Regional Finance Officer, ASIA Regional Office

Job Title: Regional Finance Officer, ASIA Regional Office

Reports to: Deputy Regional Director – Operations

Department: ASIA Regional Office

Salary Grade: 11

NOTE: This is a remote position; CRS will only consider candidates who are based in countries where we have existing offices. CRS does not sponsor visas for telecommuting employees.

About CRS
Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Background:
The ASIA region consists of 3 sub-regions in South Asia (with offices in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh), Mekong (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam), and East Asia/P
acific (Philippines, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and Micronesia). The ASIA region also supports 12-14 strategic outreach Caritas partners from Central Asia to the Pacific.

Job Summary:
As the region’s financial controller and expert, you will provide overall strategic financial management direction and will support the regional and Country Programs’ (CPs) efforts in ensuring that the agency finance strategy is implemented throughout the region in support of high-quality programs serving the poor and vulnerable. Your expertise will help ensure the implementation of robust financial policies, procedures and practices put in place to control an increasingly complex and challenging funding and operational environment.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:
• Monitor, analyze and provide guidance to regional and CPs’ Senior Management Teams, project leads and CP Finance leads on budget development and management; accounting and financial reporting policies, tools, and guidelines; and cash flow/treasury management to ensure effective financial resources management throughout the whole budget cycle and over the life of various projects.
• Review and assess CPs’ financial management systems, policies, processes, and practices, and assist with resolving issues and implementing preventive and corrective actions to ensure consistent attainment of financial management ‘standards of excellence’ and compliance with agency and donor financial management requirements.
• Prepare and provide accurate and timely regional-level financial analysis reports and other reports on financial trends and indicators to provide guidance with decision-making and efficient and effective financial resource management.
• Lead on assessing professional development needs of Finance staff in the region and ensure focused plans for mentoring and capacity building to strengthen financial management service quality.
• Act as the regional liaison and a key point of contact on all finance-related matters with HQ, donors, internal and external auditors, and other external stakeholders.
• Provide guidance to CPs on risk management and internal controls in preparing for internal and external audits and in responding to audit issues and follow up with the implementation of the audit recommendations.
• Make significant contributions to the agency Finance Community of Practice and CRS Global Finance agenda.
• Contribute to the implementation of local leadership and ASIA workforce strategy by leading the workforce planning and talent mapping for finance staff in the region.
• Supervise the Deputy RFO.
• As a member of, and in collaboration with, the Regional Leadership Team, contribute to the development of regional priorities and strategy as well as resource allocations at regional level.
• Guide regional efforts to contribute to the agency cost efficiency and stewardship.
• Provide technical support to country program on grant management, covering all stages of project management and actively contribute t partners’ financial management capacity strengthening.
• Regional lead on the Project Insight for Finance and Planning & Budgeting (system rollout, policy/procedures, training and technical supports); ensure close coordination between Finance and Supply Chain for relevant financial processes (such as month-end close).

Basic Qualifications
• B.A. degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, Business Administration with courses in accounting, or a qualification in accounting (CPA/ACCA or equivalent) required. MBA or Master’s degree in related field with a focus on accounting preferred. A professional certification in Accounting or a related field highly preferred.
• Minimum of seven years of accounting experience in an international operations environment.
• Additional education may substitute for some experience.

Required Languages – English.

Travel – Must be willing and able to travel up to 25%.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
• Excellent relationship management skills with ability to negotiate, influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision.
• Excellent strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions.
• Very good review, monitoring and planning skills with a strong eye for detail.
• Ethical conduct in accordance with recognized professional and organizational codes of ethics
• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented.

Preferred Qualifications
• Strong understanding and experience in US Government funding regulations for International NGOs.
• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio), Web Conferencing Applications. Excellent knowledge of financial reporting software.
• Proven experience in presenting, facilitating, coaching, and capacity building on financial management topics.

Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
Agency competencies clarify expected behaviors and attitudes for all staff. When demonstrated, they create an engaging workplace, help staff achieve their best, and help CRS achieve agency goals. These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
• Acts with Integrity – Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission. Is considered honest.
• Builds and Maintains Trust – Shows consistency between words and actions.
• Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
• Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.

Agency Leadership Competencies:
• Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.

Supervisory Responsibilities
• Deputy RFO.
• 25% LoE of Deputy Finance Manager of Cambodia Office.
• Technical Supervisor of Finance Managers of all CPs in Asia region.

Key Working Relationships:
Internal
• ASIA Region: Deputy RFO, Deputy Regional Director/Operations (DRD/Ops), Regional Director (RD), Subregional CRs, CRs and Country Managers (CMs), Finance Managers (FM)s, Heads of Operations (HoOps), Deputy Regional Director/Program Quality (DRD/PQ), Heads of Programming (HoPs), and Technical Advisors (TAs).
• Additional Regions: Regional Finance Officers (RFOs), Information & Communication Technology Specialists (ICTS) and DRD-Ops.
• Agency-wide Finance Department: Sr. Director, Finance Systems & Operations, Global Controller, Sr. Advisor for Finance Policy, Sr. Advisor for Financial Technical Support, Senior Manager, Accounting and Financial Analysis Unit, Manager of Financial Reporting & Analysis, Global Treasurer, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, Overseas Accounting Unit (OAU) Analysts, Grants/Contracts Analysts, Financial Systems Analyst II, Internal Audit, Manager.
• Additional Agency Wide Departments: Stewardship Unit and Risk and Compliance Unit.

External
Sub-recipients (including Catholic Church partners), donor representatives as needed, external auditors and financial training and systems vendors.

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

CRS prioritizes candidates who are citizens/ permanent residents of the countries where we have CRS offices.
CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer