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Finance Director with 20 Experience in International NGOs, worked in West and Central Africa, Middle East & Eastern Europe. Currently Regional Finance Director, seeks challenging opportunity |
 Contact JOHN ZIGI
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Area of Expertise: |
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Administration, Management, Finance/Accounting, Procurement
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Director, CEO, COP, President
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Trade, Finance, Economics, Cooperation, Global
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Professional Experience: |
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A results-driven International Development Assistance professional with over 20 years’ experience in the International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGO) sector. Strong finance background combined with field experience and development work including work with World Vision and a private sector petroleum firm based out of Ghana, Chad, Niger, Senegal and Cyprus. Completes frequent country-support missions to West and Central Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Asia. Proven track record in building cross-functional teams in finance, accounting, supply chain and project management, skilled in working in fragile and failed states as well as in collaborating with multi-lateral donor agencies. Now seeking a challenging role in which his skillset can be leveraged to deliver added value.
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Education: |
Master of Business Administration (MBA) – Leadership and Sustainability – University of Cumbria, UK 2018
Bachelor of Arts (BA) (Hons) Geography & Resource Development – University of Ghana, Legon 1997
Memberships:
Member, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE) 2012
Fellow, Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), UK 2003
Association of Certified Fraud Examiner Conference, Dubai, UAE 2020
Executive Education Leading through Financial Excellence – MIT Sloan School of Management 2018
Senior Leadership Development Program (SLDP) – Harvard Executive Leadership Program 2015
Executive Presentation Skills: Communicating to Influence – Decker Communications 2015
Facilitator, Grant Acquisition & Management Training, Seattle, USA 2012
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Affiliations and Achievements: |
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to set up and lead operations during security crisis in Central African Republic (2014), Ebola in West Africa (2014), Lake Chad Basin (2015), Lebanon (2020) & Afghanistan (2021)
• Championed risk and compliance culture to reduce, mitigate and manage finance and supply chain risks to strengthen internal controls and improve donor confidence
• Intentionally coached, mentored and developed female finance professionals, many team members now leading as finance directors and managers inside and outside World Vision
• Director-level oversight to grant portfolio with annual expenditures of $400m+ in Middle East & Eastern Europe
• Provided financial management backstopping for significant and complex grant awards funded by US Government, Global Fund, EU/ECHO, DFID, UN and private donors, including consortium, multi-country and multi-year grant
• Led projects including set-up of financial hub in West Africa for 8 countries, managing financial reporting, bank relationship management, procurement and global expense management systems
• Collaborated with field offices in West Africa and Middle East to outsource accounting work to shared services centre, improving finance report quality and timeliness and reducing cost of administrative tasks
Regional Finance Director, Middle East and Eastern Europe Region (MEER), Nicosia, Cyprus Oct 2019 – Present
• Work as member of Senior Leadership Team and as member of Senior Management Team of MEER Office
• Manage finances for countries in portfolio with direct responsibility for financial management of ~$400M per annum
• Prepare annual budget and work plans with period monitoring and control activities to achieve desired results
• Designed and implemented cost recovery models for grant management in offices
• Lead MEER Finance Teams including 10 Finance Directors/Managers in Field Offices
• Implement financial strategies, policies and procedures to ensure value for money
• Provide monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports to management to facilitate effective decision making
• Design and produce financial scorecards on KPIs for Senior Management and Governing Board
• Member of Regional Office Grant Proposal Go/No-Go Review Panel and Operations Management Team to advise Regional Leader and/or perform due diligence on Risk and Compliance issues
• Collaborate with regional teams on risk, cash-base programming and aspects of localization to strengthen controls
• Provide leadership and advice in preparing for and responding to challenges of local financial systems, economic crisis, sanctions and other crisis situations impacting finance, including working with partners
• Lead Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO)-based Internal Control Framework (ICF) in 12 MEER countries as part of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) process
• Leverage technology including Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) NAVEX to document, assess and manage fraud incidents until closure
• Lead Finance Process changes to enhance agility in financial management through communicating change and robust engagement and communications with key stakeholders
• Member of Crisis Management Committees in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Armenia and Syria
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