Request for Expressions of Interest
Georgia
COVID-19 Vaccine Support Project under the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility.
Asian Development Bank: LOAN NUMBER 4118-GEO
Assignment Title: Senior Financial Management Specialist
Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs (MoILHSA), as an Implementing Agency of the COVID-19 Vaccine Support Project under the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility in Georgia is soliciting applications for the position of Senior Financial Management Specialist.
The project implementation unit (PIU) is looking for Senior Financial Management Specialist, who will support overall implementation of the project, he/she will work closely with the coordinator of the PIU.
The Consultant shall be responsible for:
General Management and Leadership
(i) Liaise with the ADB on all aspects of project’s financial management.
(ii) Lead capacity building activities in the area of financial management under the projects to capacitate MOILHSA account officers with the PFM reforms in MOILHSA and the ADB’s fiduciary guidelines and policies and procedures as well as compliance with ADB’s policies and procedure and Loan Disbursement Handbook28
(iii) Conduct trainings for the project staff and MOILHSA on the importance of financial management and educating staff on financial responsibilities.
(iv) Keep abreast with the latest developments and issues in project’s financial management and provide suggestion to the best possible option.
(v) Open (when needed), maintain and be joint signatory of assignment account (s) in accordance with revolving fund account procedures issued by Ministry of Finance.
(vi) Preparation of Financial Management Manual for the Project
(vii) Maintain liaison with the ADB where the assignment account is opened or to be opened.
(viii) Support PIU in overall financial management of its project activities related to Covid-19 and working closely with the PIU Manager/team to ensure Project implementation
Budgeting and Planning
(i) Overall responsible and ensure for budget allocation for COVID-19 vaccines and operational costs are continuous adequate and can be easily tracked within the system.
(ii) Analyze and prepare operational budgets for the MOILHSAs based on acceptable and approved parameters.
(iii) Prepare annual, quarterly and semi-annually disbursement forecasts for all components of the project/s in line with project/s procurement plan and Work Plan/Cash Plan.
Funds Management
(i) Ensure timely releases of funds
(ii) Liaison with relevant department in connection with budget, releases, disbursement and other issues of financial management.
(iii) Prepare request for authorization of signatories to sign Withdrawal Applications, Interim Financial Reports and/or correspond with the ADB. Ensure confirmation in this regard is received from the ADB.
(iv) Prepare realistic cash forecasts on quarterly basis in coordination with the project team and submit to the ADB for advance and replenishment of advance, once allowed.
(v) Process withdrawal application in accordance with the ADB’s Disbursement Guidelines for drawing funds from the assignment account(s) opened for the project
(vi) Track funds and follow up with the designated bank and the ADB to ensure timely credit of funds into the project/s assignment account(s).
Expenditure/Payment Processing
(i) Ensure compliance with internal control framework (VNDP, SOPs and the ADB’s fiduciary guidelines etc.) and government rules and procedures while processing payments.
(ii) Analyze, plan, design, implement, and monitor a system to augment internal controls in line with best practices in the process of payment and expenditure management.
(iii) Apply pre-audit checks on all payments before payment from the assignment account(s) including budget availability, sanction of competent authority and compliance with applicable financial rules & regulations.
(v) Ensure that No Objection Letter (NOL) is obtained from the ADB for every prior review activity before processing any payment.
(vi) Prepare request for payment and forward to PIU Project Manager.
(vii) Ensure that only eligible payments are forwarded PIU Project Manager’s approval and drawing funds from the assignment account.
(viii) Manage financial aspects of the contracts under implementation, including payment terms, purchase orders and variation orders.
Accounting and Record Management
(i) Record all transactions timely and accurately in the books of accounts (both in GEL and $) and ensure that no expenditure remained unaccounted.
(ii) Maintain accounts on cash basis as per government accounting procedure.
(iii) Ensure that transactions are recorded/punched in the accounting system
(iv) Oversee the process of entering transaction level data in the accounting system
(v) Ensure up-to-date maintenance of adequate registers, books of accounts and records in appropriate order and format to meet the government and ADB’s requirements and to facilitate classification and analyzing the financial information for monitoring the project progress.
(vi) Prepare supplementary record, which provides timely and up-to-date financial information of contracts.
(vii) Prepare monthly ADB reconciliation statements of assignment account both in GEL and $.
(viii) Reconcile the expenditure on government prescribed format.
(ix) Be the payroll manager and process monthly payroll of project employees. Ensure proper payroll controls are applied and the payments are made directly in the ADB accounts.
(x) Ensure that the inventory records are maintained for the project identifying location and user of each inventory and arrange for the annual and periodical inventory of the assets/consumables and report it to the management, ADB, and MOILHSA.
(xi) Ensure safe custody of all financial records for review by ADB Missions, monitoring and evaluation specialist and external & internal auditors.
(xii) Ensure in-kind grants are properly accounted for budgeting purposes and accurately recorded and reported in the system.
Financial Reporting
(i) Prepare quarterly financial reports and submit to MOILHSA and ADB in a timely fashion for review and approval.
(ii) Ensure that annual financial statements and other monthly and quarterly reports as specified under the Financing Agreements and as per recommended/suggested by ADB supervision missions are accurately prepared and timely submitted – annual financial statements to be prepared in accordance with Cash
Basis IPSAS ‘Financial Reporting under Cash Basis of Accounting’.
(iii) Prepare and consolidate Annual financial statements of the project/s including and submit for review and approval to MOILHSA.
(iv) Define and produce other financial reports, as and where required on utilization of funds to facilitate MOILHSA in decision-making process.
(v) Ensure that all government financial reporting requirements are complied with:
Audit
(i) Make arrangements for timely initiation and completion audit of project and ensure that report produced is in compliance with audit requirements of the Government and the ADB.
(ii) Ensure that the vaccination program is adequately reflected in overall COVID-19 program audit plan of Internal Audit Department.
(iii) Cooperate with ADB, Government and other partners to improve project financial management, particularly in terms of following up the action points agreed in the project legal documents, during the ADB supervision missions, Aide Memoires and the recommendations of external auditors and internal auditors.
(iv) Attend entry and exit meetings with external auditors, facilitate timely completion of audits by arranging timely submission of annual financial statement in appropriate format, supply of information and documents responding to queries, initiate actions for holding tripartite meetings and coordinating with various units of MOILHSA in settling audit observations.
(v) Prepare working papers on audit observations raised by external auditors and arrange to convene a meeting to settle the audit observations to the extent legally and logically possible.
Reporting
(i) FMS shall report to PIU Manager. It is recognized that activities may undergo with frequent changes in a view of dynamic environment and implementation operational & ground realities. Therefore, the FMS is expected to be flexible and adapt to requirement of process.
The individual consultant shall meet the following qualification and experience requirements:
Qualification Requirements:
- The specialist should have Masters or equivalent university degree in Accounting and Finance, or MS Finance
- Profession qualification (CPA, CMA, ACCA) with 10 years’ relevant post-qualification experience in financial management, including about 5 years’ experience of working in Foreign-Aided Development Projects in a similar role.
- Good communication skill and have experience of working government agencies and with prior experience of working in donor funded and public sector projects will be accorded due weightage.
- Demonstrated Computer Skill (Proficiency in using computer desktop application MS Office (Word, Excel, and Power Point).
During the selection of the candidate interview will be arranged and the Evaluation Committee based on the result of the interview will make final decision.
The Consultant will be engaged initially for 12 months with the possibility of contract extension. The type of Contract will be full time-based.
A consultant will be selected in accordance with the Individual Consultants Recruitment procedures set out in Asian Development Banks guidelines on the Use of Consultants (March 2013).
The Expression of Interest shall be submitted via ADB`s Consultant Management System on the following webpage:
https://selfservice.adb.org/OA_HTML/adb/xxcrs/jsp/ADBCsrnFwd.jsp?sel=175962
Deadline for applications: February 7, 2022
To obtain detailed information, please contact:
Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs (MoILHSA),
Name: Khatia Amilakhvari
Position: Procurement consultant
Procurement Consultant, PIU
Additional Financing for Emergency COVID-19 Response Project
Email: khamilakhvari@moh.gov.ge and ninokvernadze@moh.gov.ge
Web Site: www.moh.gov.ge