Finance Officer

Full time – working 37.5 hours per week

Salary: From £34,000 FTE per year (pro rata 4 days a week)

Line managed by: Business & Operations Manager

Responsible for line managing: n/a

Location: London, UK (hybrid – at least 2 days a week in office)

About GISF

Welcome to GISF – a dynamic member organisation comprising over 150 International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) worldwide. Our vision is clear: to enhance security practices within the NGO community, empowering organisations to effectively and securely serve communities in need.

Established in 2006, GISF operates from strategic hubs in London and Washington, D.C, expanding soon to Kenya. We facilitate a spectrum of events aimed at fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration, and nurturing networks within the safety and security sphere of humanitarian, human rights, environmental, and related sectors.

Moreover, we are dedicated to producing insightful research and crafting best-practice technical guides. Our engagements with decision-makers, workshop delivery, and operational support for safety and security coordination further underscore our dedication to advancing the field.

Join us in our endeavour to create a safer world for NGOs and the populations they serve.

What We Offer

• 25 days of annual leave increasing annually after 2 years, up to a maximum 30 days (plus bank holidays)
• Office shutdown between Christmas and New Year
• Employer Pension contributions
• A focus on professional development, including access to overseas events, workshops, and training

The Job

The Finance Officer will work closely with the Business & Operations Manager (BOM). GISF is funded by various donors on different projects with overlapping resources. The Finance Officer will ensure expenditure is allocated to relevant projects and donor funds and will assist in the preparation of GISF’s annual budget, proposal budgets, and implementing budgeting and grant forecasting systems with GISF’s leadership team and project managers. The role will is offered on a part time basis with the possibility of increasing number of hours worked if required.

Job Description

Finance

• Invoicing – reviewing and paying invoices, invoicing members – ensuring compliance, authorisation requirements, flagging and investigating discrepancies and responding to related queries
• Provide financial support to the procurement process, from raising requests to assessing tenders for value-for-money and compliance.
• Validate travel expenses in advance of staff travel, and process expenses on return.
• Maintain the filing system for financial documentation
• Ensure payment documents’ compliance with GISF internal financial procedures and donor regulations.
• Produce relevant financial reports on a regular basis.
• Fulfil daily accounting tasks and assist in coordinating financial functions and services.
• Be the point of contact for GISF’s external bookkeeper and Financial Accountant

Grants

• Provide clear and relevant financial guidance for the management of ongoing projects
• Ensure that all projects implemented by GISF comply with donor financial rules and regulations as well as GISF procedures.
• Prepare and update monthly reports on grant expenditures compared to Budget (BvA), including staffing and operational cost projections
• Work with programme managers to ensure programme projections are updated, and organise monthly meetings to review BvA and projections, to ensure programme implementation is aligned with expected budget consumption.
• Provide financial inputs to formal grant reporting.
• Prepare budgets to support GISF proposals for new funding.

Corporate

• Assist in the preparation of GISF’s annual budget, including briefing the Treasurer and Board as required.
• Develop quarterly budget reports and forecasts for submission to the Board of Directors.
• Contribute to the update and development of GISF’s financial policies and procedures with the Business and Operations Manager
• Coordination with the Finance departments of GISF’s partner organisations.
• Support with all audit and compliance processes
• In addition to the above, the Finance Officer may be asked to carry out other duties requested by the senior leadership team

Person Specification

Essential Skills/Experience

• Relevant qualification in accounting – AAT or equivalent
• Knowledge and experience using Xero or similar platform
• Knowledge and experience of using an expense processing platform
• Advanced knowledge of Excel (e.g. ability to create and manipulate pivot tables and use functions such as VLOOKUP and SUMIF) (This will be assessed)
• Good communication skills and good written and spoken English
• An eye for detail and a systematic approach to work
• Ability to handle confidential information
• A team player, who relishes using their initiative and is excited to work in a rapidly growing organisation

Desirable

• Knowledge of CRM systems (GISF uses Salesforce)
• Knowledge/experience of DEXT
• Experience of working with multiple income streams from different donors
• Knowledge of donor compliance and regulations (USAID, ECHO, FCDO, etc)

All GISF staff are expected to undertake the following general duties;

• Work within the framework of GISF’s core values, promoting its ethos and mission statement.
• Work towards achieving GISF’s objectives
• Ensure familiarity with and adhere to all GISF policies and procedures and keep informed of GISF activities
• Undertake and apply learning from appropriate training and development programmes.
• Travel overseas, sometimes to developing countries and areas in conflict, as and when required.
• Undertake the role in a manner appropriate to the cultural context and within the local legal framework.
• Understand and uphold the standards outlined in GISF’s Safeguarding Framework