INTERNAL CONTROL MANAGER

Médecins Sans Frontières, founded in 1971, is an international medical humanitarian organization that provides emergency medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters or exclusion from health care. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of medical professionals, logistics, administrative and various other professions, all guided by our medical ethics and our principles of impartiality, independence and neutrality.

MSF WaCA, created in 2019, is the first MSF headquarters in Africa, and responds to the desire to reinvent the MSF movement after 50 years of humanitarian actions in the world, for more access to care, more reactivity and proactivity for greater medical coverage of affected populations in the world.

Why join us?

You are preparing to become a member of the MSF family, with over 50 years of emergency medical action that earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.

We are an inclusive organization that considers social and professional well-being a right for all and provides an environment that considers the diversity of each member.

MSF WaCA claims an African anchorage that considers the local expertise with which it contributes to the implementation of its activities and makes each member, a key actor of the new dynamics of the humanitarian action in the world.

We Are Looking for: INTERNAL CONTROL MANAGER

Department: GENERAL DIRECTION

Direct Manager: Director General

Functional Manager: Director General

Working %: 100%

Position Based in: Abidjan, HQ

Mobility: All WaCA’s Interventions Zones

Type of Contract: Fixed-Term Contract under Ivorian law; Renewable

Position to be filled: As Soon As Possible

Objectives

Reporting to the General Director, the Internal Control Manager is responsible for evaluating, implementing, and monitoring internal controls within MSF WaCA to safeguard assets, ensure compliance with regulations, mitigate risks, and promote operational efficiency by conducting regular assessments, identifying control weaknesses, and recommending improvements across various functions.

The role is also focused on training and awareness of internal controls within all departments plus the development of tools to monitor and evaluate internal controls.

Main responsibilities

Risk Assessment and Compliance Review

·       Identify potential risks across operations, including financial, operational, and compliance risks, to prioritize control activities accordingly.

·       Ensure adherence to relevant regulatory requirements and internal policies by conducting compliance audits for the field & HQ and reporting potential issues to management.

Control Testing and Monitoring:

·       Perform regular testing of internal controls through sample audits, data analysis, and observation to assess their effectiveness in mitigating identified risks.

·       Use existing tools, risk assessments and monitoring, audit reports (audit for institutional contracts, internal audit or external audits) to contribute to collection of information on risks and developing a central and macro vision of the organisation’s risk exposure related to the management of resources.

·       Identify incoherences, duplications and gaps in the different processes described in the different departments’ guidelines and procedures and communicate them to the process owner.

·       Develop, implement and maintain internal control tools as well as adapt tools from other MSF sections for testing and monitoring internal controls.

Control Design and Implementation:

·       Develop and document internal control procedures, ensuring they align with the organisation’s policies and best practices, including segregation of duties, authorization levels, and data validation checks.

·       Support management in the practical implementation of controls and activities to ensure the best internal control systems at both field and HQ level.

·       Ensure that mitigations measures defined for the technical departments, projects and missions are put in place.

Follow up of audit recommendations:

·       Support technical departments, missions and projects in the implementation of recommendations from external and internal Audits.

·       When needed, recommend to management the need to conduct internal audits on certain departments, missions or projects based on risk assessment.

Reporting and Communication:

·       Define reporting needs and prepare comprehensive reports detailing findings from internal control evaluations, including recommendations for improvement, and communicate these to the GD, technical departments, Cells, missions and projects.

Fraud and Anti-corruption:

·       Ensure trainings and briefings to staff on fraud and corruption including ways to prevent, identify, alert and report cases.

·       Ensure quality, consistent and efficient reporting of fraud and corruption cases by the field.

·       Ensure lessons learnt from fraud cases are used to improve internal controls.

·       Assist in investigating potential fraud cases by analyzing transactions, identifying patterns, and gathering evidence.

Insurance

·       Be focal point for insurances (except HR assurances). With a direct support from intersectional insurance referent, ensure that the strategy defined for insurance is implemented.

Education

·       Master’s degree in finance, Accounting, Economics, Business or a related field.

·       Internal audit certification is an added advantage.

Professional experience required

·       Minimum 3 years of senior professional experience in internal auditing, risk management or control-related functions.

·       Professional experience in people management, project management and training.

·       Experience in an audit firm is an added advantage.

Competencies

·       Leadership skills to inspire and motivate a team and drive organizational change.

·       Capacity to influence and persuade.

·       Negotiation qualities, flexibility, patience, and diplomacy.

·       Strong analytical skills.

·       Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to interact effectively with internal and external stakeholders.

·       Ability to work effectively in a multicultural and diverse environment, with sensitivity to cultural differences and local context.

Languages Skills

·       Working proficiency in English and French

Computer Skills

·       MS Office suite (mainly MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint)

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MSF offers equal recruitment and development opportunities without any form of discrimination based on gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, geographical origin, physical disability or any other discriminatory ground.

Female candidates who meet the requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.

N.B.: This job description provides a framework for the main responsibilities and primary activities of the position. It is not exhaustive. Therefore, the responsibilities and activities of the position may differ from those described in this job description due to organizational and operational needs.

Deadline: April 2nd 2025 18:00 GMT
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.