Internal Auditor

Organizational Setting:  ROOTS Project

The Government of The Gambia and the International Fund for  Agricultural Development (IFAD) prepared the ROOTS (Resilience of  Organizations for Transformative Smallholder Agriculture) project.  The project will be funded by IFAD, GoTG and development partners  and will be implemented over a period of 6 years, from 2020 to 2026.  The main components of ROOTS are: Component 1 (Agricultural  productivity and adaptation to changes climatic); Component 2  (Market access); and Component 3 (institutional development, project  management and citizen engagement).

Reports to: Project Director

The main task of the Internal Auditor is to verify the effectiveness in compliance with the Financing Agreements and all applicable rules, regulations and procedures. Audits should focus on adherence to procedures, from the planning / budgeting phases to receipt and payment of goods and services, as well as monitoring and safeguarding of all the Project assets, in relation to the Project’s objectives.

Duration of Assignment: Up to six years; following successful completion of six-month probationary period; with renewable contract if performance is satisfactory.

Duty Station: Based in PSU Headquarters, with regular visits in the field as required for monitoring, reporting and coordination.

Specific duties and responsibilities:

• • Verify compliance with the provisions and rules contained in the Financing Agreements, their related documents, the manual of administrative, financial and accounting procedures and any regulations applicable to the Project ; 

• • Elaborate the annual internal control work plan on the basis of continuous risk analysis ;

• • Conduct annual risk assessments based on the AWPB and Procurement Plan, and recommend risk mitigation measures

• • Set up the appropriate tools (management dashboards, monitoring and control sheets, etc.) for transparent management of ROOTS operations while minimizing the risk of dysfunction and inefficiency including at the level of implementing partners. 

• • In collaboration with the other managers, prior to contract signing and prior to disbursements, ensure control over the achievement of the objectives set for the Project. Correlate administrative, financial, accounting and field activities at the Project level and at the level of implementing partners ;  

• • Follow the budget execution, analyze the discrepancies with the Financial Manager and the M&E Officer for necessary corrective measures , prepare a monthly report relating thereto;

• • Check, on the basis of a risk analysis and in collaboration with the Administrative and Financial Department, the regularity of expenditure and operations, the reports and financial statements required under the Project. 

• • Evaluate the smooth running of activities in relation to forecasts ; 

• • Verify that contracts are awarded, developed and carried out in accordance with the procurement procedures and that expenditures are in accordance with approved budgets ; 

• • Verify the compliance of the execution of Project activities by partners according to the clauses of MoUs or contracts.

• • Carry out periodic and sample checks of the actual existence of fixed assets acquired with Project funds;

• • Conduct operational field control missions to verify that procedures are followed and that the activities of the executing agencies are proceeding satisfactorily;

• • Contribute to the capacity building of all actors on the basis of identified weaknesses;

• • Verify that the performance evaluation of the Project staff is done according to the defined procedures 

• • Participate in supervision missions IFAD / Government and in external audit missions 

• • Verify the implementation of recommendations from external audit missions and donor supervision and communicate the recommendations monitoring table quarterly to the Project Director, to IFAD and to CPCU

• • Prepare or participate in the preparation of reports requested by IFAD or by CPCU.

• Develop quarterly at the latest 30 days after the end of the quarter a report on internal controls to be transmitted to the Project Director, to IFAD and to CPCU.

EXPECTED RESULTS:        

• • Internal control reports are available with factual findings and relevant recommendations         

• • Achievement of the objectives assigned to the Project         

• Continuous improvement of the Project staff performance.         

Qualifications:

Education:  Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field of Agriculture 

Experience:  A minimum of 10 years’ progressive auditing or financial management and grants management experience on international development Projects; demonstrated working knowledge of IFAD rules and regulations. Significant Project management experience and risk management is highly desired. 

Skills:  Excellent written and oral communication skill in English is required; Experience in reporting to donors in an NGO environment; Good understanding of the laws of Gambia related to tax, insurance, etc. Strong analytical and reporting skills. 

Closing date: All the application should be submitted by 12/08/2022

Special provisions:

• • Qualified female applicants are encouraged to apply.

• • People with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply.

• • All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

• Only applications received through the provided link will be considered