Country Administrator

Overview

Istituto Oikos is an independent association founded in 1996 in Milan, which operates in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America, to promote the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources as a tool for economic and social development. To this end, it encourages cooperation and partnerships between organizations of the Global North and Global South; it implements training and education programs and supports responsible tourism initiatives (http://www.istituto-oikos.org/).

Istituto Oikos collaborates with public and private entities, both internationally and in Italy. The main funders of its programs are the European Union, the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), public entities such as regional and provincial governments, and private foundations. Istituto Oikos operates in Tanzania since 1999.

Position: Country Administrator

Location: Tanzania

Duty station: Arusha (with field missions in project areas)

Duration: 12 months (renewable)

Starting date: May 2020

Salary and level of classification: to be defined according to qualifications and working experience

The Country Administrator will be responsible for the administrative management of the office in Arusha and will have to ensure uniformity of administrative procedures in accordance with the requirements of the donor and the organization, overseeing the regular reporting of projects and ensuring proper bookkeeping for the organization. She/He will be responsible of the planning, supervision and periodic reporting of all the administrative tasks for projects and programs: accounting, budget control, procurement, financial reporting and monitoring. She/He will be also in charge to support the process to obtain visa and permits for the expatriates and to give follow-up to the governance process of Oikos East Africa.

Activities:

1) Economic and financial management of projects

Responsibility for the administration and management of the projects’ budget.

In particular:

­ Ensuring that the financial resources made available by the projects are spent in accordance with the project budget and following the donors’ procedures;

­ Authorizing the current and extraordinary expenses and verifying their correct execution and cost allocation, based on the project budget and the annual budget of Oikos East Africa, as defined every year by Istituto Oikos in collaboration with Oikos East Africa;

­ Ensuring that a correct and comprehensive record of accounting is maintained and recorded in accordance with the regulations and administrative procedures of the leading donors (EU, UN, USAID, AICS, DFID) and according to the internal procedures of Oikos;

­ Checking the proper accuracy of accounting, including the management of current accounts, the monthly closing and reconciliations. Preparing reports on the control and management of financial flows of the different projects, monitoring expenses and cash flows (budget and financial analysis of the budget);

­ Checking the available cash and send Istituto Oikos quarterly transfer requests for Oikos EA, based on expenditure estimates for each single project and following Oikos’ internal procedures;

­ Supervising the administrative staff and project managers in Tanzania in the keeping of their respective petty cash books and in the aspects of accounting management of the project budgets;

­ Being familiar with, and taking the lead on, the yearly planning of the allocation of shared costs for Oikos East Africa and its fine-tuning during the year;

­ Supporting the preparation of contracts with local donors, suppliers and customers;

­ Supporting the preparation of specific Collaboration Agreements (MoU’s) with local partners;

­ Supporting the preparation and submission of new project proposals through the production of specific project budgets.

2) Administrative management of Oikos East Africa and phasing out to the locally created social enterprises

­ Supervising and managing the general budget of Oikos East Africa;

­ Support OEA in all the needed legal, tax, NGO governance accomplishments according to the legislation;**

­ Collaborating with the external Auditors of Oikos East Africa and supervising the preparation of the annual balance sheets and the annual audit of the organization;

­ Lead the hand-over process and/or the termination process of the social enterprises promoted by Oikos.

3) Human Resources management

Local staff

Responsibility for the administrative management of the local staff contracts. In particular, in coordination with the Oikos East Africa Managing Director and together with the Project Managers, the Country Administrator will coordinate and supervise:

• Recruitment, assignment of responsibilities, salary level, performance evaluation, termination of contracts, additional benefits, concerning the Oikos East Africa staff;

• Efficiency and compliance with the Terms of Reference included in the contracts of both international and local staff (annual evaluation of the staff performance)

• The compliance of Oikos East Africa’s internal procedures and the code of conduct and their update according to the organization’s needs.

International staff

Responsibility in the process to obtain visa and permits for the expatriates.

In particular, in coordination with Oikos East Africa Managing Director, the Country Administrator will coordinate and supervise:

• Efficiency and compliance with the Terms of Reference included in the contracts of international staff.

4) Logistics

In collaboration with the local administrative/logistic staff:

• Supervision of the warehouse and of the stock and transfer of materials and equipment;

• Management and supervision of the procurement of services, materials and works, in compliance with the regulations of the major donors (EU, USAID and AICS);

• Preparation, updating and management of the inventories according to the internal Oikos procedures.

Requirements:

• ­ Degree in economics or related fields.
• ­ At least five years’ work experience in a similar sector in developing countries.
• ­ Accounting/administrative background and experience in the area of ​​administrative and financial management.
• ­ In-depth knowledge of the reporting procedures of the major institutional donors (EU, UN, USAID, AICS).
• ­ Experience in management of development projects funded by EU, USAID, AICS.
• ­ Knowledge of procurement procedures required by the EU guidelines, USAID, AICS.
• ­ Experience / knowledge of NGOs’ activity.
• ­ Fluency in written and spoken English.
• ­ Good computer skills (proficiency in Excel) and autonomy in the management of accounting software.
• ­ Good ability to produce reports.
• ­ Good interpersonal skills and teamwork.

The following will be preferred:

­ Swahili knowledge.