Finance Manager (FM) at World University Service of Canada

Job Role

The Finance Manager will hold overall responsibilities for the financial administration for WUSC – Kenya programs.

The Finance Manager will be responsible for maintaining project financial records (finance) and monitoring monthly, quarterly and annual financial project reports and performance to budget. The FM will also assist with the development of annual work plans and budgets.

The FM is a member of the KEEP management team.

Specific Duties

• Manage program finances and developing adequate accounting systems and internal financial control mechanisms including tracking funds for all donors against specific projects. This includes the introduction of new accounting packages as required.
• Lead budget review processes, including coordinating with partners to ensure budget components are realistic and meet program needs and donor requirements.
• Engage with donors on finance-related issues, gathering and coordinating financial information from consortium partners when necessary.
• Ensure that advance requests are submitted to donors on a timely basis.
• Engage with partners to ensure that internal financial reporting is timely and accurate.
• Support the program team and project partners to build and develop accurate annual budgets and financial expenditures plans each year and monitoring progress on same with program teams.
• Work closely with the program and PD teams to develop budgets for project proposals.
• Develop, coordinate and enforce policies and procedures for all financial activities.
• Ensure that payroll is processed accurately and on time, and that the relevant reports and schedules (such as statutory deductions and staff benefit schemes) are generated accurately and sent to relevant sources (WUSC’s local bank; required tax offices) on time.
• Make regular visits to project field offices to review field operations and ensure compliance with financial policies and procedures. Provide training to field staff when necessary.
• Monitor and review all project accounts, advance reconciliations and bank reconciliations.
• Prepare regular financial reports as required by WUSC Ottawa and donors.
• Review partner accounting systems, and carry out financial due diligence for potential new partners.
• Recommend improvements to financial reporting systems for WUSC’s local partners. This activity may involve providing training in financial matters for partner organizations.
• Ensure audits are conducted in accordance with donor requirements. Support WUSC–Ottawa’s audit process as required.
• Implement improved polices & procedures following internal audits and or/as advised by WUSC head office.
• Ensure that accurate monthly accounts, quarterly reports to donors, project reconciliations are sent to WUSC Ottawa on time.
• Place financial controls to monitor and forecast cash requirements to meet administrative and program expenditures, forecasting monthly cash requirements for the Kenya program/projects and making advance requests to the Ottawa office and other donor offices.
• Take initiative to make recommendations as needed to ensure efficient and effective use of project financial resources; carry out a cost benefit analysis where necessary
• Provide variance analysis for quarterly reports and annual budget revisions.
• Line Manager of Finance Manager
• Country Director (Kenya)
• WUSC Director of Finance (HQ)
• Position Requires Close Collaboration with
• WUSC HQ – Finance Analyst
• Project Managers
• Operations Manager
• Position Supervises
• Senior Finance Officer

Qualifications and Experience

• A Master’s in Finance, Business Administration, Commerce or equivalent
• A professional qualification in Accounting e.g. CPA (K), ACCA or equivalent qualification
• Over 7 years professional experience in a similar post (preferably an INGO)
• Experience in the evaluation of Accounting regulations and Tax matters
• Experience managing large budgets with multiple consortia partners
• Experience working with donors and their unique reporting requirements (CIDA, BPRM, EU, DFID, USAID)

Competencies

• Strong managerial skills
• Ability to guide in the setting of financial objectives and monitoring delivery against goals
• Strong analytical, communication and problem solving skills
• Ability to identify and articulate problems and provide solutions in a concise and clear manner
• Proven experience in developing, managing, and reporting against multiple projects with complex budgets
• Capability to evaluate and improve finance and budget management processes as well as underlying IT-Infrastructure
• Experience using accounting packages (QuickBooks, ACCPAC), and training others to use them.
• Willingness to travel regularly to field offices within Kenya
• Proven ability to manage and monitor staff in supporting roles.