VSO Accounts expert, Tanzania

Volunteering with a difference - VSO seeks an accountancy professional able to give 2 weeks every 3 months, for up to 3 years to support a hospital in Tanzania.

Background

The St. Francis Referral Hospital (SFRH) is located in Ifakara, Southern Tanzania and has a capacity of 400 beds and attracts approximately 700,000 referral patients per year from Kilombero and other neighbouring districts. The hospital is connected historically and operationally to a number of other health institutions. All the local partner institutions depend on each other in order to be able to act as a platform for health care, training and research. Through the support of volunteers there is real potential to strengthen Ifakara as a centre of excellence in healthcare, training and research.

In order to allow the hospital to fulfill its role as a regional referral and teaching hospital, quality of services need to be improved through better infrastructure, strengthening of the financial and human resource management and by ensuring availability of qualified staff, equipment and drugs. Swiss Development Cooperation and VSO are supporting the SFRH to improve its quality of healthcare services in a sustainable way by offering accessible and affordable quality services to the population and providing excellent training and research opportunities to the local partner institutions. Based in the hospital as an Accountant Expert for Quality of Care and Services you will work closely with the Medical Director, Head of Nursing and heads of all other departments in the hospital developing administrative and accountancy procedures and strengthening procurement to improve services delivered.

What does the role involve?

• Supporting in developing administration procedures in finance including collection of revenues, banking, disbursement

• Support administration to develop accounting and procurement manual

• Assist in the implementation of an accounting manual

• Assess existing accounting procedures and suggest improvement

• Strengthen the procurement and store keeping system

Skills, qualifications and experience required

You would need to be a qualified accountant with a degree in accounts, or have an MBA, or related qualifications with a minimum of 5 years experience of working in accounting or auditing firms. Knowledge of hospital management will be an advantage. You will need to be available for the period of project life cycle 3 years or a minimum of 2 years with the flexibility and availability to travel and come to train for 8 weeks in the year (2 weeks every 3 months) We are looking for someone who is a team worker with good social and interpersonal skills and networking abilities. You should be able to handle conflicts in a constructive consultative way and have a flexible personality, adapting easily to new situations, and being able to set realistic expectations on working in a hospital in the tropics.

And the rest....

Ifakara in the south of Tanzania is an authentic savannah grassland area that is green during the rainy season and brown in the dry season. Daytime temperatures vary between 32-39 degrees Celsius throughout the year. Southern Tanzania is home to some of Africa's best national parks and game reserves. There is some good hiking around Mbeya, the largest town in the southwest, but it's the country's two largest parks, Ruaha National Park and Selous Game Reserve that provide the most awe-inspiring encounters with lions, elephants and wildebeests. Mikumi is a smaller national park, but its proximity to Dar es Salaam makes it handy for those without the time for the full safari but who still want to see some wildlife. While on placement, we’ll ask you to commit to 8 weeks per year for up to 3 years to make a sustainable contribution. In return, we’ll give you comprehensive financial, personal and professional support. We'll provide you with extensive training including language classes before your placement, and our financial package includes a local living allowance, return flights, accommodation, insurance and more. When you return to your home country, we'll support you to resettle.

How to apply:

To find out more about volunteering with VSO or to apply go to http://www.vsointernational.org/volunteer/and quote T0785/0015/0001 on your application. On average it takes a minimum of 4 months to go through the application process so apply now for departure as soon as possible.