Background
NRC has been operating in Lebanon for 20 years. NRC Lebanon is entering a period of significant strategic and operational change, with the implementation of NRC’s Global Strategy 2027–2030, an evolving funding landscape, and an increased focus on working with local actors.
In this context, the Finance Manager plays a key role in ensuring strong financial management, oversight, compliance, and strategic financial support across NRC Lebanon, enabling informed decision making and the effective use of resources.
Following several years in which the position has been held internationally, NRC Lebanon is planning to nationalise the Finance Manager role in early 2027.
Roles and responsibilities
The Finance Manager is responsible for effective financial management, budgeting, reporting, compliance and internal controls across NRC Lebanon.
This role provides strategic financial leadership by delivering accurate, reliable, and timely financial information, enabling senior management to make informed decisions and ensure the efficient use of organisational resources.
The position holder will ensure that NRC Lebanon is well positioned to respond to current and future needs and shall demonstrate strong engagement and leadership in all major Finance actions, while ensuring capacity building for Finance team members and budget holders across the entire country.
Generic Responsibilities
- Ensure that country level financial systems are established and maintained in line with NRC Financial Handbook, donors, and local legislation requirements to provide appropriate levels of security and controls over the organization's resources and operations
- Provide timely, accurate, and complete financial reporting and analysis that can be used for further improvement of service delivery and support informed decision-making by the Country Management Group
- Maintain overall budget control and monitor cash flows, oversee budgeting and monitoring of direct and shared costs, provide analysis and make recommendations for determining effective resource utilisation.
- Line management responsibilities for directly reporting staff and technical supervision of the Finance team members across the country. This includes workforce planning, performance management, capacity enhancement, ensuring fit-for-purpose teams across our different locations, and the induction of new joiners.
- Provide financial advice and support to the budget holders and key stakeholders, ensure adequate support is provided to programs and support functions, ensuring the alignment of resource allocations with organisational priorities at budgeting and implementation stages.
- Manage internal and external financial risks, highlight and resolve relevant issues with CMG. Ensure appropriate measures are taken to address audit findings and recommendations.
- Actively participate in the NRC global strategy and its localisation and efficiency objectives.
- Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy, implement anti-corruption policy, and protection guidelines, and ensure that all breaches/concerns reported are properly resolved.
Specific responsibilities:
Overall
- Oversee the development and implementation of all finance-related policies, procedures, strategies, and initiatives in coordination with the Finance team to ensure success, consistency, and compliance.
- Ensure the Finance team, tools, and procedures are fit-for-purpose to handle regular programming, emergency response, and work with partners and local actors.
- Actively participate in the NRC Lebanon structure planning, review, and changes.
- Provide financial advice and guidance to the budget holders and support the entire project cycle, supporting effective budgeting, monitoring, reporting and compliance.
- Ensure effective implementation of the Anti -Corruption Policy across finance operations and activities.
Accounting and Cashflow Management
- Ensure accountancy recording and monthly and yearly accounting closing are done on time, following NRC financial procedures and supporting documents archiving standards.
- Monitor cash flows, donor instalments, and currency fluctuations.
- Ensure regular analysis of cash and liquidity and develop solutions-oriented strategies to ensure continuous operations (banking systems, FSPs, etc).
- Lead and support on annual audits, project audits and audits required by the local authorities.
- Oversee the management and liquidation of cash advances to implementing partners.
Budgeting and Reporting
- Lead on the operational and accounting financial activities to ensure adherence with local legislation and compliance with NRC and donors’ requirements.
- Closely monitor the exchange rate fluctuation across all the NRC financial tools to ensure spending plans are correctly reflected in the payment and reporting currencies.
- Lead the development, implementation, and monitoring of co-financing budgets.
- Regularly update and review the Master Budget to ensure that all operational costs are reflected, funding gaps are identified and covered or flagged to management.
- Supervise the elaboration of budgets for new proposals, ensuring donor compliance and coverage of the needed resources to implement the planned activities.
- Supervise internal and external financial reports with quality control and compliance verification. Conduct pre-audit checks on financial reports, GLs, and supporting documents, and steer the audit process in collaboration with the Risk and Compliance department.
- Prepare annual income forecasts as part of the standard reporting to the board members.
Financial Analysis
- Manage internal and external financial risks, highlight and resolve relevant issues with the CMG.
- Develop internal management financial reports to be submitted to the CMG and key stakeholders.
- Facilitate monthly Budget versus Actual (BvA) reporting for all NRC Lebanon projects, present variance analyses to the CMG, and follow up on agreed action points.
- Provide financial advice to the budget holders, ensure adequate support is provided to programs and support functions, and ensure the alignment of resource allocations with organisational priorities at budgeting and implementation stages.
Local partners and actors
- Support the implementation of the NRC Lebanon Partnership strategy through active review of support structure, processes, and capacity building to ensure transparent, effective and compliant implementation and follow-up of NRC partners.
- Develop tools, training material, and procedures to support NRC’s work with local actors.
- Ensure the NRC Finance team and systems are set to assess, support, and work with local actors.
- Participate in local collaboration forums to develop NRC’s work with other NGOs and INGOs
Scale and scope of the position
Financial responsibility:
Country wide oversight of NRC Lebanon’s financial management, including budgeting, financial reporting, cash flow, compliance and internal controls, within the delegated authority framework.
Resources responsibility:
Oversight of NRC Lebanon’s financial systems, tools and processes, with line management of the Finance Coordinators and Finance Technical Officer and technical supervision of Finance team members across the country.
Critical interfaces
- Country Management Group (CMG)
- Area Managers, Area Support Managers and Finance Staff in Area Offices
- Programme, CC, MEAL, and Grants Unit.
- Data and Technology Team
- Risk and Compliance Unit
- Global Finance Team, Head Office& MENA Financial Controllers and Unit4 team
- Finance Leads of Consortium Partners and local actors
- Auditors and tax advisor
Generic professional competencies
- Fluent in English, written and verbal
- Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, or any relevant field.
- Minimum of 4 years’ experience within the Finance field, of which 3 years should be manager/manager-equivalent experience in a humanitarian or recovery context.
- Experience working with local partners and actors
- Experience working with humanitarian and institutional donors (KFW, ECHO, INTPA, etc.)
- Proficient in MS Excel and accounting systems
- Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile
Context related skills, knowledge and experience
- Experience of financial systems and structures development, especially during change management processes
- Working experience as Finance Lead in Emergencies is an advantage
- Previous experience in the Middle East is preferable
Behavioural competencies
- Planning and delivering results
- Working with people
- Analysing
- Communication with impact and respect
- Coping with change
- Build meaningful relations
- Act with integrity
- Empower people
- Deliver results
