The Role: Internal Auditor and Compliance Central African Republic (CAR)

About the position: This is a 12-month, unaccompanied, replacement position based in Bangui, with extensive travel to the field and future partner offices, with a grade 4 salary of €45,457 to €50,509. It reports to the Country Director in the country, with a technical link to the Internal Audit and Investigations team, and the Grants Compliance team in Dublin HQ.

You will work closely with your colleagues in Bangui and the field who work in the areas of Programme, Finance, Logistics and Human Resources.

We would like you to start in October 2024.

Due to the urgency of this recruitment, we reserve the right to interview and select a candidate before the closing date for submissions.

The primary function is to promote a culture of awareness and compliance with Concern’s internal processes and policies, as well as familiarisation with donor specific rules and regulations. This involves creating an understanding of the need to comply with these rules/regulations, processes and policies across Concern, including its implementing partners, and the consequences of non-compliance.

The role is three-fold, with an advisory, assurance and investigation aspect. In terms of assurance, you will be responsible for conducting transaction compliance reviews, consolidating action points and submitting them to the Grant Compliance Team in Dublin HQ for review. You will oversee the planning and implementation of regular internal and compliance audits, including donor compliance, internal control assessments and, where appropriate, fraud investigations at Concern and partner level. You will ensure that appropriate financial and system controls (including procurement, transport, administration, human resources, etc.) are in place and adhered to in accordance with Concern Worldwide and donor procedures. You will also be responsible for conducting interim and final compliance checks for all implementing partners.

In terms of advisory work, you will be responsible for advising the various departments of Concern’s national programme on donor and Concern requirements at each stage of the project lifecycle. You will also be responsible for designing and delivering training workshops on relevant donor and Concern rules, regulations and policies for Concern staff and programme participants (e.g. implementing partners, suppliers, etc.).

You will be responsible for:

Supporting the country team with a solid understanding of Concern, government and donor requirements from proposal development through to final audit

• Developing a thorough understanding of Concern’s CAR mission specific internal control procedures as well as donor and government requirements, including procurement, logistics, finance, partnerships, etc.
• Developing a thorough understanding of Concern’s country programmes followed by analysis and identification of compliance risks and control gaps.
• Assessing and improving the effectiveness of risk management and control processes
• Continually developing understanding of specific donor and government requirements; understanding the type of analysis that donors undertake when conducting audits, with particular emphasis on Irish Aid, ECHO, EU, and USAID.
• Keep informed of and ensure compliance with Concern policies and procedures, including but not limited to the Fraud and Whistleblowing Policy, HR, Procurement, Logistics and Finance procedures.
• Regular and objective review of Concern’s internal control processes to ensure that the risk management and internal control process are operating effectively.

Quarterly Compliance Reporting

• Conduct transaction compliance reviews, using Concern’s standard templates, and submit to the Country Director and Grant Compliance Team in Dublin HQ for review. These quarterly reports require a thorough review of transactional documents relating to HR, Procurement, Logistics and other high-risk areas, to ensure that donor and Concern processes/procedures have been followed and that there is a sufficient audit trail.
• You must document all action points and recommendations from the quarterly reviews and submit them to the national management team in the country. You will be responsible for following up on the action points/recommendations with the relevant management and ensuring that they are addressed in a timely manner.

Training

• With the support of the Grant Compliance team, you will develop country-specific training materials, including online versions, on Concern and donor processes, policies, rules and regulations. The training materials should cover a variety of topics and be used by Concern and implementing partner staff.
• In collaboration with the relevant management in the country, you will be responsible for scheduling the necessary mandatory trainings for all in-country staff, including implementing partner staff, where applicable. Once the training is scheduled, the Internal Auditor will be responsible for delivering it in a professional manner, keeping a record of attendance and testing, and reporting to the country management.
• Training workshops to be delivered include, but are not limited to, training on Concern’s compliance policies, such as the Anti-Fraud Policy and Whistleblower Policy, as well as other Concern policies/procedures (e.g. safeguarding) where applicable.
• You will also provide training to relevant staff on the specific requirements of donors such as Irish Aid, EU, ECHO, USAID, FCDO, and UN agencies, using Concern’s standard materials where available or, in some cases, developing new materials.

Donor Programme Lifecycle

• You will provide advice, as required, to various departments in Concern’s country office, including finance, human resources, procurement, logistics and programmes, on donor and Concern requirements throughout the lifecycle of a project. This will include providing advice at the proposal, agreement signing, partnership development, implementation (particularly procurement) and reporting stages to ensure that specific donor requirements are taken into account.
• You will be required to review new and amended donor agreements with the Grant Development and Compliance Officer and present a summary of the key compliance requirements of the agreement to management and staff.
• You will review all grant files, ensuring that all relevant documents are filed and easily accessible and adhering to filing guidelines.
• You will conduct regular visits and audit significant programme activities in the field (e.g. fairs, distributions, cash for work payments) to assess programme procedures and identify internal control weaknesses. If weaknesses are identified, the internal auditor will make recommendations to strengthen the systems to the Country Director and Programme Director and will follow up and support their implementation.

Partnerships

• You will participate in the assessment of potential and existing partners and provide recommendations on support actions to ensure the success of partnerships
• You will contribute to ensuring that partnerships are established and managed in accordance with internal policies/procedures and donor requirements, and make recommendations, including training needs for Concern staff and implementing partners, where appropriate.
• You will provide tailored support to partners (e.g. training, coaching) to enable them to improve their level of compliance.
• You will be responsible for conducting interim and final compliance checks on implementing partners’ transactions and making recommendations to national management on whether to make full or partial payments to implementing partners.
• You will work closely with relevant departments/partners and managers to ensure that identified issues are well understood, that improvement commitments are made and that their implementation is monitored.

Audit facilitation

• In collaboration with country finance departments, as appropriate, contribute to facilitating donor audits, the annual external audit or any internal audits of the headquarters.
• Check that documents are complete before submitting them to the verifier(s) for review, maintain a record of documents submitted to verifiers and respond to verifiers’ questions as appropriate.

Investigations

• Supervise and/or conduct preliminary reviews and investigations where there is an allegation of a breach of the Code of Conduct.
• Prepare a detailed investigation report
• Train and support designated colleagues to carry out the investigative work
• Make recommendations based on the results of the investigation and follow up on their implementation with relevant colleagues.
• Ensure confidentiality during and after the investigation
• Collaborate with colleagues responsible for the victim/survivor’s safeguarding plan, when a safeguarding case is under investigation.

Other duties

• Provide advice and support to staff on counter-terrorism and sanctions verification procedures – this will include training where necessary.
• Support the Country Director and the Grant Compliance team in Dublin HQ and undertake any other tasks requested by them.
• Provide quarterly updates to the Country Director and the Internal Audit team in HQ, including findings/recommendations of any audit/risk/fraud investigation work and monitoring of the risk register.
• Monitor financial and tax issues of interest to staff and the organisation by tracking assessed contributions and informing the organisation of any changes to relevant tax legislation.

Responsibility

In line with Concern’s commitments to the Core Humanitarian Standards, you will:

• Actively promote meaningful community participation and consultation at all stages of the project cycle (planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation).
• Work with relevant colleagues to ensure that the complaints and response mechanism is functional and accessible, and that feedback and complaints are welcomed and addressed.
• Work with relevant colleagues to ensure that information on customer relationship management, safeguarding and expected staff behaviour is disseminated to programme participants and communities.
• Uphold and promote Concern’s values, demonstrate leadership on equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and model a positive safeguarding culture.

Your skills and experience are as follows

Essential

• University degree with a background in finance, management, administration or a related field.
• 3-4 years’ experience in a finance, accounting or audit role.
• Fluency in French
• Experience in conducting audits/systems/controls reviews.
• Experience in reviewing documents/reports with a keen eye for detail.
• Excellent Excel and Word skills.
• Willingness to travel and work in challenging environments.
• Good interpersonal skills.

Desired

• A recognised accounting qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA etc.) would be an advantage.
• Excellent training skills, particularly in the design and development of training workshops and materials, including online materials.
• Ability to give instructions and enforce rules and regulations.
• Fluency in English is a plus.
• Experience in an NGO would be an asset, preferably in a finance or compliance role, with particular experience or knowledge of institutional donors such as Irish Aid, EU, ECHO, USAID/OFDA or DFID.

To apply:  CVs should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by the closing date.

Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be shortlisted on a regular basis and we may offer posts before the closing date. 

If you have any concerns about our recruitment process and need particular assistance - for example if you have a visual impairment or are neurodivergent - please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you. 

Concern has an organizational Code of Conduct (CCoC) with three Associated Policies; the Programme Participant Protection Policy (P4), the Child Safeguarding Policy and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Policy accessible here. These have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation, and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organization, and the standards of behavior expected of them. In this context, staff have a responsibility to the organization to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and Associated Policies as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Concern Code of Conduct, candidates acknowledge that they have understood the content of both the Concern Code of Conduct and the Associated Policies and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these policies. Additionally, Concern is committed to the safeguarding and protection of vulnerable adults and children in our work. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work or volunteer with vulnerable adults and children are recruited by us for such roles. Subsequently, working or volunteering with Concern is subject to a range of vetting checks, including criminal background checking. 

Your Personal Data 

During this job application, you will provide Concern with your personal data. Concern takes its responsibilities towards this personal data very seriously and is committed to complying with all relevant data protection legislation. 

For additional information please consult our web site or contact the Human Resource Division in our Head Office. 

You have certain rights under data protection legislation. For more information on how to exercise those rights please visit www.concern.net/about/privacy 

Concern Worldwide is an Irish-based non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.