Finance Support Assistant

Malaria Consortium is one of the world’s leading non-profit organisations dedicated to the comprehensive control of malaria and other communicable diseases in Africa and Southeast Asia. We work in partnership with communities, governments, academic institutions, and both local and international organisations to ensure evidence-based, effective service delivery. Our technical support enhances monitoring and evaluation systems, facilitating strategic planning and decision-making to improve health systems, reduce poverty, and promote economic growth.

Malaria Consortium has recently been awarded a grant to scale up the Safety and Antimicrobial Resistance Mass Administration of Azithromycin (SARMAAN II) project across five states in Nigeria: Kaduna, Jigawa, Kebbi, Adamawa, and Gombe. The SARMAAN II intervention involves the biannual administration of Azithromycin to children aged 0–59 months in areas with high Under 5 mortality, such as Jigawa State. With the upcoming Cascade training and Round 3 campaign in Kaduna and Jigawa State covering all 23 LGAs and 27 LGAs respectively, there is a critical need for short-term Finance Support Assistants to support large-scale payment processing, documentation, and operational finance needs over a two-month period.

Job Description
Objective:

• To provide robust, hands-on finance support during the Mass Administration of Azithromycin (AZM MDA) campaign in Kaduna and Jigawa State by ensuring timely documentation, processing, and disbursement of payments related to MDA, logistics, Procurement and service delivery across all LGAs.

Purpose of the Assignment
The Finance Support Assistants will:

• Ensure accuracy and completeness of financial documentation in accordance with donor and MC internal policies.
• Provide clerical and administrative finance support throughout the campaign period.
• Facilitate and track payments related to MDA activities, travel related procurements and logistics.

Methodology

• Each assistant will support payments for an estimated 5,000–6,000 campaign personnel and over 40 vendors per cluster. Responsibilities will include documentation review, payment tracking, schedule preparation, and compliance monitoring in collaboration with the finance officers.
• The methodology for this assignment involves providing targeted finance support to the State Finance Officers during and after the 2026 Cascade training and round 3 distribution campaign in Kaduna and Jigawa State. The states are subdivided into 23 LGAs and 27 LGAs respectively, organised into 3 operational clusters. One Finance Support Assistant will be assigned per cluster (covering approximately 8-9 LGAs each).

Key Responsibilities
Daily Tasks:

• Receive payment advice and attach to relevant documents for proper filing.
• Review attendance records using the approved database and prepare accurate payment schedules for AZM Campaign personnel, ensuring that schedules match both the attendance sheets and the database.
• Review all transactions and ensure completeness of documentation and required approvals.
• Maintain an Excel journal template to record all completed payments and share with the Finance Officer weekly for posting.
• Support onsite logistics and distribution of training materials where necessary.
• Follow up on the stock balance of financial forms (e.g., arch files, stamp, pins, clips,) and make timely requisitions to prevent stock-outs.
• Safeguard the organisation’s resources by thoroughly reviewing all payment requests, TAFs, and PRFs in compliance with the Malaria Consortium Manual, Policies, and Procedures.
• Attend and take finance-related notes during cascade training sessions.
• Advise the Finance Officer on financial issues and flag areas of concern, proposing potential solutions.
• Collaborate with the Finance Officer to ensure that payment vouchers (PVs) are raised with all supporting documents and are properly filed.
• Prepare payment vouchers and ensure proper cost classification and coding.

Weekly Tasks:

• Maintain and update trackers for paid vs pending claims by activity and LGA.
• Assist with Failed payment tracking and reconciliations.
• Review supporting documents before submission to the country office for archive.
• Generate weekly summary reports of all finance activities.
• Follow up with finance officer and dotted line supervisors for pending documentation that would enable achievement of deliverables.
• Track and receive all invoices from suppliers and vendors; process invoice authorisation forms and process payments with appropriate approvals.
• Prepare and submit payment schedules for cascade trainings and MDAs by LGA.

Operations and Other Tasks:

• Support audits by making required documents available.
• Archive, scan, and file all finance documents ensuring compliance with the MC finance manual filing standards.
• Maintain a tracker for all payment documents and ensure they are sent to or received from Abuja.
• Assist in asset spot checks and physical verification exercises.

Deliverables:

• Scanned and filed documentation for each payment batch.
• Monthly summary report
• Complete and verifiable payment schedules for all cascade trainings and MDA rounds.
• Final summary report at the end of the 8-week assignment.
• Weekly activity tracker and finance support status reports.

Accountability:

• Must maintain confidentiality and adhere to MC's safeguarding and data protection policies.
• The Jigawa FAs will be directly accountable to the State Finance Officer – Jigawa State and the Kaduna FAs will be directly accountable to the Country Finance Office-Abuja.
• Functionally report to the State Program Manager.

Timeline and Other Assignment Details:

• Number of Finance Support Assistant Required: 1
• Duration: 44 and 22 Days
• Location: Abuja and Kaduna

Support and Resources:

• Orientation on SARMAAN finance tools and reporting templates.
• Supervision and oversight by the Finance Officer and designated MC staff.
• A workstation at the MC state office in Kaduna and Jigawa will be made available.
• Consultant would be required to work with their personal laptops

Expected Outcome:

• Strengthened compliance and transparency in MDA-related financial transactions.
• Reduced errors and improved turnaround time in processing participant and vendors’ payments, with an estimated payment completion period of no later than 13 days after the conclusion of each activity.
• A smooth and timely financial documentation and payment process across all the LGAs.

Specific expected outcomes include:

• Documentation and Attachment: Ensure payment advices are properly generated and attached to all processed vouchers immediately after final authorisation on the I-banking platform.
• Archiving Coordination: Collaborate with the finance officers to ensure all original payment documents are packaged and dispatched to the Country Office no later than the 10th working day of the following month.
• Voucher Preparation and Processing: Prepare corresponding payment vouchers within 24 hours of validation and submission of the payment schedule.
• Document Scanning and Filing: Scan and file all payment-related documents within 3 days of final payment authorization.
• Ongoing Support and Compliance: Maintain 100% compliance with documentation standards (complete signatures, correct codes, proper use of templates) and escalate any discrepancies to the Finance Officer within 12 hours of detection.
• Submission of Accurate Payment Schedules: At least 3 LGA payment schedules must be reviewed, validated, and submitted within 48 hours of receiving complete supporting documentation (i.e., attendance sheets and Approved databases).

Consultancy requirements

• Exceptional attention to details and accuracy
• A graduate preferably with a degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or any social science course
• Computer literate preferably at intermediate level–use of Excel and Word
• Ability to work independently in an organized manner but within an integrated team.
• Excellent numeracy, written and verbal communication skills