The Organization

Search for Common Ground (Search) is the world's largest dedicated peacebuilding organization, founded in 1982. With programs across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the United States, Search transforms conflict with diverse tools inspired by its Common Ground Approach. Search is implementing a 10-year strategy to drive enduring change and transform many of the world's most consequential conflicts. 

Operating in Sudan since 2009, Search has focused on two main objectives: strengthening local capacity for conflict transformation and peacebuilding and supporting community actions for peace and reconciliation, with a focus on actively engaging and empowering marginalized groups, especially women and youth, to develop alternatives to cycles of violence and raise their voices for peace.  Search Sudan has offices in Kadugli, South Kordofan and Gazeera state. Search has worked in the peripheral states of South and West Kordofan, with later expansion to Blue Nile, Gedaref, Kassala, Darfur, and Abyei. We partner with local leaders, civil society groups, and media outlets, using radio and TV programming, participatory theater, and mobile cinema to trigger dialogue and understanding across society. 

The Role

The incumbent will reinforce Search for Common Ground’s and donor’s rules, regulations, policies, processes, procedures, and standards to uphold compliance and confidentiality of organization activities and data. They will establish and maintain efficient administrative control mechanisms to ensure compliance with office administrative, financial and human resources rules and procedures and supervise the day-to-day activities of Finance and Administration team members.  

• Reinforce Search for Common Ground’s and donor’s rules, regulations, policies, processes, procedures, and standards to uphold compliance and confidentiality of organization activities and data.
• Establish and maintain efficient administrative control mechanisms to ensure compliance with office administrative, financial and human resources rules and procedures.
• Maintain high-level working knowledge of finance and administration best practices, including but not limited to quality and internal controls, country tax regulations, and budget management.
• Closely work with other departments, regional team and suppliers, to ensure provision of services and resolution of challenges
• Act as adviser or representative of the organization with authority to discuss problems and seek common ground on which to recommend solutions based on predetermined guidelines provided by supervisor
• Supervise the day-to-day activities of Finance and Administration team members.  

Contributions

Finance Management

• Conduct regular analysis of Finance systems to support compliance and confidentiality and report irregularities to the manager 
• Collaborate with Finance and Program teams to support quality control and the accuracy of data collection and reporting.  
• Review and analyze banking transactions and reconciliations, payroll, procurements, payments, etc.  

Grants Management

• Collaborate with Finance and Program teams on support capacity strengthening of sub-awardees.
• Monitor and analyze sub-award grants including but not limited to but not limited to procurements, payments, invoicing, expenditures, burn rates, and forecasting.
• Proactively troubleshoot sub-awards for compliance to Search for Common Ground’s and donor rules, regulations, and policies.
• Review, monitor, and analyze sub award budget and recommend corrective actions to uphold organizational and donor rules, regulations, standards, and practices. 

Procurement

• Manage contracts and relations with suppliers.
• Supervise procurement processes, including but not limited to approvals, payments disbursements, and uploading of relevant data. 
• Contribute to identifying and vetting vendors. 
• Respond to escalated non-routine inquiries from vendors and suppliers.
• Escalate unresolved inquiries to the manager.

Payroll

• Partner with the People and Culture department on payroll process flow including but not limited to personnel actions procedures. 
• Ensure accuracy of payroll deductions and payroll changes, including but not limited to statutory deductions, income taxes, mandatory withholdings, and personnel actions.  
• Ensure accuracy of payroll register to include, but not limited to gross pay, statutory deductions, tax withholding, and leave balances.
• Review monthly payroll for accuracy of mandatory deductions, including but not limited to statutory deductions, taxes, and personnel actions.  
• Review payroll for accuracy, including but not limited to income taxes, national social security, and insurance premiums. 
• Maintain payroll register to include, but not limited to gross pay, statutory deductions, tax withholding, and leave balances.

Administration

• Ensure the provision of resources (human, goods and services) necessary to support the day-to-day activities of the staff in the office.
• Ensure that appropriate administrative internal controls are in place.
• Enforce compliance with organization financial and administrative rules, policies and instructions
• Responsible for facility administration to include property/lease agreement management, insurance management, facility management, invoice/payment administration and asset lease management and administration
• Responsible for management of meetings and events to include contract negotiation and management, communication coordination, travel arrangements, equipment requirements and coordination, and expense administration
• Responsible for providing administrative support for projects to include development of presentations and documents
• Liaise with Government and other external actors in providing vital services (processing of visas; work permit application process, etc.).
• Undertake field location visits to review administrative arrangements and make appropriate recommendations, as required in the absence of an HR Officer, prepare recruitment, appointments and administrative formalities concerning local staff
• Infuse organizational values into all work

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, accounting, finance or related field or equivalent relevant work experience; typically includes 1 - 2 years’ experience with Search systems, processes, and culture.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Arabic
• Good understanding of office administration practices and contract negotiation
• Prior experience in meeting/event planning and travel logistics
• Proficiency in relevant computer applications (spreadsheet, database, accounting operations software, project management software, presentation software)
• Excellent planning, organizational, problem solving, relationship-building and decision-making skills
• Ability to prioritize multiple tasks at the same time, work effectively under pressure and meet deadlines
• Strong confidentiality ethic, demonstrate flexibility, and versatility in adjusting to changing environments and requirements as necessary
• Demonstrated high-level interpersonal and cross-cultural skills including the ability to build collaborative relationships internally and externally with sensitivity to cultural, ethnic, social and political issues

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements:Usual office environment conditions; ability to travel internationally at least 20%.

Supervisory and Budget Responsibility:May supervise one or more staff members.

Competency and Behavior Indicators (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities)

• Initiates brainstorming or problem-solving meetings. With time in job, develops skills for analyzing and communicating program successes and failures; reports lessons ed to the team and other members.
• Represents Search at local and international events and meetings for professional organizations, vendors, partners, and funders.
• Develops skills to independently initiate and maintain relations with vendors, partners, and funders.
• Articulates Search program/project goals and objectives within Search and to external audiences.
• Demonstrates appreciation for diversity of thought. Builds cross-functional relationships with other functional departments.
• Demonstrates ability to be adaptable and willing to confront and change own ideas and preconceptions with the resiliency and flexibility to make changes based on hearing a diversity of thoughts.
• Drafts team documents, briefing materials, and presentations.
• Articulates program/project objectives and how they fit into a team’s goals and/or Search’s mission and adapts to the communications setting.
• Applies standards, identifies areas for standardization, and coordinates across functions from a multicultural perspective that reflects consideration of other cultures, other viewpoints, and other ways of doing things.
• Takes into account the environmental landscape, assesses one's own and others' viewpoints in their environment, and proposes solutions from an ethical perspective.
• Recognizes the options available for solving problems, conducts analyses, and calculates metrics and other technical tools to support informed decision making.
• Conducts Quality Control of team documents, briefing materials, presentations, and systems data.
• Carefully reviews and checks the accuracy of information in work reports, management information systems, or with other individuals and groups.
• Checks the accuracy of one’s own and others’ work.
• Proactively informs management of potential risks and concerns; suggests resolutions.
• Independently prioritizes time to reach deadlines and reaches end results of assignments with ability to accomplish multiple steps with limited to no supervision.
• Routinely coordinates with colleagues and consultants on-site and in the field and resolves problem situations with tact.
• Represents, as assigned, selected programs or projects and other organizations, including donors, vendors, and international and local partners.
• Interacts with country office and regional staff.

Application Deadline: Tuesday, January 14 2025

This position is ONLY open for Sudanese nationals that currently reside in Sudan.

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Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please. Please see our website www.sfcg.org for full details of our work. 

All Search Employees must adhere to the values: Collaboration- Audacity - Tenacity - Empathy - Results. In accordance with these values, Search enforces compliance with the Code of Conduct and related policies on Anti Workplace Harassment, Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Conflict of Interest, and Anti-fraud. Search is committed to safeguarding the interests, rights, and well-being of children, youth, and vulnerable adults with whom it is in contact and to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for children, youth, and vulnerable adults.  Search for Common Ground does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. View our code of conduct here and our privacy policy here.