Internal Auditor

Overall Responsibilities:

Reporting line

The Internal Audit would be an independent function within organization and would be only reportable to the top management CD/CFD/CMT. The internal Auditor will report to CD Administratively and CFD Technically, enabling independence, coordination and coherence of audit functions in the country office.

Non executive Function

The Internal audit department would be a non executive function within the organization who would not be engaged in any sort of management function or the execution management operations of any kind. It would be a non executive department.

Position Parity

The Internal Auditor would be member of the CMT to avoid the possibility of intimidation of internal audit by CD/CFD office. The salary and perquisite however would be set in line with the requirements of the Organization for the position and in relation to the experience and qualification of the auditor.

Work to be done

Internal Control Assessment

Conduct a detailed assessment of the internal control policies and procedures of the Organization with reference to the systems relevant to the functions going on. The assessment must be focused towards the following:

• Adequacy of the design of the internal control processes and procedures

• Continuity of the application of the internal control policies and procedures

Following are the functions for which the relevant internal controls need to be assessed by the Internal Auditor:

• Implementation Management

• Programmatic Monitoring

• Programmatic Results Evaluation

• Financial Management

• Budget Operations Management

• Procurement Management

• Stocks Management

• Assets Management

• Human Resource Management

• Information Management

The above stated assessment would be conducted monthly, bi-annually or annually as agreede with CFD and CD.

Risk Assessment

Internal Auditor would conduct a periodic risk assessment for the organization as a whole and the specific risks associated with the Projects. The risk assessment would be the basis of identification of areas where the audit function should be applied on priority basis.

Compliance review of the Internal Control Procedures

Internal audit during its routine assignments would conduct the compliance of the policies and procedures of the Organization, Grant Requirements and the specific instructions issued by the top management and the London Head Office. This would include detailed testing of transactions, analytical procedures application and any other audit tests deemed necessary for the support of the audit opinion. This would be a routine assignment of the Internal Audit Function and it would cover all the aspects including finance, program, monitoring and reporting.

Inquiries

Internal auditor maybe requested by the management to conduct specific inquiries of forensic nature if need be, however the internal auditor would not be forced to accept such special assignments. Care would be taken to ensure that no management function is executed by the Internal Audit Department.

Field visits

Internal auditor would regularly undertake field visits to gather corroborative evidence. These field visits would be conducted on quarterly basis to ensure that the progress reported in papers actually exists at the ground level.

Capacity building and Training

The Internal Auditor is expected to condcut capacity building training to CO and project staff (technical and support) along with finance and other relevant staff at country office. This is based on assessment to be done in the internal control and existing capacity / gap.

Provision of support for external Audit

The Internal audit woukd be expected to provide support on external audit along with seniour finance staff at country office. This focus on coordinating responses from defferent departments for external auditors, compiling relevant data for the audit work and participating in responding to Management Letters from Auditors.

Reporting findings

At the conclusion of each audit assignment the internal auditor would submit a detailed report of their findings along with the related risks, recommended courses of actions and the management comments. Along with each audit report the Internal Audit department would also issue a follow up report showing the status of compliance by the management of the recommendations of previous internal audit report.

Liaison with PR

Internal auditor would regularly share the internal audit reports, follow up reports and any other reports issued with the PR pertaining to the project. Internal Controls assessment report would also be shared with the PR although it is not directly related to any specific project but pertains to the Organization as a whole.

Requirements (Person Specification)

• Audit/Accounting/Finance qualification (CA/ACCA or equivalent)
• At least 5 years experience of working in a senior Audit position
• Hands on Knowledge of qucik books and PS financials
• Excellent written and spoken English skills
• Excellent Excel skills and good Word skills
• Previous experience in working with relevant financial authorities and Government
• Previous relevant work experience with international, NGO or similar organisation
• Excellent knowledge of donor financial rules and regulations, in particular DFID, USAID, GFATM, UN agencies, EC and ECHO
• Excellent management and communications skills
• Ability to work independently to a high professional standard
• Adaptable and practical
• Diplomatic, Patient, and Respectful

• Effective team player

• Ability to understand complex problems and offer thought- through solutions

• Commitment and ability to develop effective cross-functional working relationships

• Have a challenging, proactive, positive & constructive attitude to work

• Culturally sensitive

• Commitment to Merlin’s values and aims including equal opportunities