Basharat Ghani

Experience

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  Sidat Hyder Morshed Associates

  Jul 1998 - Sept 1998

  Intern (in Human Resources Division)

  Project: Analysis of Market Requirement for Qualified Personnel & Recruitment Practices of Multinationals.

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  CALYPSO (Pvt) Ltd. (Software Development & Consultancy)

  Mar 1999 - Sept 1999

  Manager Marketing

  Major responsibilities included manage Marketing Division within the firm; Support and coordinate sales staff in the field; Responsible for sales promotion (for software & hardware); Visit existing and potential clients and promote relations between CALYPSO and clients; Keep the firm abreast with the rapidly changing market conditions and competitors; Support accounts staff in managing accounting/book keeping and inventory.

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  Plan International

  Sept 1999 - Aug 2004

  Admin. & Accounts Officer

  Worked directly with the communities and children at grass root level and coordinated effective services in the areas of finance, administration, logistics and human resources to deliver timely support and played a key role in completion of project and programmatic activities.Also coordinated with local authorities, stakeholders/partners, communities' representatives, contractors and team leads to ensure a comprehensive and efficient support for delivering supplies and materials and build capacity of communities and partners in record keeping and financial management. Show less

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  Lasani Securities (Pvt) Ltd.

  Aug 2004 - Nov 2005

  Manager

  Major responsibilities included budgeting and financial management of Head Office, as well as of branches, manage client’s accounts and generate respective statements as per SECP’s requirements, settlement of trade with Stock Exchange, CDC operations that include conversion of physical securities into electronic form, preparation of Sub Accounts of account holders, movement of shares, etc.

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  World Food Programme

  Oct 2005 - Jun 2006

  Finance/Admin/HR Assistant

  Joined UN at a critical stage or early response to earth quake emergency programme and provided operational support at field level as well as at the Country Office where I was responsible to coordinate operational support for all the Sub Office across the country.I was also Security Focal Point and liaised with UNDSS, local authorities and law enforcing agencies in the area.

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  UNESCO

  Jun 2006 - Jan 2010

  Financial & Administrative Support ERP

  Provided financial and administrative support services to regular as well as the Emergency Response Programme and played a key role in establishing a new Sector on emergency response within UNESCO that was replicated in other countries. The major role remained budgeting & resource management, budget revisions, disbursements, assets management, field support, liaison with government counterparts, etc.I also performed as Security Officer a.i. for almost a year where I coordinated with UNDSS, local authorities and law enforcing agencies in programme areas and conducted Security Risk Assessments in provinces to analyze security situation in different areas and ensure a safe and secure working environment for staff. Show less

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  World Food Programme

  Feb 2010 - Feb 2014

  • Responsible from Finance perspective on the implementation of Cash and Voucher programme in the country• Performed micro risk assessment on process level and macro risk assessment at an institutional and country level to assess the viability of different solutions proposed for Cash and Voucher Programme implementation• Reviewed the internal control activities, developed standard operating procedures and recommended alternatives as well• Developed country-wide budget for Direct Support Costs• Developed monitoring tool for budgets and purchase requisitions/orders and for variance analysis• Disbursed funds and authorized payments in SAP• Authorized vendors in S2B (Straight to Bank) system• Contributed to preparedness actions such as early warning, risk analysis and contingency planning and make the necessary recommendations Show less SUPERVISION:* Led as Head of Unit a team of 16 professionals for more than a year and managed one of the largest operations across WFP * Provide specific TORs to staff & develop Segregation of Duty Matrix* Represent WFP in Provincial Operations Management Teamâ??s forumFINANCE:* Act as Certifying Officer; coordinate budget preparation and development of Procurement Plan * Develop and implement internal controls re. cash management, disbursement and bank* Disburse payroll, payments/claims* Ensure maintenance of vendor accounts and mgt.of Dashboard* Train staff & IPs on WFP financial rules & regulations ADMINISTRATION:* Negotiate contracts with vendors and ensure cost-effective/quality services are provided* Ensure timely actions on recording of Inventory, disposal, sale, write-off and transfer of assets* Ensure control mechanism is in place for cost effective fuel consumption for vehiclesâ?? fleet & generators* Supervise WFP Guest House operations Show less

  • Finance Officer

    Dec 2013 - Feb 2014

  • Finance & Administration Officer

    Feb 2010 - Nov 2013
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  World Food Programme

  Jul 2014 - Sept 2018

  • Act as Certifying Officer for South Sudan Engineering Unit• Coordinate finance & resource management activities• Monitor budgets and manage grants from EU, IFAD, Canada, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, SSRF (South Sudan Recovery Fund) and Switzerland.• Manage grants worth USD 167 million for Feeder Roads Special Operation and USD 20 million for 60+ civil works projects funded from PRRO, EMOP and Staff Wellness Division;• Recently prepared Country Portfolio Budget for Engineering Unit• Ensure the implementation and processing of accounting transactions within budgetary approvals for projects and ensure that they are made correctly in accordance with financial regulations;• Review invoices/payment requests for their legitimacy and being in line with the approved BOQs/respective construction contracts (FIDIC Contracts)• Ensure best practices in monitoring budget implementation and recommend reallocation of funds. • Advise on accurate and complete accounting, reporting and internal control systems are functioning and that all relevant records are maintained. • Coordinate and prepare monthly cash flow forecast for the project funds. • Monitor expenses against budget and prepare management reports on the performance outlining areas needing attention for fund managers.• Review and recommend financial controls for implementation and ensure that effective controls are in place.• Supervise Administrative activities related to Engineering Unit and facilitate logistics for project activities• Supervise HR related activities with regards to the management of Project staff contracts, HR actions, leave management, etc. Show less • Act as Certifying Officer for WFP• Support corporate finance & resource management strategies by contributing to the development of policies & procedures for Country Office• Supervise the implementation and processing of accounting transactions within budgetary approvals for projects and ensure that they are made correctly in accordance with financial regulations; • Advise on reconciling receivables and payables and onward communication with both the creditors and debtors. • Ensure that WFP policies are being met while dealing with banks, cash and petty cash accounts and ensure that funds are spent in accordance with the allocations or allotments. • Ensure best practices in monitoring budget implementation and recommend reallocation of funds. • Advise on accurate and complete accounting, reporting and internal control systems are functioning and that all relevant records are maintained. • Oversee the implementation and processing of accounting transactions and disbursements. • Advise on preparation of monthly cash flow forecast for the project funds. • Coordinate preparation and submission of monthly/periodical financial closures.• Monitor expenses against budget and prepare management reports on the performance outlining areas needing attention for project fund committees. • Ensure that timely responses are provided to internal and external audit observations.• Review and recommend financial controls for implementation and ensure that effective controls are in place. • Monitor and build capacity of national staff in Finance for day to day work as well as Procurement and Administration services, as required. Show less

  • Finance Officer

    Aug 2015 - Sept 2018

  • Finance Officer

    Jul 2014 - Aug 2015
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  World Food Programme

  Jan 2020 - Aug 2020

  Head of Finance & Administration

  Led the Finance/Admin Unit in Niger’s L3 operation and coped well with the challenges that emerged due to COVID-19 pandemic and extended an effective and timely support to CO teams. Played a key role as a Certifying Officer, bank signatory and the Activity Manager for DSC budget, while leading the resource management activities, supervising budgets and formulating donor reports and advising Activity Managers on their respective funds by highlighting the shortfalls/surpluses.  Closed the iCSP and migrated the resources to CSP 2020-24. Coordinated timely submission of donor reports as well as the MMCR. Introduced Financial Analysis that addressed every aspect of Management’s needs with recommendations and narrations for an easy understanding of the audience. This has been a regular monthly exercise that has been appreciated by Resource Management Committee. CO Finance developed the capacity to provide clear information for informed decision making. Led the CBT operations from Finance and ensured effective support in 3-month joint distribution during lean season and COVID-19, completed MaFA for Niger and prepared and launched the FCA. Ensured business continuity during COVID crisis for delivery of support services through effective coordination within the team and managed to provide a continuous support to other CO teams. Supervised the Administrative Services that responded well to the L3 operations as well as the COVID-19 rapid response and ensured and effective, well-coordinated and efficient support to CO operation that maintained the optimum level of smooth operations even during the pandemic. Show less

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  World Food Programme

  Dec 2020 - now

  Currently leading the Finance & Management Services (Admin) and acting as Certifying Officer to authorise the budgetary/financial resources for spending. Responsible for resource management, budget planning/implementation/analysis, donor/financial reporting, cash-based transfers. Represent WFP in external meetings and coordinate contracting activities with internal & external clients. Lead the Management Services activities like assets mgt, travel, fleet, common premises/leases mgt, general admin, etc. Provide advice to Management on Country Strategic Plan & Implementation Plan to alert on funding gaps/surplus.Lead and advise as Compliance Officer on rules/regulations/procedures/corporate practices and act as Enterprise Risk Manager to identify, mitigate and monitor operational risks, including the Occupational Safety & Health risks as OSH Focal Point.As an audit focal point, led the CO teams in preparation for the repeat audit against the negative rating in preceding year’s audit and managed to turn around the results by securing a positive rating. The landmark achievement was the ‘Zero observations’ for Finance. Some of other key achievements were the completion of FCA, digitalization of some of the key processes, and negotiating additional budgetary resources with HQ to cope with the challenges of funding gap e.g. heavy salary increment, equipment/networking, etc. Furthermore, successfully turned around the performance of a demoralized team into a high performing and motivated team that produced good results for last two years. Show less

  • Head of Finance & Management Services

    Dec 2020 - now

  • Head of Finance & Management Services

    Dec 2020 - now