Finance Manager, Central Sahel (Based in Burkina Faso)

Permanent position starting in January 2025

The starting salary is £57,032 GBP / approx. $73,934 USD including all allowances

About MAG

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) is an international humanitarian organisation based in Manchester, UK, and working in 32 countries. We remove landmines and unexploded ordnance to release safe and productive land for communities, and work to reduce the threat of armed violence by supporting governments to safely manage weapons and ammunition. In 1997, MAG was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for our work campaigning for the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.

About the Central Sahel programme

MAG has been in Burkina Faso since 2015 working with security and defence forces and the National Commission on Arms Control (CNCA), initially on physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) but increasingly on a range of small arms and light weapons (SALW) related activities supporting armed violence reduction and prevention and gender mainstreaming in arms control. MAG’s weapons and ammunition management work in Burkina Faso has included – construction of armouries and ammunition depots; training for armoury and ammunition storekeepers and managers; weapons and ammunition destruction; weapons marking; and development of SALW National Action Plans for CNCA. MAG is also conducting SALW risk education and EORE with communities, delivering risk education so that people forced to live with the risk of improvised explosive ordnance and SALW can stay safe.

MAG has been working in Chad since 2004 to reduce the daily risk of death or injury from landmines and unexploded bombs, and to create safe and secure conditions for development free from armed violence.These unexploded items also have a humanitarian impact, particularly on the nomadic communities in the north. Significant numbers of accidents in some areas have forced nomads to abandon traditional camel trade routes for longer ones, putting them and their animals at risk of thirst and exhaustion. Clearing land of explosives also reinforces local economies. Clearing roads will help improve trade and opens the path for economic, social, administrative, health and security improvements.

About the role

As the Central Sahel Finance Manager at MAG, and as part of the Senior Management Team (SMT), your primary purpose is to oversee and manage financial operations within a multi-country regional programme, ensuring compliance with internal policies, donor requirements and local regulations. You will play a pivotal role in providing financial leadership, strategic guidance, and technical support to MAG operations across the Central Sahel regional programme, fostering transparency, integrity, accountability and effective financial management practices. Your responsibilities include budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, compliance, risk management, capacity building, and developing strong relationships with key stakeholders. Through your expertise and dedication, you will contribute to the achievement of MAG’s vision and mission and contribute to the strategic development of the regional programme.

About you

You will ideally hold qualifications as an accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or similar caliber) or equivalent professional experience. You would bring to the role progressive and relevant experience in a financial management role, managing large and complex budgets in an international context, ideally in an NGO setting. You will be able to demonstrate a good understanding of donor budgeting, reporting requirements and experience of formulating grant proposals. You will be able to demonstrate the ability to report in a timely and accurate manner, the ability to work independently and build excellent working relationships with project stakeholders. You must be self-motivated, with a flexible and enthusiastic approach to work, and able to work well under pressure with limited supervision in a fast-paced environment. You will also need experience of providing strategic and operational financial leadership. You will be sensitive to cultural differences, able to work in a wide variety of cultural contexts and have the willingness and ability to work both at strategic and operational levels, with a hands-on approach when required.

Fluency in English and French is required.