Business Officer

About the job

Internews works to ensure access to trusted, quality news and information that empowers people to have a voice in their future and to live healthy, secure, and rewarding lives. We envision a world where everyone can communicate freely with anyone, anywhere, and exchange the news and information they need to shape their communities and the world.

For 35 years and in more than 100 countries, we have worked with our local partners to build hundreds of sustainable organizations, strengthened the capacity of thousands of media professionals, human rights activists, and information entrepreneurs, and reached millions of people with quality, local information, improving lives and building lasting change. On issues ranging from health and the environment to conflict and governance, Internews has developed approaches that harness the power of media and information to create positive change.

Internews is a charity operating internationally, with administrative centres in California, Washington DC, London, and Paris as well as regional hubs in Nairobi, Kiev and Bangkok. Formed in 1982, Internews currently has offices in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America.

General Function:

The Business Officer will work for the Europe & Eurasia Programme Management Unit (PMU) and will provide the highest standards of financial and administrative support to European funded Internews EE Programmes. We are looking for a responsible and professional individual to perform a variety of financial and administrative tasks. Duties of the Business Officer will include the financial administration of current projects, oversight of project budgets and partner spending, facilitation of payment requests, budgetary projections and other financial and administrative duties that may be required during this period.

The Business Officer will work closely with the Senior Programme Officer, the Senior Business Associate and the Programme Finance Business Partner to provide timely and quality support to programmes as required.

Key Responsibilities:

Financial administration of Internews s projects:

• Review project expenditure and ensure accuracy of coding.
• Manage cash-flow to ensure the availability of project funds at Internews offices.
• Work with Programme Finance Business Partners (PFBPs) to prepare financial reports for donors, prepare notes for financial reports, and ensure that costs are reported in compliance with donor requirements.
• Monitor co-financing plans.
• Advise project teams on the correct application of HQ policies and processes, including on procurement, travel, etc.

Budget oversight:

• Review budget-versus-actuals and facilitate forecasting in line with project activities.
• Support partners with budget planning.
• Align internal templates to donor formats for effective monitoring and reporting.
• Sub-grants oversight and keeping SGA (Sub-Grant Agreements) tracker:
• Support Internews partners to prepare budgets under sub-grant agreements.
• Review financial reports from partners when required and coordinate corrections as required.

Payments and administration:

• Coordinate payment requests to London, including reviews, confirmations, and follow-ups.
• Monitor donor income and prepare requests for disbursements to donors.
• Review and verify suppliers invoices to London HQ and Internews accounting department in California.
• Support Accounting field teams in terms of induction and refreshment training regarding Internews and donors procedures and policies.
• Budget development: work closely with Senior Programme Officer, Senior Business Associate and country offices to develop budgets for new proposals. Coordinate on the development of co-financing approaches and plans for opportunities with the European Commission and other European donors.
• Help set up business processes for new projects, including the preparation of requests for Personal Service Contracts.
• Support the process of staff contracting for projects.
• Help project teams with staff charges to relevant projects.
• Other tasks: participate in project audits carried out at the HQ as required by the London finance controls team.
• Other financial and administrative tasks may be assigned as required.

Requirements:

• Relevant degree (preferable) in Accounting, Business Administration or Financial management.
• Qualification in Accounting (Knowledge of ERP (Agresso) will be a plus)
• At least three years of experience working in a similar capacity.
• Experience with European funders (European Commission, SIDA, FCDO, GIZ etc.)
• Proficiency in MS Office. Advanced proficiency in MS Excel.
• Fluency in English and Russian (both written and spoken).
• Creative and a good team player.
• Excellent multitasking skills.
• Good prioritization skills and the ability to solve immediate problems.

Vacancy Timeframe:

Deadline for Applications: 22 January 2025

Hiring Process:

Candidates should submit a cover letter and resume through the Taleo application portal. The Cover Letter should be no longer than one page and explain why you'd be a great fit for this position and what drew you to it. The resume should be no longer than two pages. Candidates with the strongest cover letter and resume will advance to the test and interview process.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT

The physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those that must be met or may be encountered by an employee performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Work hours are generally Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 5pm; occasional irregular hours are required to accommodate international tele-conferences.

The above noted job description is not intended to describe, in detail, the multitude of tasks that may be assigned but rather to give the associate a general sense of the responsibilities.

and expectations of his/her position. As the nature of business demands change so, too, may the essential functions of this position.

This position will be in the United Kingdom therefore a successful applicant must be able to demonstrate their right to work in the UK.