Position Title:  Finance Manager

Organization: Partners Albania for Change and Development (Partners Albania)

Location: Tirana, Albania

Employment type: Full – time position

Background: Partners Albania (PA) is an independent Albanian NPO established in 2001, working to support civil society and facilitate inter-sector cooperation in order to strengthen democratic institutions and advance economic development. PA has organized its interventions into four key programmatic areas:

1. Enabling Environment and Sustainable Development of CSOs, contributing to the empowerment of civil society actors and civic engagement through capacity building programs, monitoring andadvocacy for an enabling legal and practical environment for CSOs operation, and financial support for the sector.
2. Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation, developing and supporting the ecosystem of entrepreneurship and social enterprises (SEs) through research, advocacy, financial support mechanisms, expertise, and networking opportunities.
3. Philanthropic Activity and Support Infrastructure, developing and promoting philanthropic activity in the country through research, advocacy actions for an enabling environment, awareness raising and promotion activities on the economic and social value of philanthropy.
4. Transparent and Accountable Participatory Governance contributing to development and growth of civil society practitioners and public administration officials in their efforts to building strong institutions, manage open and transparent processes, and overcome corruption.

Responsibilities (General)

Partners Albania is seeking for a Finance Manager, under the Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation (ESI) programmatic area.

The Finance Manager will be responsible for the overall financial management of an EU-funded project including budget planning and execution, financial supervision and monitoring of the subgrating scheme, technical assistance to subgrantees on financial management and reporting matters, and overall project’s financial reporting. The Finance Manager will perform the duties in compliance with the legislation in place, financial rules and procedures of the organization and the donors.

The Finance Manager should be familiar with EU contracting and procurement rules and procedures, as well as sub-granting rules and procedures including, but not limited to, the preparation of tender dossiers and drafting of sub-granting contracts.

She/He will actively participate in personal professional development activities, in discussions and learning from others’ experiences, and will contribute to other aspects of project implementation, as appropriate.

The Finance Manager should carry out the responsibilities described below independently, with minimum supervision, but also in the context of a professional project team.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Record-keeping, data input on accounting system Alpha Web, book-keeping, preparation of general ledger, and financial statements and implementation of all phases of project financial management needed to comply with Albanian legislation and donor requirements.
• Responsible for all project accounts payable, banking transactions, and reconciliation of bank statements.
• Responsible for accrual-based fund accounting in compliance with National Accounting Standards, including proper recording and allocation of expenses to the project.
• Responsible for accounts receivable, and of outstanding amounts due.
• Analyze the project cash flow and cash needs.
• Prepare annual project’s budget for the project implementation period.
• Prepare the Procurement Plan in coordination with Project Manager and follow up its implementation.
• Lead the procurement process within the project by making sure the rules and procedures of the project are followed.
• Prepare the Annual Financial Reports for the project and coordinate with the Audit Company for the preparation of the Expenditure Verification report.
• Coordinate the work with the Audit Company for the verification of expenses of subgrantees and preparation of respective Expenditure Verification reports.
• Revise budgets of the potential subgrantees and lead the budget negotiation process before the signing of the Grant Contracts, review subgrantees’ financial reports and make recommendations for follow-up action or technical assistance.
• Prepare the training on Financial Management and Reporting of the subgrant and deliver it for all subgrantees after each round of the subgranting scheme.
• Assess subgrantees financial management capability and provide technical assistance and training as required to ensure they are capable of meeting set financial management rules and procedures, accountability, and financial reporting requirements.
• Prepare request for subgrants disbursements in coordination with the Grants Manager and execute after the approval of the Project Manager and Partners Director.
• Monthly update and monitor of the Grant Tracking Report with all financial information for sub-grant disbursements, expenses, reporting period, etc.
• Coordinate with the Project Manager regarding financial reports, funds disbursement, reconciliation of expenses, and general project financial status.
• Prepare monthly financial reports for the project according to organizational rules and procedures and submit them to the Finance Manager of the organization.
• Prepare and submit to Project Manager monthly Budget vs Actual reports.
• Prepare periodic financial reports for the donor, according to the reporting timelines stipulated in the grant contract.

Experience and Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Finance;
• At least 5 years of working experience in financial management of EU and other international donors’ funded projects;
• At least 3 years of experience in financial management of sub-granting schemes for start – ups and / or non-for-profit sector;
• Previous working experience in NGO sector;
• Proven experience with implementation of EU procurement rules and procedures (PRAG rules);
• Able to work in a fast-paced environment;
• Very good interpersonal skills and abilities to develop and maintain effective working relationships with other members’ of the staff (team-work) and third parties;
• Excellent command of spoken and written Albanian and English;
• Very good computer skills, data processing, and report writing.

Salary:  Commensurate with experience

Expected Start Date:  February 1^st, 2025

Duration: One-and-a-half-year project, with potential for renewal of the contract.

Application procedure:

Interested candidates are requested to apply, by submitting: 1) a cover letter indicating their interest and motivation, 2) a relevant CV (EU format) and copies of documents supporting academic and/or professional experience, 3) a short essay about the professional experience and how it relates to the position (up to 500 words), 4) Three reference letters. Please, feel free to include any other documents that you think are relevant.

Only candidates that submit all the above-mentioned documents will be considered for review.

Please send your full application package with the heading “Application for Finance Manager” to partners@partnersalbania.org, not later than January 13^th, 2025.

Partners Albania will contact only those applicants who will be invited for an interview. Before applying, we encourage applicants to consult Partners Albania’s webpage in order to familiarize with our work.

Partners Albania embraces diversity in its hiring, welcoming individuals of all religions, ethnicity, gender, and orientation to apply.