Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Computercompetencies
References
Activities
Coursework
Timeline
Generic
Masida Sinya Chisambi

Masida Sinya Chisambi

Lusaka

Summary

A seasoned Finance, Administration, and Human Resources Director with a proven track record at Population Council, I excel in financial compliance, assurance services, and capacity building. My expertise includes developing financial manuals and mentoring teams, ensuring a 100% clean audit record and fostering robust financial health across organizations.

Overview

31
31
years of professional experience

Work History

Finance, Administration and Human Resources Director

Population Council
Lusaka
01.2013 - Current
  • Supervise Finance Officer and Senior Finance Officer in their duties; effectively delegate and coordinate finance and accounting responsibilities while ensuring timely and accurate completion of financial & accounting tasks; Responsible for assessment, evaluation and timely reporting of Zambia Office monthly expenses to headquarters, following review and approval by Country Director, whose current level is approximately US$500,000 per month; Overseeing and being responsible for accurate recording of financial transactions in the Enterprise Resource Platform and allocation of project costs as per cost allocations; Responsible for local management of financial, management and statutory audits, in coordination with HQ/Controller; Serve as primary liaison to local accounting firms, bankers, insurance carriers, brokers and other business vendors; Maintaining, refining and developing updated reporting and budgeting tools
  • Supervise Grants Officer in his duties; effectively delegate and coordinate grants management responsibilities while ensuring timely and accurate completing of Grant Management tasks; Reviewing field expense statements from program staff and in-house research expense reports for admissibility, accuracy and genuineness of expenses
  • Comply with donor regulations for Zambia office projects; advise & monitor program staff to ensure compliance; coordinate staff effort allocations across office grant portfolio; Compiling proposal budgets in collaboration with program financial managers based in headquarters, local program staff, and other colleagues; Reviewing donor financial reports and other donor specific financial reporting requirements, develop or refine internal financial reporting templates for the Zambia office in collaboration with the Program Finance Managers based in NY and the Principal Investigators
  • Supervise Human Resources Officer in her duties; effectively delegate and coordinate HR responsibilities while ensuring timely and accurate completion of Human Resources tasks including formulate, interpret and implement personnel policies & procedures for Zambia staff, currently totaling 57 employees, ensuring compliance with Zambia labor laws and collaborate with HR-New York in its review; Oversee recruitment, contracting and timely payment of consultants, interns and temporary staff and preparation of local monthly payroll, including accurate computation of income tax and pension contributions & other fringe benefits, including expatriate allowances; Maintain effective liaison with local labour counsel to provide advice on tax, labour and related legal matters
  • Monitor compliance with Council administrative and operations policies in collaboration with Country Director and Headquarter staff, including providing inputs to MOUs, all types of service or vendor agreements and liaise with staff in the Office of the General Counsel in headquarters; Ensure cost effective and efficient procurement of goods and services in accordance with donor and Council procurement procedures, as well as security of capital assets and valuable equipment
  • Work closely with headquarters colleagues and Country Director on matters related to human resource management that include seeking approvals for hiring of national professional staff, clarifications/queries on personnel policies and procedures for national and international hires, salary adjustments and promotions, engagement of consultants, fellows etc; Donor submissions not limited to reviewing budget templates and preparing donor budgets in close consultation with Program Financial Managers, providing clarifications to grants and contracts colleagues; Donor financial reports involving working closely with Principal Investigators, Program Financial Managers and Accounting colleagues for preparation and reviewing financial reports and distribution and allocation of expenses; Sub award pre-and-post award financial assessments and monitoring in close collaboration with the Principal Investigators and Contracts and Grants
  • Member of the Population Council’s global Organizational Health Leadership Team (OHLT) for 2020-21
  • The OHLT is seeking to support the new organizational health initiatives such as new business models, the Council culture, among others to be implemented in all the 14 offices globally
  • Support colleagues based in the 7 Council offices in Africa in the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics ERP
  • The ERP was launched in 2017 with the Zambia office participating in the pilot, and currently provide technical assistance to colleagues on the ERP
  • All Project Specific Audits and Country Office external audits have been without material findings

Director of Finance and Administration

Family Health International FHI360
Lusaka
01.2011 - 01.2013
  • Provided leadership, technical and managerial direction of all aspects related to finance and administration including: Financial transaction processing and cash forecasting; Project administration; Financial and operations capacity building assistance for grantees and partners; collaboration with Washington to ensure application of FHI360 and USAID regulations and policies, including periodic review of policies and regulations; Financial reports with budgets, costs and spending for senior project management; USAID required audit and program reports and addressing audit findings; Oversight of awarding all grants to local organizations; Day to day office accounts, including periodic review of internal control process

Internal Auditor

Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission
Lusaka
01.2009 - 01.2011
  • Prepared Internal Audit schedules and programs for all operational areas including review of the disbursed empowerment funds, of the Commission; Prepared timely, accurate reports of findings and recommendations to the Audit and Risk Committee including preparation of Internal Audit Board papers; Implemented recommendations as a result of internal and external audits; Conducted reliability tests to confirm the efficacy and appropriateness of internal controls and procedures; Reviewing compliance with policies, procedures, laws and regulations and recommendations on how to improve compliance

Finance Manager

Catholic Relief Services - USCCB
Lusaka
04.2005 - 10.2009
  • Supervised and led accounting staff in compliance with agreed upon standards of conduct, financial and donor reporting
  • Assisted staff of other departments to prepare annual and project budgets and cash flow analyses
  • Maintained books of accounts and record of all revenue and expenditures
  • Prepared Periodic financial and management reports including monthly closures of the financial system, bank reconciliations and other reports
  • Measured age of subawards and followed-up to ensure timely liquidations and reconciliations
  • Provided Direct technical and managerial support in all aspects of finance to Senior Management
  • Performed Financial management functions including budget management and maintenance, cash forecasting, cash management and controls, and financial systems administration
  • Resolving financial issues with vendors and Head Quarters in Baltimore
  • Timely preparation and submission of monthly and annual financial and Grant Status Reports and presentation of financial reports to Country Representative
  • Maintenance of the Country Program's budget reconciliation
  • Training of colleagues and partner financial persons in compliance with donor regulations and financial management
  • Fixed assets register for capitalized and non-capitalized items
  • Also reconciled and maintain inventory of equipment and furniture in line with donor requirements
  • Participated in HQ and external audit processes as well as grant closure
  • Supervised, appraised and coached finance personnel under direct supervision
  • Setup internal audit unit that coordinated internal and external audits, and fraud investigations of CRS, USAID, DHHS, FFP and other donor funded programs and their Sub-Grantees
  • Included planning human resource for the unit, time/effort reporting, 50% field visits, accurate and timely reporting of audits undertaken and document retention
  • Ensured and tested compliance of systems and internal controls with CRS policies and procedures, donor regulations and local laws
  • Conducted internal audits of financial, commodity and fixed assets information using audit tools and triangulated this with data generated in Sun Systems
  • Periodic physical inventories of all assets, equipment and commodities
  • Contributed to generation of best practices/policy formulation for country program
  • Assisted Senior Management in formulation of local in-country policies and procedures to ensure efficient use of resources, accounted for to donors and agency
  • Provided assurance to Senior/Strategic Management on internal control systems and procedures aimed at reducing material risk to organizational assets and inventories and reducing business risk
  • Conducted Patriot Act (Terrorism and Debarment) compliance checks of all vendors
  • Trained CRS Zambia staff and partners in donor regulations in formal gatherings and one-on-one sessions
  • Tour of Duty at CRS Uganda (October-November 2005) - Part of 5-person team that conducted Headquarters audit of Uganda’s programs, finances, food aid commodities and monetization program, and ARVs
  • Extensively traveled in Uganda to assess commodities for monetization and distribution to Internally Displaced Persons camps
  • December 2006 Spot Award – CRS for Exceptional performance during the HQ A133 audit conducted of CRS Zambia Country Program
  • There were no adverse findings from the audit

Grants Accountant

World Vision International National Office
Lusaka
01.1998 - 01.2005
  • Monitor compliance for CIDA, JICA, USAID, WFP, UNHCR, FAO and AusAID funded projects with Cooperative Agreements, Grant Agreements or Memoranda of Understanding
  • Built capacity in 23 Accountants and their assistants in Grant Regulations
  • Setup, monitoring and review of Sun Systems datasets for grant financial reporting
  • Processed Settlement Advices (intragency receipts and payments) between various national offices of World Vision International
  • Reviewed grant financial reports and gave feedback to Grant Managers
  • Monthly variance reports for inclusion in National Office Field Financial Report
  • Journal entries when reconciling grant accounts
  • Periodic regular monitoring visits to the grant funded projects
  • Input project financial reports on the Financial Reports Database
  • Closed-off grant funded projects
  • Acting Finance Manager, September-December 2004
  • Involved presentation of the Financial Report to Senior Management, occasional acting positions for the Finance Director when away on duty, liaisons with Headquarters in USA and Regional Office in South Africa
  • Closed off fiscal year 2004 for World Vision Zambia
  • Preparation of monthly and Annual National Office Financial Variance Reports
  • Programmes Accountant with dual reporting to the Operations and Finance Directors
  • Based in National Office, Lusaka
  • Responsible for monitoring income and expenditure against budgets for over 21 projects throughout Zambia, and reporting on same
  • Seconded to World Vision South Africa, Mbekweni Area Development Program in Cape Town (May-June 2003)
  • Training of finance officer in compliance with financial systems and internal controls, including data capture and year-end closure procedures
  • Established audit trail through Sun Systems of FY 2002 and FY2003 transactions
  • Project Accountant
  • Reported to Program Manager and managed projects that were funded by World Vision Australia and AusAID
  • Accounts Assistant based at Chivuna Area Development Program in Mazabuka
  • Project funded by World Vision Japan
  • Also managed a 3-year JICA grant from the Japanese Government
  • Prepared disbursements, maintained cash book, voucher coding, batching, and filing
  • Bank reconciliation

Trainee Accountant

Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM)
01.1994 - 01.1998
  • Received education support from this conglomerate
  • Internship conducted regularly during semester breaks in Local Funds-Treasury Department of ZCCM Mutondo House in Kitwe
  • Creditor accounts reconciliations using DBASE IV
  • Bank reconciliations
  • Casual workers payroll payments and occasional cheque writing

Education

Full Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) -

ACCA Zambia
Lusaka, Zambia
01.2009

Diploma in Accounting - Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) UK

Chingola School of Accountancy
Chingola, Zambia
01.1997

Full GCE O Level Certificate -

Mazabuka Girls’ Secondary School
Mazabuka, Zambia
01.1993

Skills

  • Capacity building and mentorship in financial accounting, compliance, and assurance services for supervisees in faith-based, community-based, and not-for-profit organizations
  • Training subgrant recipients in cost proposal development, including both detailed cost budgets and budget narratives, as well as budget variance monitoring and reporting
  • Conduct internal compliance with grant and contract regulations, including statutory requirements, and make recommendations to improve compliance
  • Conduct pre-award assessments, including regular compliance assessments, to ensure the implementation of recommendations to improve compliance
  • Conduct donor landscaping, including the identification of potential partnerships, engagements with stakeholders, the development of workflows for engagements, the development of minutes of proceedings, and the preparation of action plans, as well as regular follow-ups on the implementation of follow-up actions
  • Development of financial, administration, and human resources manuals, adapting these to the appropriate institution while training users on these manuals, including regular review and updating

Computercompetencies

  • Microsoft Dynamics (Serenic) ERP
  • Sun Systems
  • Vision Excel
  • Executive Design
  • Dove HR Computing
  • PASTEL
  • QuickBooks
  • NAVISION Accounting packages
  • Microsoft Office (Access, Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook)

References

  • Mr. Mbeluko Phiri, Grants Manager, PACT Zambia, Opposite ZNBC, Mass Media, Lusaka, Zambia, mbelukophiri1@gmail.com, +260 976 449 078
  • Mr. Chabu Kangale, Deputy Chief of Party, PATH Zambia, Mikwala House, Longacres, Lusaka, Zambia, chabukangale@yahoo.co.uk, +260 969 272 387
  • Prof. Michael Mbizvo, Senior Associate and Country Director, Population Council Inc, Zambia Office, Plot 8, Nyerere Road, Prospect Hill, Lusaka, Zambia, mmbizvo@popcouncil.org, +260 963 014255

Activities

  • Member of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants, 01/01/08 - Present
  • St. Ignatius College Parents and Teachers Association - Treasurer, 01/01/19 - Present
  • Ingenuity Masters Limited – Treasurer, 01/01/18 - Present

Coursework

  • Grants Management training, 10/01/16
  • Institute of Directors - CEEC One day training in Corporate Governance, 08/01/11
  • PASTEL Partner - CRS Certified in use of PASTEL accounting software, 07/01/09
  • Sun Systems Training - CRS, 03/01/08
  • Audit Training - USAID, 06/01/05

Timeline

Finance, Administration and Human Resources Director

Population Council
01.2013 - Current

Director of Finance and Administration

Family Health International FHI360
01.2011 - 01.2013

Internal Auditor

Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission
01.2009 - 01.2011

Finance Manager

Catholic Relief Services - USCCB
04.2005 - 10.2009

Grants Accountant

World Vision International National Office
01.1998 - 01.2005

Trainee Accountant

Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM)
01.1994 - 01.1998

Full Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) -

ACCA Zambia

Diploma in Accounting - Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) UK

Chingola School of Accountancy

Full GCE O Level Certificate -

Mazabuka Girls’ Secondary School

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Masida Sinya Chisambi