Accountant

About Palladium

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 3,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.

Project Overview and Role

The goal of the USAID Enterprises, Employment, and Enabling Environments (E4) Activity is to increase employment and jobs through increased private productivity and competitiveness. The theory of change is: “For the number of jobs to increase, businesses must grow; and for businesses to grow, constraints preventing growth must be removed.” Following this logic, Palladium will focus on removing obstacles to growth at the firm level and will work to develop skills identified by employers or develop entrepreneurial expertise. Additionally, Palladium will work to address legal and regulatory constraints if they are determined to be significant inhibitors of firm growth. These efforts will result in the creation of new firms and jobs and the growth of existing firms.

Work performed under the E4 IDIQ is divided into three components:

• Component 1: Enterprises – Fostering Competitive Industries
• Component 2: Employment – Developing a Capable Workforce and Entrepreneurship
• Component 3: Enabling Environments – Creating Conditions for Jobs and Investment

The E4 IDIQ regional office is located in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and country offices are located in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

This Opportunity

Over the last four years, Palladium has been successfully implementing the Future Growth Initiative (FGI) Task Order of the E4 Activity in all five Central Asian countries. This task order works to increase the competitiveness of high-growth industries to provide jobs and incomes for Central Asia’s growing workforce, propelling the region toward self-reliance. FGI is transforming market systems in ways that help high-potential firms and sectors grow, fostering market linkages to match the demand for workforce skills with training offered to youth and women, linking entrepreneurs to high-growth markets, and building more business- and worker-friendly policy environments and institutions to sustain private sector-driven growth.

The program has recently been extended until 2026 through the awarding of the FGI 2.0 Task Order. By building on FGI’s success and lessons learned, FGI 2.0 will work to increase the competitiveness of high-growth industries through a market systems approach that incentivizes private and public sector behavior change. The new task order will facilitate the regionalization of business advisory and enabling environment ecosystems, harmonize policies and regulations, foster trade and market linkages, and align the skills of women, youth, and vulnerable populations with private sector needs.

FGI 2.0 will take a partnerships-based approach, facilitating firm-level assistance, industry association capacity building, and regulatory reform under:

• Objective 1: Drive national-level, private sector-led economic growth and inclusivity in the five Central Asian Republics (CARs).
• Objective 2: Support competitiveness and job creation in each country, serving as the foundation for regional growth and integration.
• FGI 2.0 will also facilitate domestic and regional public private dialogue (PPD), policy reform and harmonization, and investment attraction efforts to support Central Asia’s integration into the global economy of the future.

Palladium seeks an Accountant for the Uzbekistan office for the FGI and FGI 2.0 Task Orders under the USAID E4 Activity. The Accountant is responsible for establishing and maintaining the project’s financial system, including accounting procedures for invoicing, payroll, and all project expenses as well as overall budget management of the project in coordination with the Director of Finance and Administration and other senior project staff.

Location

This position will be located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Duration

The performance period of the USAID E4 IDIQ Activity will end on September 30, 2026.

Reporting and Supervision

The Accountant will report to the Director of Finance and Administration.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

General Responsibilities

• Liaise with the home office’s accounting department and Project Management Unit (PMU) to manage and troubleshoot project accounting issues as they arise.
• Reconcile project accounting and provide back-up documentation of all financial transactions in a monthly or bi-monthly accounting package to the home office.
• Establish and maintain electronic accounting tracking mechanisms, per Palladium and USAID accounting standards.
• Conduct monthly audits of local expenditures as reported by the Field Office, including local bank reconciliation and US dollar expenses, as applicable.
• Review all local expenses for billing purposes.
• Produce accurate and timely financial reports.
• Maintain all accounting records.
• Act as the first point of contact with the local bank.
• Monitor vendor invoices and disburse payments upon approval by the Chief of Party (COP).

Budget Management

• Oversee finance and accounting procedures.
• Review monthly budget reports to ensure accuracy.
• Indicate project activity numbers for billing and expenses for the PMU to input into the budget tracking tool.
• Prepare monthly cash forecasts for the PMU and COP’s review and approval.

Procurement

• Oversee the financial aspect of the procurement of goods and services for the project, ensuring compliance with Palladium and USAID policies.
• All other duties as assigned by the COP and PMU.

Key Competencies Required

• Three (3) years of experience in finance and accounting.
• Microsoft Office Suite proficiency; ability to operate spreadsheet and word-processing programs at a highly proficient level.
• Proactive problem-solving and decision-making skills; demonstrated sound judgment.
• Demonstrated ability and commitment to manage confidential information.
• Attention to detail; ability to efficiently multitask and balance competing priorities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Ability to communicate effectively with managers, colleagues, service providers, and clients.
• Knowledge of Uzbek financial, tax, and labor laws.

Competencies Preferred

• B.A. in Finance, Accounting, or a related field.
• Experience with USAID accounting/financial procedures.

Application Deadline

This application will close on September 5, 2023

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion – Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding – We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.