framework in terms of eligibility rules (date, nature and procurement procedures) and reporting intervals.
  • He/She produces external financial reports for the donors that he/she transmits to the Head of Mission for transmission to headquarters with all the documents constituting the contractual report.

Accounting

  • He/She supervises the accounting assignment of transactions, ensures that expenditure is correctly assigned and carries out the monthly accounting closure having carried out all the necessary controls. He/She then transmits the monthly accounts to headquarters in an electronic version as well as the paper accounting returns within 8 days following the end of the month.
  • He/She is responsible for the correct archiving of accounting documents according to the rules established by headquarters.

Cash Flow

  • * He/She establishes the provisional cash flow with the teams and transmits to headquarters requests for transfers. He/She ensures that the amount of cash flow for the mission is sufficient for the requirements in the field over the period, taking into account possible donor payments carried out locally in these transfer requests to headquarters.
  • He/She is responsible for the bank accounts and funds for which he/she regularly controls the balances, and he/she organizes fund movements to the mission permanently mindful of the security of the transferred and stocked funds.

2. ENSURING THE GOOD MANAGEMENT OF LOCAL HUMAN RESOURCES FOR THE MISSION

HR Policy

  • He/She produces and proposes possible updates to the HR policy in terms of rules, procedures and tools, relating to recruitment, remuneration, administrative management, disciplinary aspects and the management of individual career paths within the organization.
  • He/she guarantees the application of this policy, once validated by the Head of Mission and Headquarters, and consequently monitors that the rules and procedures are known, understood and applied by all team leaders, and that the team leaders have all the tools required for their application.
  • In particular, he/she participates in the production and/or updating of the internal rules of procedure and is responsible for their correct application.

Administrative management, management of career paths

  • He/She participates in the validation of recruitment requests, contractual amendments (whatever the object: function, remuneration, hours, end date…), disciplinary sanctions and dismissal decisions.
  • He/She supervises the organization of recruitments (offer, candidates, and interviews) for his teams and can be called upon to participate for other departments.
  • He/She ensures the constitution of administrative files for the personnel, and monitors that employee documents are in accordance with working for PUI in the country.
  • He/She establishes personnel work contracts.
  • He/She defines the procedures and produces necessary integration supports for new employees.
  • He/She elaborates the remuneration grids (fixed and variable elements), defines the complementary advantage packages (compulsory or not: medical cover, per diem, insurance, travel expenses…) and ensures their implementation, once validated by the Head of Mission and Headquarters.
  • He/She supervises pay operations.
  • He/She monitors absences and particularly vacations.
  • He/She monitors the smooth running of the evaluation process for all the employees of the mission.
  • He/She identifies training needs and participates in making them materially possible.
  • He/She organizes and manages sanitary and medical repatriations in case of work related accidents with the field medical coordinator (if necessary) and the headquarters medical manager.
  • He/She responds to requests from team leaders, advises them and accompanies them where necessary.

Organization of work

  • He/She participates in the elaboration of staffing organization charts, is attentive to the coherence of team composition, in terms of task sharing and responsibilities, definition of hierarchical and functional links, job titles.
  • He/She elaborates the job classification grid, updating it when necessary, and monitors its strict application in the field.
  • He/She participates in the elaboration of job descriptions and validates them according to the classification grid.
  • He/She participates in the definition of Human Resources requirements within the framework of the drafting of project proposals and possible amendments.

HR risk management

  • He/She monitors salary costs, carries out financial projections, anticipates and alerts if necessary.
  • He/She ensures that the HR rules and procedures are in accordance with current employment legislation, ensures social monitoring and carries out updates where necessary.
  • He/She is responsible for defining and implementing appropriate work conditions, in particular concerning health and safety rules.
  • He/She anticipates and prevents social conflicts and participates in crisis management where necessary. Conflict prevention may require the organization of a personnel representation system, if inexistent.
  • He/She is attentive to the risk of abuses of authority (between local employees or from expatriates towards local employees, in whatever form) and reports all inappropriate behavior to the Head of Mission.
  • He/She is responsible for managing the files for all the personnel (on staff or not), the updating of data and their physical and electronic archiving.

3. ENSURING THE ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL MISSION PERSONNEL

  • He/She ensures the constitution of administrative files for international personnel, their registration with local authorities and embassies, and monitors that expatriate documents are in accordance with working for PUI in the country.
  • He/She organizes and manages sanitary and medical repatriations with the field medical coordinator (if necessary) and the headquarters medical manager.
  • He/She supervises the organization of mission arrivals and departures (bookings, travel documents, transit, vacation requests, return sheet…) in coordination with the Head of Mission and headquarters.
  • He/She carries out the briefing for all expatriates arriving to the mission within his/her skill areas.
  • He/She participates in the definition of the monthly per diem amount and manages and/or delegates the per diem allocation and eventually salary advances in collaboration with headquarters.

4. ENSURING THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL MANAGEMENT OF THE MISSION

  • He/She ensures the registration of PUI in the country and with the different State departments (Tax office, Immigration Authorities, National Insurance society, Planning Ministry…) respecting current administrative procedures, legal and fiscal requirements.
  • He/She organizes the legal protection for the mission, in particular by identifying one or more local partners capable of providing the necessary advice (lawyer for example).
  • He/She participates in the drafting of contractual documents for the mission (with the authorities, NGO partners, suppliers, insurers, vehicle and rented property owners…) and ensures their monitoring.
  • He/She participates in the administrative and legal monitoring of projects, in particular the implementation of the supply chain.

5. ENSURING THE CIRCULATION OF INFORMATION, THE COORDINATION AND THE REPRESENTATION FOR “ADMIN” QUESTIONS

  • He/She ensures an efficient circulation of information to field, capital and headquarters teams.
  • He/She drafts or participates in the drafting of internal activity reports for everything dealing with financial, budgetary, accounting, HR, administrative and legal management for the mission.
  • He/She ensures the administrative coordination at mission level by regular visits to the bases, controls, monitoring, training, etc…
  • Internally, he/she is the representative for PUI with the Personnel representative instances, either legally compulsory or not. He/She is also the representative for PUI for all the personnel for any question relating to Human Resources; as such, he/she ensures the communication of any decision or change in rules or procedures to the local teams and ensures that the necessary explanations are provided so that the appropriation is facilitated.
  • Externally, he/she represents PUI with the legal, fiscal and administrative authorities (Work inspectors, Tax office, collection organizations…). He/She develops and maintains relationships with partner entities, in particular within the NGO forum for coordination for everything dealing with administration, donors and human resources.

6. SUPERVISING AND MANAGING “ADMIN” TEAMS

  • He/She supervises all the admin team, directly or not. He/She drafts and validates job descriptions and carries out or delegates performance appreciation interviews. He/She animates work meetings, arbitrates possible conflicts, and defines priorities and activity timings.
  • He/She participates in the recruitment of members of the admin team.
  • He/She ensures and/or supervises continuous development training for procedures and tools of PUI for local and international members of the admin team, at the capital and on the bases.
  • He/She supports the Base Managers in their admin activities, in a functional and non-hierarchical relationship.
  • He/She elaborates the admin department action plan according to the objectives defined in the annual mission program.

Profile

Training:

  • Financial/accounting management

Experience:

  • Previous experience in a similar position.
  • An experience abroad in Humanitarian action would be appreciated.

Knowledge and Skills:

  • Knowledge of institutional donor procedures (OFDA, ECHO, AAP, UN agencies…)
  • Excel mandatory

Languages: English and Spanish mandatory

Required Personal Characteristics:

  • Good stress management
  • Resistance to pressure
  • Analytical capability
  • Organized and methodical
  • Reliable
  • Strong sense of responsibilities
  • Strong listening and empathy skills
  • Ability to adapt, manage priorities and be pragmatic
  • Diplomatic and with a sense of negotiation
  • Good communication skills

Conditions

  • Employed with a Fixed-Term Contract
  • Monthly gross income: from 2 200 up to 2 530 Euros depending on the experience in International Solidarity + 50 Euros per semester seniority with PUI
  • Cost covered: Round-trip transportation to and from home / mission, visas, vaccines…
  • Insurance including medical coverage and complementary healthcare, 24/24 assistance and repatriation
  • Housingin collective accommodation
  • Daily living Expenses (« Per diem »)
  • Break Policy: 5 working days at 3 and 9 months + break allowance
  • Paid Leaves Policy: 5 weeks of paid leaves per year + return ticket every 6 months

This vacancy is archived.

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