Finance Manager at Center For Reproductive Rights

The Role: Reporting to the Head of Program Operations, Africa Region, this role is responsible for ensuring prudent financial management and controls for the Regions operations. A key accountability of the role involves establishing budgetary, financial and procurement policies, procedures and systems to ensure integrity, timely service delivery and value for money in line with the Centre for Reproductive Rights Financial and operations requirements as per the strategic plan.

Primary Responsibilities: 

Finance Operations

• Ensure the implementation of Centre for Reproductive Right’s internal controls, finance policies, systems and procedures conform to the minimum and mandatory financial standards
• Ensure adherence with local statutory financial compliance requirements, including vendor tax withholdings, tax filings, etc.
• Undertake and monitor all payments, including to partner organizations, and ensure smooth, timely issuing of payments and that all financial transactions in the region including of projects, are in line and comply with Centre for Reproductive Right’s policies and within the regional authorization limits.
• Manage and meet all financial reporting deadlines required by local agencies, including working with the outsourced payroll provider to ensure returns to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA); National Social Security Fund, National Hospital Insurance Fund are accurate, and submissions done and entered in Centre for Reproductive Rights books/records.
• Overall assistance with adherence to local statutory compliance requirements, including vendor tax withholdings, annual tax filings, etc.
• In coordination with the International Accountant, prepare reports for Center’s annual Internal Audit process.
• Support the Sr. Operations Manager to track and monitor spending related to the Center’s office budget, reviewing budgeted to actual expenditures monthly to ensure that spending is in line with budget allocations.
• Serve as the primary liaison with the local accounting firm, on matters related to annual compliance obligations and tax filing requirements.
• Ensure annual audit reports are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) or Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
• Banking and Managing the Center’s bank accounts with the support from Snr Regional Director
• On a monthly basis, providing the bank with documentation in support of incoming transfers and inter account transfer for foreign currency in compliance with Central Bank of Kenya Requirements
• Undertake verification exercise of all projects financial transactions to ensure completeness and accuracy.
• Prepare office monthly cashbooks and bank reconciliations and update in the computerized accounting software.
• Support in payment of invoices and bills from suppliers and service providers including payroll and related statutory payments when required to.
• Support in preparation of annual and project audits.
• Monitor grants transaction to make sure the organization is in compliance with donor requirements
• Update documents in the Organisation document management platform-SharePoint

Program Finance

• Support the Head of Program Operations to deliver on the annual budget projection process and quarterly reforecasts.  
• Prepare donor financial reports as per the reporting requirements and budget vs actual reports for the monitoring.
• Support in project monitoring exercises and undertake partner risk pre-assessments and grant start-up meetings.
• Undertake partner financial, compliance and/or operational audits as requested and share such results/recommendations
• Support partners in preparation and review of their budget revision requests costed work plans and cash flow projections
• Prepare project funds requests for review and approval by the Head of Prog Operations and Sr. Regional Director
• Facilitate timely grant processing to partners and subsequent disbursements, regularly updating the project on disbursement status.
• Support the Head of Prog Operations in development of proposal budgets.
• Support any on-going project audit exercises and coordinate all participating partners to respond to audit requirements.
• Follow up on resolving all arising audit issues and ensure that there is full implementation of all agreed audit recommendations.
• Review all partner financial reports submitted ensuring their accuracy and completeness, including securing the validity of expenses reported.
• Sign off on all partner fund reconciliation statements.

General.

• Any other relevant duty.

Qualifications:

• A university degree in accounting, Finance or Business administration.
• Professional qualification in accounting – CPA(K), ACCA or equivalent Professional and be compliant on the accountants’ body (ICPAK) requirement on Certified Practice hours (CPE).
• 8+ years post qualification experience in financial management.
• At least 3 years’ experience supervising an organizations’ financial management systems and processes. Familiarity with INGO and NGO sector, financial reporting and accounting practices will be added advantage.
• Handling of multi country finance and compliance requirements.
• Proven experience in managing large and complex budgets.
• Extensive experience in working with computerized accounting systems, including familiarity with use of scalable Enterprise Resource (ERPs) and other e-based communication channels and tools.
• Live the values of The Centre for Reproductive Rights.
• Strategic leadership skills in Budgeting, financial planning, and forecasting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills: interpersonal, especially the ability to adapt financial and accounting professional knowhow to Donor and grant funding requirements.
• Tenacity and Drive with ability to work with strict deadlines and adopt to a fast-paced dynamic work environment.
• Proactive: Excellent at Dealing with issues proactively and in a timely manner and avoid backlog and delays in program work plans.
• Analytical ability: Possess excellent orientation to detail and data analytics skills necessary to handle and collate detailed financial data requirements by donors while also adhering to the internal Centre for Reproductive Rights accounting and reporting standards.
• Individual leadership skills: Able to provide guidance to Technical Managers and project teams and direct reports; to work independently and interdependently in cross functional work areas.

Critical Competencies:

• Strategic thinking: Applies big-picture thinking while also focusing on the details of implementation.
• Decisiveness: Consistently makes sound decisions in a timely manner supportive of the Center’s mission, core values, and strategic objectives. Blends vision and judgment.
• Collaboration: Brings a track record of working effectively with various and diverse individuals and groups, and a willingness to actively listen and invite different views and opinions across all levels of the institution to build alignment in support of a common goal.
• Receives and Provides Direct Feedback: Actively gives and requests feedback to and from peers, supervisors and direct reports (if applicable) about work products, behaviors, values, style and approaches with a view on how this impacts self, other individuals and teams.
• Transparency: Consistently applies openness and honesty in communicating decisions and plans to team members.
• Commitment to learn: Applies a growth mentality to their own and their team’s (if applicable) development. Promotes a culture of learning by modeling inquisitiveness and an openness to viewing mistakes as an opportunity to learn and improve.
• Passion for Coaching, and Mentoring Staff: Empowers and motivates employees and creates opportunities for learning, development, and leadership, with a focus on harnessing skills for the future development of team members. (if applicable)
• Accountability: Follows through on each commitment made to individual contributors, teams and partners and proactively informs others of any delays that occur along the way. Holds team members accountable.
• Integrity: Possesses impeccable integrity and personal and professional values that are consistent with the Center’s high standards and mission.
• Empathy: Serves as an empathetic, approachable leader who engenders trust and confidence. (if applicable)
• Adaptability/Flexibility: Demonstrates comfort with ambiguity and calculated risk.