• Start-date: As soon as possible
• Hours: Full-time
• Reporting to: Finance and Administration Manager
• Location: Geneva, Switzerland
• Advert Closing Date: 17th September 2023, 23:59 CET

The New Humanitarian is seeking an ambitious, detail-oriented, and diligent Finance and Administration Officer to join our head office in Geneva, Switzerland and provide high-quality and service-orientated financial and administrative support to TNH’s globally dispersed team of staff, consultants and freelance journalists.

The New Humanitarian puts independent journalism at the service of the millions of people affected by humanitarian crises. Our journalists report from the front lines of conflicts and disasters in some 70 hotspots around the world to drive more effective prevention of and response to crises. Our on-the-ground reporting, expert analysis and commentary inform policy-makers and practitioners, amplify the voices of those at the heart of crises, and act as a watchdog to hold the humanitarian aid sector accountable.

The role

This varied and stimulating role is an integral part of TNH’s Operations Team, reports to its Finance and Administration Manager, and has five core areas of focus:

• Payments: The Finance and Administration Officer will work to ensure the prompt payment of invoices to consultants and freelancers, overseeing and controlling payments in line with contractual agreements. The successful candidate will ensure timely and compliant processing of salaries and expenses, and use meticulous record-keeping to maintain a transparent and auditable payment history for TNH.
• Accounting: In addition to managing day-to-day accounting, the processing of invoices and the reimbursement of expenses in a timely and accurate way, this role is also responsible for interacting with financial institutions, ensuring all TNH accounts are regularly reconciled, and assisting with the preparation and completion of project and annual Audits based on Swiss accounting standard RPC21.
• Donor Reporting: The Finance and Administration Officer will assist with the preparation of the financial portions of donor proposals and reporting, ensuring incoming funding is properly recorded in the accounting system, and providing required information to donors to process contracts.
• Office Management and General Administration: The successful candidate will provide overall office management for the head office in Geneva, including liaising with the landlord and regie, and local Swiss authorities as necessary. Therefore, the ideal candidate will be based in Geneva or within close enough proximity to travel to and work from our head office two days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays).
• Backup for the Operations and Admin Assistant (as needed): The Finance and Administration Officer, may at times, be required to step in and provide backup during busy periods. Tasks may include monitoring the office mailbox, responding to general inquiries and flagging correspondence that requires attention, supporting staff with travel logistics, and maintaining TNH’s shared files, including contact databases, leave requests, policies, official correspondence from the authorities, contracts, and employee records.

Who we’re looking for:

The ideal candidate for this position will bring with them prior financial and accounting know-how and be looking for an exciting new opportunity to grow their skills and experience further. You should be meticulous and service-oriented with excellent communication skills, strong accounting ability, and impeccable attention to detail. You’ll need to have a good understanding of work processes and flows, be excited by a diversity of tasks, and not be easily frazzled, thriving off of having many projects on the go at any given time.

Proactive and organised, you take initiative, work well in a small team, and are motivated to deliver the best level of care and support to ensure the smooth operation of the organisation.

The single most important quality for this role is that you are motivated and keen to learn and grow in an exciting and fast-paced start-up environment that brings many opportunities for professional learning, but previous experience of 1-3 years in a role focused on finance and administration would be highly desirable.

Prior experience using accounting software, such as Abacus or similar is an asset, as is experience in the following:

• French-speaking ability
• Working in start-up environments
• Working in the non-profit sector
• Providing support to senior leaders

The successful candidate will join an organisation with a compelling mission; a strong reputation – built over more than 25 years – for journalistic integrity and credibility; a team that deeply cares about its work; and a commitment to becoming a transformative newsroom that practises decolonised journalism, puts impact at the centre of its work, and adopts a progressive culture centred on well-being.

We especially welcome candidates who reflect the diverse communities our journalism serves.

Though we have described the qualities we are seeking in this position, we also recognise that there will be strong candidates who do not meet all the requirements listed here but have other important qualities. Thus, we encourage all interested candidates to apply.

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation is based on our salary framework. Benefits include:

• 35 days of annual leave inclusive of all local public holidays, increasing to 40 days after 5 years of service
• Paid sick leave, carer’s leave, parental leave and compassionate leave
• TNH contribute 75% to required pension contribution
• TNH contribute 300 CHF per month as a health allowance
• Annual 300 CHF IT/hardware allowance (TNH staff work on their own personal devices. This stipend contributes to the cost of buying or updating your hardware).

Please note - we will be reviewing applications and interviewing relevant candidates throughout the advertising period. We would therefore recommend that interested candidates apply as soon as possible as we may close the advert early if/when we review enough suitable applicants.