TERMS OF REFERENCE (ToR)

Finance and Admin Manager

Period: November 2019 to November 2021

Location: Dhaka (Bangladesh) with some travel to programme’s area
Reports to: Senior Project Manager/Programme Manager, PROKAS, British Council

Introduction:
PROKAS (Promoting Knowledge for Accountable Systems) is a UK Department for International
Development (DFID) funded programme designed to support government and civil society initiatives
to improve transparency and accountability in Bangladesh. PROKAS commenced in April 2015, and
will continue until November 2021, subject to DFID’s approval. PROKAS is implemented by the
British Council in partnership with Palladium

Background to PROKAS:
PROKAS is a politically smart programme that aims to increase transparency and accountability in
Bangladesh by supporting action in areas where there is strong potential for change. We work with
issues where there is an opportunity to bring groups together – civil society, government, academia,
the business community – to solve complex accountability problems through coalition building and
collective action approaches, supported by political economy analysis. Whilst PROKAS awards
grants to participating partners, particularly civil society partners, IBPs are not traditional ‘grant
projects’; regular reflection and learning enables projects to flexibly adapt to accommodate new
ideas, or new partners, or changes in the external context.
PROKAS is currently delivering the following issue-based projects (IBPs):
• Climate finance transparency (CFTM): supporting a coalition of partners to strengthen
both supply and demand aspects of climate finance transparency and right to information.
Through applying the comparative advantages of government, civil society and private
sector, the project aims to demonstrate that climate projects that are transparent,
accountable and inclusive, will increase the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of
climate change interventions, thus increasing opportunities for national and global financing
and increase the wellbeing of communities.
• Fairer labour migration (FLM): government, civil society and private sector partners are
collaborating to strengthen mechanisms, policy and legislation to provide greater
safeguards to labour migrants from Bangladesh, many of whom fall prey to bribery,
corruption and other exploitative practices. Partners are collaborating to pilot grievance and
compensation mechanisms for victims of exploitation.
• Food safety governance (FS): through multi-stakeholder engagement the project aims to
increase governance transparency and accountability in the food sector leading to informed
policy making, safer production and distribution of food products and economic benefits for
small-scale farmers (including women farmers). As an entry point into the wider issue of
food safety, PROKAS will continue to focus on poultry production, whilst engaging with
actors who work across food safety more broadly.

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ToR – Finance and Admin Manager, PROKAS – British Council Bangladesh, October 2019
 • Climate Induced Migration (CIM): a coalition of partners are collaborating to identify
alternative cities to Dhaka where climate displaced migrants can settle with dignity. By
bringing together a coalition of actors that supports private sector, government and civil
society interests, the project aims to demonstrate that collective working which is more
transparent and accountable, brings benefits to all parties – including green financing
opportunities for private sector growth and employment for climate displaced migrants to
enable them the opportunity to re-build their lives.
The Programme has the potential to contribute to learning about how change happens in
Bangladesh, and to contributing much more widely to the international discourse on ‘adaptive
programming’ and ‘thinking and working politically.

Accountabilities, responsibilities and main duties:

The role holder will be accountable and responsible for the effective operation of all aspects of
finance and administration including financial control and management, risk management,
financial planning, reporting and delivery, office administration and management, following up
and reviewing. Specifically:

• Effectively manage project office finances by aligning these with the BC finance and SAP
system
• Ensure effective and efficient project administration, transport and logistics management
• Ensuring effective financial control and risk management environment
• Cash flow management, FX reporting and liaison with central treasury team
• Management of relationship with the Service Shared Centre, making sure country needs
and expectations are met
• Coordinate and provide professional advice on financial and legal aspects of commercial
negotiations
• Ensure that all financial operations are fully compliant with accounting and audit
principles.
• Manage procurement of all services and goods as per procurement policy (vendor set up,
purchase order creation, invoicing, payment, etc.)
• Prepare ToR for the external auditor of PROKAS and the partners
• Prepare all necessary financial statements and supporting documentations for internal
and external audits
• Facilitate and advise partners in preparing the financial statement for the auditor.
• Procure & commission external auditor through competitive process for PROKAS and
partners.
• Ensure the inventory / capital equipment asset list is maintained
• Update and manage project income and expenditures tracker regularly
• Ensure the visa, passbooks, contracts, event management, supplier management, etc.
are completed in a in timely and efficient manner.
• Manage timesheets of project staff and consultants, report through input project income
and expenditures tracker and provide monthly updates to line managers.
• Maintain on-going efficiency / cost savings
• Generate various reports, risk and accounting statements as per British Council and
client requirements.
• Ensure well-coordinated and smooth annual planning exercise for PROKAS along with
quality inputs for variance commentaries (not to exceed <= 5% ).

The list is not exhaustive, and tasks and deliverables may be added/amended by the Line Manager
/ British Council at any time to reflect the changing needs of the project.

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ToR – Finance and Admin Manager, PROKAS – British Council Bangladesh, October 2019
Key result areas

• Effective project operations

• Sound financial results and management against plans and forecasts
• Total reliability on financial information that evaluates financial performance and highlights
key risk areas
• Efficient use of resources
• ‘Good’ audit report as minimum
• Effective communications with stakeholders and key relationships internally and externally.

Key relationships

• Regional Finance Team

• UK Finance Team
• Country Finance Team
• Country Procurement and Facilities Team
• Finance and Admin Officer/Coordinator
• PROKAS Programme Team
• Programme Manager
• Project Team Leader
• Project Director
• Senior Project Manager
• Senior Regional Project Manager
• Project SRO

Deliverables and timeframe:

The timeframe for overall delivery for this role will be from 13 November 2019 to 13 November
2021. More specific deliverables and outputs will be agreed, updated by line manager as and when
necessary.

Location and Duration

The Finance and Admin Manager will be based in Dhaka for the duration of the programme, with
associated travel.

The consultant shall be paid on a monthly basis commensurate to experience and salary history.
The expected commencement date is the 13 November 2019.

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ToR – Finance and Admin Manager, PROKAS – British Council Bangladesh, October 2019
Person Specification

Professional qualification in finance and/or accounting (e.g. ACCA,

Qualifications
CIMA, CIPFA, etc.) or equivalent.
• Over 6 years’ work experience in financial management of
complex bilateral donor funded projects (preferably DFID)
• Track record of leading finance function in
international/multinational organisation in similar context /
project
• Knowledge & experience of grants, multi-stakeholder projects,
Knowledge & and CSO financing, foreign donations rules and regulations, DFID
experience reporting requirements, government requirements for visa,
passbooks, customs etc.
• Management experience and ability to line manage team of
professional colleagues.
• Any experience of Payment by Results (PBR) and/ or adaptive
programmes is desirable, but not essential.

Behavioural Competency

All activities will be undertaken in line with British Council Behaviours

at “most demanding” level, particularly:

Being Accountable: Showing real dedication to the long-term mission of

the British Council or the team by:
• systematically identifying and robustly tackling under-
performance
• having difficult discussions about my own and others’ behaviour
in order to create greater responsibility and commitment
• remaining positive even when I face significant difficulties or
challenges
• providing a role-model of accountability, determination and
Skills & commitment to the British Council
competencies Making it Happen: Achieving stretching results when faced by change,
uncertainty or major obstacles by:

• having a track record of delivering challenging results in a way

that makes others feel they share in success
• continuing to push for successful outcomes even in difficult
situations
• showcasing me as representing a standard of excellence in
what I do and how I achieve it
• delivering outstanding results while at the same time
encouraging a culture of learning by developing myself and
others for business benefit
Shape the Future: Changing the nature of what we do and the benefits
we gain by thinking and planning with creativity by:

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ToR – Finance and Admin Manager, PROKAS – British Council Bangladesh, October 2019
 • identifying and create genuinely new solutions that may not be
obvious
• creating practical solutions that extend the scale or scope of the
British Council’s influence
• making significant improvements in the way we do things by
being innovative and avoiding ambiguity
• helping others to stand back from day-to-day activities in order
to review our direction and approach
• using an understanding of the bigger picture to navigate
ambiguity

Corporate Competencies:
• Demonstrates integrity by exemplifying the British Council’s
values, behavioural, principles, and ethical standards
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of PROKAS
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age
sensitivity and adaptability

“The British Council believes that all children have potential and that every child matters -
everywhere in the world. The British Council affirms the position that all children have the right to be
protected from all forms of abuse as set out in article 19, UNCRC, 1989”
“The British Council is committed to a policy of equal opportunity. Our policy aims to ensure that no
job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age,
disability, ethnicity, religion or marital status. We guarantee an interview to disabled candidates who
meet the essential criteria”

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ToR – Finance and Admin Manager, PROKAS – British Council Bangladesh, October 2019