Brief description of the organization

Yazda Iraq is a local organization registered in both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It operates as a subsidiary of the global Yazda organization and adheres to the same mission: supporting vulnerable communities, particularly those affected by genocide and mass atrocities. In Iraq/KRI, Yazda implements programs focused on advocacy, legal assistance, humanitarian aid, and community and survivor empowerment initiatives. The Country Director leads these efforts, ensuring they align with organizational goals and respond effectively to local needs.

Background:

The Finance Department is responsible for maintaining accurate financial records, processing payments, managing cash and bank transactions, preparing financial reports, and ensuring compliance with Yazda’s policies and procedures, Iraqi and KRI statutory requirements, and the rules of Yazda’s institutional donors. Yazda operates a multi-donor portfolio across Duhok and Sinjar, which requires strong grant-level financial management, audit readiness and internal control.

Job Purpose:

The Senior Finance Officer is the second most senior position in the Finance Department. The post holder owns the delivery of the monthly close, grant financial management, payroll and donor financial reporting; supervises the Finance Assistant; acts as the department’s focal point for audits and donor compliance; and deputises for the Finance Manager. The role carries delegated approval authority and is expected to work independently, advise budget holders, and resolve financial issues rather than escalate them by default.

Main Responsibilities:

Under the supervision of the Finance Manager, the Senior Finance Officer is expected to fulfill the following duties: 

• Support the Finance Manager with the recording and updating of financial transactions in the Xero accounting system on a weekly basi
• Budget development and monitoring. Lead the preparation of project, donor and annual budgets, including proposal budgets and budget narratives, in coordination with the Finance Manager and programme leads; own spending plans, forecasts and budget-versus-actual trackers; lead monthly budget monitoring meetings with budget holders; identify under- and over-spending early and recommend reallocations, realignments or no-cost extensions.
• Month-end close and accounting records. Own the monthly close timetable in the Xero accounting system: review and post transactions, verify coding by project, donor, budget line, analytic line and cost category, review the Finance Assistant’s entries, clear suspense and advance balances, and deliver a complete, reconciled set of month-end records to the Finance Manager by the agreed working day.
• Payment authorisation and financial control. Review and approve payment requests, vouchers, bank transfer letters, cheques, Purchase Requests and clearances up to the delegated threshold, confirming accuracy, valid supporting documentation, correct authorisation and budget availability before funds are released; refer anything above the threshold to the Finance Manager or Country Director.
• Own the monthly payroll cycle: review timesheets, level-of-effort and salary allocation across grants, deductions, benefits and statutory contributions; reconcile payroll to the general ledger and to donor budgets; submit the complete payroll package to the Finance Manager for approval.
• Treasury, cash and reconciliations. Sign off bank and cash reconciliations and cash counts prepared by the Finance Assistant; own cash-flow forecasting and the fund request and replenishment cycle for Duhok, Sinjar and field locations; monitor balances, exchange differences and bank charges so that no office holds excess cash or runs short of liquidity.
• Donor financial reporting and compliance. Prepare donor financial reports for Finance Manager review and reconcile them to Xero; interpret and apply donor rules — including US Government 2 CFR 200, GIZ, EU and UN requirements on cost eligibility, procurement thresholds, cost share and asset rules — and advise programme and operations colleagues; maintain grant compliance trackers, burn rates and pipeline analysis.
• Audit, statutory obligations and risk. Act as the finance focal point for external audits, donor verifications and internal reviews: prepare sample packs and supporting schedules, draft management responses, and track implementation of recommendations to closure; ensure that employee income tax, social security contributions, vendor withholding and NGO Directorate returns are prepared and filed within statutory deadlines.
• Partner and sub-award financial management (where applicable). Carry out financial due diligence on implementing partners, review partner budgets, verify partner financial reports and supporting documents, conduct field spot checks, and deliver capacity-building support; escalate compliance concerns to the Finance Manager without delay.
• Supervision and capacity building. Line-manage the Finance Officer — workplan, objectives, coaching, leave planning and performance review — and provide technical direction to field finance focal points; train programme, logistics and field staff on financial procedures, coding, documentation standards and donor rules; keep the financial filing, scanning and archiving system audit-ready at all times.
• Deputising, policy and internal control. Deputise for the Finance Manager during absence under written delegated authority; contribute to the review and updating of Yazda financial policies, procedures, templates and the delegation-of-authority matrix; safeguard segregation of duties across the department and report any control weakness, suspected fraud or misuse of funds immediately.

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or a related field.
• Minimum [6] years’ progressive finance experience, of which at least [3] years with a national or international NGO and at least [2] years in a supervisory or senior officer role.
• Demonstrated experience managing institutional donor grants end-to-end, including budget development, financial reporting, and audit — US Government (2 CFR 200) experience strongly preferred; GIZ, EU, or UN an advantage.
• Proven experience leading or coordinating external audit preparation.
• Strong hands-on experience with a cloud accounting system; Xero strongly preferred.
• Fluency in Arabic, English, and Kurmanji (speaking and writing) is required.
• Working knowledge of Iraqi and KRI requirements on employee income tax, social security, and NGO financial reporting.
• Advanced Excel (pivot tables, lookups, multi-grant budget-versus-actual models).
• Professional qualification (ACCA, CPA, CMA — qualified or part-qualified): strongly preferred.

Interested applicants must send their CV and Cover letter to jobs@yazda.org with a subject “Senior Finance Officer- JV25126“

Important Notes:

• When applying, please indicate your earliest possible start date and salary expectation.
• All submitted CVs and cover letters must be in PDF format.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
• Applications that do not meet the minimum requirements or are submitted after the closing date may not be considered. The recruitment process may include a technical written test.
• Due to the urgency of this position, Yazda reserves the right to close the vacancy before the stated deadline.
• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis throughout the posting period.