Country Office: Ethiopia 

Work Base: [Addis Ababa] 

Availability: As Soon As Possible 

Salary Scale: EMS – 07 Level 1 

Insurance - (Life, Group Personal Accident and Medical Insurances are covered upon the organization policies). 

Seniority Allowance – paid depending up the years of service. 

Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply for this position. 

Action Against Hunger-USA is a global humanitarian organization that takes decisive action against the causes and effects of hunger. We save the lives of malnourished children and we enable entire communities to be free from hunger. With more than 8,000 staff in over 50 countries, our programs reached 17 million people in 2019. 

About the Country Program in Ethiopia 

Action Against Hunger has been operational in Ethiopia since 1984 responding to both chronic and acute needs through a multi-sectoral strategy where nutrition, Food Security and Livelihoods, WASH, and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support activities are integrated to have a meaningful impact on people’s resilience. Action Against Hunger currently operates in 5 different regions (Oromia, Somali, Amhara, Benishangul Gumuz, and Gambella) with a portfolio of 20m USD/year of emergency, resilience building, research, and innovation programs. We have a country team of around 600 staff in 17 regional and satellite offices. Our main donors in Ethiopia in 2020/2021 are BHA, ECHO, Europaid, UNHCR, UNICEF, GFFO, BPRM, SIDA, EHF, WFP, CIAA, and others. 

The Senior Compliance & Internal Audit Officer at ACF is responsible for implementing the organization's internal audit and compliance functions. They ensure compliance with rules and regulations, monitor new regulations, and ensure consistency in the implementation of organizational processes. They perform in-house checks on program and operation processes, procedures, and documentation to identify potential compliance vulnerabilities and risks and determine the effectiveness of internal controls. They will identify inefficient systems, poor internal controls, policies, and procedures gaps and inform supervisors of remedial action, and they also participate in the fraud response process. 

• Purpose 

The Senior Compliance & Internal Audit Officer is expected to have a deeper knowledge of all relevant laws and donor regulations. He / She uses this multidisciplinary knowledge to identify areas where Action Against Hunger might be at risk. Then, with the collaboration of the Compliance and Internal Audit Manager mitigates risks based on the risk strategic plan. The position holder, throughout the internal audit process, will check that sound and transparent administrations are in place; mainly emphasizing the Cash Management, HR process, Procurement, and supply chain, incl. warehousing, inventory, fleet and asset management, program implementation, and key project deliverables, etc.…  that complies with donors' and Action Against Hunger rules and regulations, as well as the country’s local laws and requirements. They also assist in investigating fraud cases and participate in partnership risk and due diligence assessments. 

The position holder is vital for maintaining regulatory compliance, managing risks, enhancing operational efficiency, ensuring transparency, etc…    

• Accountability:

The Senior Compliance & Internal Audit Officer will report directly to the Compliance and Internal Audit 

Manager.

• Engagement: 

The Senior Compliance & Internal Audit Officer will work closely with the Compliance and Internal Audit Manager, another Compliance and Audit team in the department, and relevant country teams to implement the department functions.

• Delivery:

The position holder will perform and provide compliance, internal audit functions, and other engagements by focusing on the operation and program processes while delivering high-quality work by adhering to the deadline. 

Essential Duties

Objective 1: Ensuring Regulatory Compliance

• In consultation with the Compliance and Internal Audit Manager, seek and provide information on new laws, regulations, proclamations, and donor guidelines. 

• Examine the new and updated rules implemented and ensure the consistency of the implementation. 

• Ensure that ACF processes and procedures comply with the rules and regulations of ACF, its donors, and the local law requirement and report the status of implementation once a quarter.

• Recommend the new or required amendment policies and procedures that could help to enhance and improve internal control procedures. 

• Respond to ad hoc requests to address control issues on new business processes, policies, and procedures, and provide consultative services.

• Review the internal system of record accessibility and retention to ensure compliance with ACF archiving policy and local laws.

Objective 2: Participating in the External Audit Functions

• Assist in the coordination, preparation, and execution of external audits eg; donor audits, partner audits, grant-specific audits, forensic audits, partner compliance verifications and audits, statutory audits, etc. 

• Work closely with external auditors, and partner employees/auditors, and support their audit process.

• Review the controls and monitoring of compliance with established procedures for pre-audit preparation. And conduct pre-audits to verify compliance with the required audit standards.

• Ensure all the required sample documentation meets the expected requirements before submitting it to the auditor. 

• Identify any areas of non-compliance, and internal and external audit findings, and prepare a presentation and potential suggestions for review.

• Update the audit plan and tracker regularly and ensure that the donor auditors' recommendations are implemented appropriately and timely. 

Objective 3: Performing Internal Audit Functions 

• Examine and test the mission systems, operational processes, and controls, paying special attention to the program and operation activities such as; Cash Management, HR process, Procurement, and supply chain, incl. warehousing, inventory, fleet and asset management, program implementation, key project deliverables to determine whether they are operating following policies, procedures, and donor requirement.

• Ensure that regular in-house audits are conducted as per the risk assessment processes for target audit areas by consultation with the supervisor, and ensure the completion within the agreed schedule. 

• Identify the internal control weak points as per the compliance checks result, and provide information about the supporting document requirements to update the checklist. 

• Draft, the internal audit report, in collaboration with the Compliance and Internal Audit Manager, that identifies key control weaknesses, and non-compliance with procedures, policies, and regulatory requirements in the audited areas.

Objective 4: Ensuring Regulatory Compliance of ACF’s Subrecipient

• Participate on the due- diligence and risk assessment processes to select a subrecipients organization.   

• Conduct compliance monitoring activities for partners that ACF sub-awarded. 

• Follow-up reviews of financial, operational, or regulatory compliance deficiencies noted during compliance review, or monitoring visits.

• Provide draft written reports of compliance review, internal audit, and monitoring findings by including specific recommendations for corrective action to the Compliance and Internal Audit Manager for review. 

• As per the supervisor's instructions, provide training on donor compliance matters and fraud awareness response. 

 Objective 5: Shared Tasks

• Complete investigation of fraud assignments delegated by the Compliance and Internal Audit Manager. 

• Provide training and capacity-building support for ACF capital and field staff 

• 50% maximum travel to the field visits to the bases to implement internal audit, and fraud investigation functions and provide technical support in the areas of audit, compliance functions

• Provide support in actions assigned by the supervisor. 

Supervisory Responsibilities

• N/A

Gender Equality Commitments  

• Foster an environment that supports the values of women and men, and equal access to information.

• Provide a work environment where women and men must be evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance.

• Respect beneficiaries’ women, men, and children (boys and girls) regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, or religion. race, color, ancestry, national origin, age, or marital status. 

• Value and respect all cultures. 

Fiscal Responsibility

• N/A

Physical Demands 

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit for long periods and to concentrate on work, including typing, and turn out heavy volumes of work accurately, within short time frames under stressful situations in the context of a moderately noisy office with many interruptions. Must be able to proofread own work accurately so that only minor corrections are needed on an infrequent basis.

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

Working Conditions, Travel, and Environment

• The duties of the job require regular job attendance at least five days per week. Must be available to work outside normal office hours or on the weekends as required.

• Must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business purposes. While performing the duties of this job in the field, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high-security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as to infectious diseases. 

Job Requirements

• A degree in finance, audit, or a related field of study with a minimum of Four years of related work experience in program and operation compliance, and internal audit functions preferably within an INGO or nonprofit environment.

Required Skills & Competencies

• Fully experienced in conducting internal audits and, compliance review including strong analytical skills, Capacity to investigate fraud cases, Ability to perform organizational risk assessment practices, Experience in sub-award and grant monitoring, Must have excellent analytical and organizational skills, with attention to detail, Must be able to read, write, and speak fluent English, etc.

How to Apply

If you are interested, please send your application composed of non returnable CV, a Covering Letter with “Senior Internal Audit and Compliance Officer-Addis Ababa” written in the subject line, and three references, applicants use THIS LINK

Deadline: Thursday 10 October 2024

Action Against Hunger-USA provides all staff with an _attractive salary & benefits package. We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees & qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, ancestry, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. Action Against Hunger-USA complies with all applicable laws governing nondiscrimination in employment