BISA - Finance Manager

The Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) is a non-profit international research institute dedicated to food, nutrition, and livelihood security as well as environmental rehabilitation in South Asia, which is home to more than 300 million undernourished people. BISA is a collaborative effort involving CIMMYT and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research(ICAR). Please refer to this website for more information: 

BISA is looking for an outstanding, self-motivated, and result-oriented professional for the position of Finance Manager. We are seeking for a dynamic, and self-motivated professional with excellent organizational and people skills for the position of Finance Manager for BISA and Country Finance Services Lead for the Country Financial Service Center.

The location of this position will be Ludhiana, Punjab.

The main responsibilities of this position will be:

Manages and oversees the entire Finance function within the BISA and supervises the Financial Management of the BISA and the to-be-established Finance Service Center in India.  The Finance Manager will report administratively to the BISA Managing Director and functionally to the Regional Finance Manager.

General Management & supervision

• Manages the Finance Function of the BISA to effectively deploy administrative, financial and technical resources to achieve the objectives and deliverables in accordance with organizational policies and procedures.
• Established and leads the establishment of a country shared service center, which provides efficient and effective transactional financial services for multiple organizations., based on established service level agreements.
• Manage, supervise, and lead the finance and accounting teams, ensuring they meet their objectives. Provide guidance, mentorship, training, and capacity building for finance staff to enhance their skills and performance.
• Maintains the right set of performance indicators to measure the organization’s performance with regard to financial management.
• Review and prepare a supplement to the BISA standard policies when the specific situation of the country requires deviation from the standard policies  (e.g., integrate regulatory and statutory requirements). Update these supplements regularly. Ensure staff clearly understand and implement all policies and benefits.
• Identify the bottlenecks and work to resolve them for smooth financial operations.

 Financial Management

• Closely oversee accounting entry and preparation of financial reports and annual audited financial statements, donors, vendor payments, and regional scientists using the ERP in use.
• Maintain an adequate Internal Control framework over financial reporting.
• Prepare periodic financial reports, lead the budget and latest estimate cycle, and provide financial monitoring tools to Project leaders.  
• Ensure that funds are transferred to vendors/employees/partners promptly, and that financial analysis & follow-up on budgetary line items is accurate and prompt; monitor and evaluate projects/program expenses; perform verification and preparation of financial statements for programs and projects.
• Oversee / Implement appropriate Treasury, Investment and Cash Management practices.
• Ensure timely financial correspondence with HQ, partners, and other national and international offices.
• Support partner organizations to help them understand the accounting and financial reporting system as required. Execute partner financial capacity building and financial reports.
• Ensure the segregation of duties among the finance team.
• In coordination with the HR function, thoroughly do the second-level review of the Payroll cycle and ensure that the right level of employee provisions is accounted for and withholding taxes, social security, and provident fund contributions are accounted for (including timely deposits of employee provident funds).
• Prepare budgets with Full Costing of seed production and costing of farm operations and service arrangements and review at each quarter end.
• Ensure full tax compliance (direct and indirect taxes, such as GST and withholding taxes).
• Fixed Assets Management: Ensure all assets are tracked, annually physically verified, and that additions and disposals are appropriately authorized in line with DOA (delegation of authority).
• Facilitate the work of auditors when undergoing an audit and prepare management response to the auditor recommendations, in compliance with donor rules and regulations; ensure follow-up of auditor recommendations and execution by local and expatriate staff.
• Preparation of annual financial statements in compliance with Indian GAAP.
• Ensure financial statutory compliance with regard to direct and indirect taxes, CSR regulations and Central Bank (RBI) regulations and other respective concerned national agencies with proper reporting’s.
• Maintain Focus, Efficient, Efficacy and compliant operations in the country
• Integrate financial sound grant management.
• Ensure and supervise on-time donor financial reporting in compliant with Donor contractual terms in coordination with the HQ.
• Responsible for timely balance sheet reconciliation on monthly basis.
• Leads coordination responses to Internal and External Audits.
• Ensure sound financial management is cascaded down to BISA’s farms throughout India, including inventory management and appropriate costing of Seed and Crops valuation.
• Ensure to follow the policy and delegations to make system more transparent and sustainable.
• Ensure high-performing finance team responsibilities.
• Perform any other duties requested with respect to financial management.

• Must have a Master’s Degree in Finance or Accounting.
• Must be a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Chartered Accountant (CA) with at least 10 years of working experience out of which 5 years of leading and managing diverse teams in support services.
• Advance level of knowledge of the Financial and Procurement best practices.
• Expert knowledge of IFRS accounting standards and Indian GAAP.
• Deep knowledge of Financial grant management.
• Ability to provide strategic inputs for proposal and budget development, financial tracking and analysis.
• Experience in operating ERP software, with a preference for Microsoft D365.
• Experience of working with non-for-profit (International NGO) sector is highly desirable.
• Knowledge of Indian Statute, applicable laws/ taxation, regulation and prevalent practices in international NGO sector.
• Facility to travel to the various sites and farms frequently during the year.

The position is for an initial fixed-term contract of 12 months, after which further employment is subject to performance and the continued availability of funds. BISA offers an attractive remuneration package, with a range of benefits including health insurance.

Candidates must Apply Online  for  IN25171 BISA- Finance Manager. Applications must include a CV with contact details (telephone and email address), of 3 work-related references along with the confirmation that Recruitment team can contact them) and a cover letter. Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

BISA is an equal opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equality, teamwork, and respect for diversity. Women are encouraged to apply.