International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) – hiring General Accounting and Treasury Manager

DUTIES

A. General accounting, financial control and month-end close

• Provide overall oversight of IITA’s general accounting operations, ensuring accurate, complete and timely recording of financial transactions.
• Lead and coordinate monthly, quarterly and year-end financial closing processes, including review of journals, accruals, provisions and balance sheet reconciliations.
• Ensure timely and accurate accounting for payables, receivables, payroll, advances, assets, liabilities, income and expenditure.
• Establish and maintain robust balance sheet reconciliation processes, with clear ownership and timely resolution of reconciling items.
• Ensure appropriate accounting treatment and allocation of transactions across projects, grants, cost centers, activities and funding sources.
• Strengthen accounting policies, procedures and controls and ensure consistent application across IITA locations.
• Identify accounting and financial control weaknesses and drive corrective actions to resolution.

B.  Treasury, liquidity and cash management

•   Lead IITA’s day-to-day treasury and cash management activities, ensuring adequate liquidity to meet operational, statutory, donor and program obligations.
•  Prepare and oversee weekly cash position and cash-flow forecasts, providing management with clear visibility of available, committed and restricted cash.
•  Monitor cash requirements across IITA hubs, stations and country offices and coordinate funding transfers in line with approved budgets, donor conditions and cash-flow requirements.
• Develop and maintain short-, medium- and long-term cash-flow forecasts and highlight emerging liquidity risks to the CFRO.
•  Ensure effective management of bank accounts, including account opening and closure, bank mandates, signatories, online banking access and banking controls.
• Review bank charges, interest income and other banking transactions and ensure discrepancies are promptly investigated and resolved.
• Ensure timely and accurate bank reconciliations and resolution of unidentified or long-outstanding items.
• Support the CFRO in managing IITA’s investment portfolio, ensuring preservation of capital, appropriate liquidity and prudent optimization of investment returns.
• Monitor and manage foreign exchange exposures in accordance with approved policies.
• Oversee the integrity of IITA’s payment processes, including review of payment proposals and electronic banking transactions before submission for authorization.
• Ensure payments are properly supported, approved, accurately coded and processed within agreed timelines.
• Monitor supplier, partner, payroll, statutory, tax, utility and other payment obligations to ensure timely settlement.
• Ensure appropriate segregation of duties and controls across payment initiation, review, approval and execution.
•  Strengthen controls over petty cash, imprest, corporate cards and other cash-equivalent arrangements.
• Conduct or coordinate periodic independent cash counts and ensure all exceptions are investigated and resolved.
• Work with banks and relevant internal teams to resolve banking and payment issues promptly.

C. Financial reporting and analysis

• Ensure the timely preparation of accurate monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports and financial statements.
•  Review balance sheet schedules and key accounting reports to ensure completeness, accuracy and appropriate supporting documentation.
•  Provide financial analysis and interpretation to identify emerging financial risks, trends and opportunities.
•  Support the CFRO with cash, treasury, investment and financial management reports for Senior Management and the Board/Finance and Audit & Risk Committee.
•  Ensure financial data is reliable, consistent and sufficiently visible to support evidence-based decision-making.
•  Contribute to the development of financial dashboards and management reporting, including liquidity, receivables, payables, cash utilization and other key financial indicators.

D. Audit, compliance and risk management

• Coordinate the day-to-day relationship with internal and external auditors and ensure timely provision of accurate supporting documentation.
•  Coordinate implementation and follow-up of audit recommendations relating to accounting, treasury and financial controls.
• Ensure compliance with applicable accounting standards, IITA policies, donor requirements and statutory financial obligations.
• Monitor changes in relevant accounting, tax, banking and financial regulations and advise the CFRO on implications for IITA.
• Maintain adequate documentation and audit trails for all significant financial transactions and balances.

E. Financial systems, process improvement and data integrity

• Ensure the integrity of accounting and financial data within IITA’s ERP and related financial systems.
• Work with Finance, IT and other stakeholders to improve Oracle and related financial processes, reporting and system controls.
• Identify opportunities to automate, simplify and standardize accounting, payment, reconciliation and treasury processes.
• Improve the timeliness and quality of financial information and reduce manual/offline processes.
• Ensure appropriate user access, segregation of duties and system controls within accounting and banking platforms.

F. Leadership and business partnership

•  Lead, manage and develop the General Accounting and Treasury team, establishing clear responsibilities, performance expectations and accountability.
• Build a high-performing team with strong technical accounting, treasury and financial control capabilities.
• Provide guidance and support to Finance Managers and finance teams across IITA locations.
• Promote a culture of financial discipline, accountability, transparency and continuous improvement.
• Provide financial advice to management and operational teams on accounting, payments, cash management and financial control matters.
• Collaborate with Grants, Procurement, Operations and programme teams to resolve financial issues and strengthen end-to-end financial processes.
• Provide financial input to procurement and other relevant management committees as required.

QUALIFICATION

Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field, with a minimum of twelve (12) years’ relevant experience, including at least six (6) years in a management or supervisory role in a structured organization performing similar functions.A professional accounting qualification such as ACCA, CPA, ACA, or equivalent, with significant post-qualification experience in accounting, treasury, and financial management, is required.

COMPETENCIES

The ideal candidate must have:

Financial Management & Treasury: Demonstrated experience managing accounting operations, liquidity, cash-flow forecasting, banking, investments, and financial risks in large, complex, multi-location organizations, preferably in international development, research, or donor-funded environments.

Technical Accounting, Reporting & Audit: Strong knowledge of accounting standards, financial reporting, period-end closing, reconciliations, internal controls, audit management, and implementation of audit recommendations.

Financial Systems & Analytical Skills: Proficiency in ERP systems, preferably Oracle or equivalent, advanced Excel, and financial reporting tools, with strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.

Donor Compliance & Organizational Effectiveness: Strong understanding of donor-funded financial management and compliance requirements, with the ability to manage competing priorities and deliver results in a complex international environment.

REMUNERATION

We offer highly competitive salary with equally attractive benefits and excellent working conditions in a pleasant campus environment.