Plan International India - Director - Finance & Assurance

Plan International (India Chapter) referred to as "PIIC", seeks an experienced and qualified finance professional to serve as the Director- Finance & Assurance based at the Delhi Head Office.

At PIIC, we believe financial stewardship is more than just numbers-it's about enabling transformative change for children and communities across the country. As Director - Finance & Assurance, you won't just guide fiscal strategy; you'll uphold the principles of "Kartavya and Sewa", helping to ensure transparency, equity, and accountability in everything we do. This role is an opportunity to shape PIIC's development outcomes through ethical leadership and purpose-driven financial management.

The Director shall provide strategic leadership to PIIC as a member of the Country Management Team (CMT) and would be responsible for strategic steer to the Finance, Accounts and Assurance department in alignment with the Country Strategy and compliance framework.

Key Functions/ Responsibilities

Leadership for PIIC:

• As a member of the CMT, provide strategic leadership, insights and guidance to PIIC on the organization's financial health, potential risks & mitigation strategies with respect to finance and compliance issues, coordinate information needed for strategy development and participate in key decision-making meetings for the organization.
• Assist the ED on PIIC's strategic plans and represent/participate in PLAN International's initiatives/forums on Finance, build partnerships with other Plan International Members and strengthen PIIC's position within Plan federation and vis-a-vis other members with respect to finance and governance.
• To act as a signing authority for joint decisions made by the CMT as well as for documents, reports, cheques, as required.
• To oversee and represent PIIC in all aspects of finance, information systems and administration relationships including audit, banking, property and insurance, as required.
  
  

Strategy And Budgets

• To develop a fully integrated strategy for the Finance and Assurance function in line with the current Country Strategy objectives of PIIC.
• To implement a robust financial strategy for the organization and constantly endeavor to improve the systems to deliver high quality financial management, including means to provide financial planning and management information for the use of Resource Mobilization, Programs, Grants, Human Resources and Operations.
• To prepare the expense budget for the Finance and assurance function at PIIC and drive adherence to this budget
  
  

Financial Management And Planning

• Provide dashboards on costs, ratios, and productivity metrics to advise leadership on financial efficiency.
• To design and ensure adherence to financial protocols, scheme of delegation, and SoPs for the function
  
  

To guide establishment of accounting systems and culture to ensure

• Timely account reconciliation and data entry
• Timely Processing of payments
• Adherence to funds utilization processes and protocols
• Generation of periodic reports at month end/ quarter end/ year end
• To review monthly Financial Results and discuss implications of periodic financial trends and results of analysis with the accounts team
• To ensure new financial systems are appropriate, accessible, and effective for an agency of its size, complexity and accountability requirements
• To ensure key organisational reporting requirements are met in a timely manner through comprehensive and high-quality documentation
• To ensure adherence to the financial systems and procedures, and provide authorizations and approvals for critical deviations/ variances
• To approve corrective action in case of variances between Actual costs/ expenses vs. Budgeted costs/ expenses
• To oversee the budgeting process for development of new proposals
• To ensure that the team provide required support to the programme implementation team at State Offices for detailed budgeting
  
  

Grants Management

• To constantly monitor grant budgets, ensure regular audits and financial reporting of all the grants received at PIIC.
• To ensure timely and quality reports on project implementation to donors and other stakeholders, in conjunction with the program teams and manage fund flows.
• To ensure that all financial transactions are as per the approved grants budgets
  
  

Financial MIS

• To ensure timely preparation of all required financial MIS, and design and monitor the MIS framework and calendar for the organization
• To review periodic MIS and other financial reports for all departments and verify the same
  
  

Capacity Building

• To ensure that the skill development needs of the team members are timely addressed and ensure capacity building of the team for efficient financial management
• To ensure capacity building of the project partners for meeting the financial compliance requirements for the projects managed
  
  

Financial Risk Management

• To direct and coordinate all finance function activities in the organization, ensuring judicious utilization of funds, minimization of financial risk, adherence to budgets and cost saving as well as compliance with regulatory norms.
• To drive reserves planning and cash flow management strategy and identify potential risk scenarios on a regular basis.
• To mitigate risks wherever possible through insurance instruments such as an enterprise-wide risk map.
• To monitor the financial review of partners and take corrective actions, as required
• To ensure periodic financial reviews of the partners and ensure maintenance of a Risk Categorization framework
  
  

Compliances

Compliance & Audit:

• To ensure that all financial and accounting transactions at PIIC are compliant with the statutory rules and regulations (FCRA, GST, Income Tax, RBI Rules, MHA, Darpan etc.)
• To ensure that PIIC adheres to all kind of tax related compliances applicable to the organization
• To ensure compliance on legal matters concerning FCRA and other government regulations
• To ensure that all tax assessment notices/ issues are addressed and resolved in a proper and timely manner and management of fixed assets.
• To ensure that required support is provided to APAC for meeting statutory compliances and to GH for updating Plan International books records as required
• To ensure implementation of Financial Report Check List provided by APAC
• To ensure to the Board that all legal and ethical compliances are in place including relevant codes of conduct and 'industry' requirements
• To ensure due diligence and Anti-terrorism compliance check for new proposed partners
  
  

Audits

• To ensure development and execution of audit plans in accordance with the accepted standards.
• To ensure dissemination of 'Best-in-class' auditing financial practices which model
  
  

principles of a high degree of accountability and transparency.

• To ensure timely completion of all audits (statutory, partners and internal).
• To follow up for closure of audit findings, Action Taken Reports and closure.
• To ensure that required support is provided by the team for Regional/ Global Audits.
• To ensure legal vetting of various agreements and contracts such as vendor agreements, lease agreements, partnership agreements, etc.
• To ensure that all consultant agreements are legally compliant
  
  

Team Management

• To develop, guide and support team to ensure robust financial management at PIIC
• To facilitate and mentor the team and efficiently manage their performance.
• To strengthen inter-team communication, engender good team dynamics and help resolve internal issues, as per need.
• To conduct periodic reviews, and performance appraisal of the team members
• To ensure excellent communication and a good working relationship with Government of India's Departments and Ministries as relevant and with other stakeholders- institutional and corporate donors, Board members, relevant Plan international stakeholders, internal programs/HR/partner organization teams and other non-profit organizations as required.
  
  

PIIC Board and management

• To work with the ED and CMT in planning and organizing the quarterly Board Finance committee meeting as the convener and the Annual General Body meeting (AGM).
• To present progress of the financial management to the Board with the ED.
  
  

Experience And Competencies

MUST HAVES:

• A qualified Chartered Accountant with minimum 15 years of overall work experience of which at least 6+ years in senior leadership positions with mid-large scale, corporate or non-profit organizations.
• Demonstrated leadership in working with or leading a large finance and assurance team with nation-wide programs as a senior leader of an organization managing strategic portfolio.
• Sound and stable experience in strategic financial management along with knowledge of latest industry trends and best practices, statutory audit experience.
• An excellent understanding of budgeting, statutory compliances, legal procedures and required government regulations.
• Robust analytical and problem-solving skills and ability to navigate external volatility with resilience.
• Excellent interpersonal and written skills with the ability to engage effectively with diverse groups (both internal and external) and deal with tact and sensitivity.
  
  

Key Competencies

• Experience in developing a strategy and being able to effectively deliver this to a team and create a strategic vision
• Effective people management skills with proven ability to lead and manage large multi- skilled teams.
• Ability to communicate effectively with colleagues and clients, both verbally and in writing, including experience of negotiation with external stakeholders including senior government officials and donors.
• Ability to work in a matrix organization and display flexibility, agility and the ability to solve challenges
• Ability to mentor and build the capacity of team members and ensure a harmonious and collaborative work culture.
  
  

Key Behavioral Attributes

• Deep knowledge and understanding required for the role, complexity of problems handled & the degree of investigation, analysis, & creative thinking required to solve them.
• Demonstrates a high degree of professionalism and integrity
• Demonstrates high level of leadership and proactive thinking
• Strong in analytical investigation and analysis
• Leads by example to motivate high performance of others
• Communicates clearly and effectively and in a style that inspires confidence and builds credibility with staff
• Very strong commitment to continuous learning
• Professional and discrete in handling sensitive situations
  
  

Language Proficiency

• Fluency in English and Hindi
  
  

LEVEL OF CONTACT WITH CHILDREN

• Level 3 (Sporadic contact with children)
• The position holder shall be responsible to adhere and work within the ambit of Plan
  
  

India's Safeguarding, Gender Equality Policies and relevant organizational policies.

Plan India is an equal opportunities employer and women candidates are encouraged to apply.

(ref:iimjobs.com)