Senior Finance Business Partner at GiveDirectly

Responsibilities : 

• Your role will cut across stakeholder management, risk & compliance tracking, and delivery of the Finance Service Level Agreement. 

Stakeholder Management and information provision:  

• Deliver accurate and insightful financial information to the management team to improve understanding of financial performance, influence decision making, guide strategic planning, and identify issues. 
  • Monthly review of program level Income Statements and Balance sheets with full variance explanation and reconciliation
• Have a thorough understanding of the raw finance data at both granular level and high/ strategic level and be able to switch fluidly between both depending on the needs of the stakeholders. 
• Lead collaboration between teams, both internally within Finance and externally with non-finance colleagues. 
• Promote a strong, professional relationship with the stakeholders including programs teams, regulatory bodies, and the Finance Team 
• You will also work closely with the accounting team to deliver financial reports that are accurate and timely for decision making taking primary responsibility for account reconciliation.
• Support for the Fundraising team in developing budgets and reporting to support institutional fundraising.

Risk and compliance tracking 

• Ensure that funds expended are compliant with Donor requirements, national/state regulations and organizational policies
• Implement payment and procurement protocols, including ensuring proper documentation (both hard and soft copies) and adherence to controls
• Ensure that statutory payments have been submitted to the statutory authorities on time and all original receipts filed, with periodic spot checks. 
• Understanding, advising, and implementing compliance requirements from tax regulators and donors
• Double check that the office and procurement manager is handling procurement and expenditures in line with policies. This includes enforcing proper maintenance and filing of original invoices, receipts, and supporting documents both physically and in nexonia. It also includes doing a monthly reconciliation check with the OPM to ensure petty cash is being tracked and managed appropriately. 
• Carry out spot checks on payments made in county including: with vendors, contracts and suppliers and on staff expenses
• Ensure procurement is done within bounds of the the relevant budget available for the stated procurement or overspends are approved by appropriate authority/authorities
• Participate in the procurement committee, to vote on prospective vendors  and providing advise from a financial perspective
• Identify potential areas of financial and compliance vulnerability and risk and develop or implement corrective action plans to resolve problematic issues.
• Monitoring country finance risks and designing controls to mitigate the risks
• Ensuring financial records for the country office are organized and maintained, to be ready for standard and routine financial audits and routine control visits 
• Managing in-country audits and special reporting to donors and regulatory bodies
• Be responsible for managing the contract budget, tracking project spending, and preparing financial reports for submission to donors. 
• Implementation and tracking of the risk and controls dashboard and driving risk mitigation procedures with the Country Director
• Have a thorough understanding of finance policies  and procedures and ensure compliance to them
• Spot check outflows and inflows of money from the bank account and vet for irregularities
• Check that the  controls put in place to mitigate fraud are operating effectively and are able to prevent or detect fraud.
• Support investigation of financial fraud under the leadership of the CD and in collaboration with the risk and compliance and internal audit teams
• Escalate to the CD any irregularities observed in financial and compliance management, including gaps in our systems
• Contribute to drafting and updating finance-related policies for the  country office

Management of the Finance Service level agreement

• Be accountable for the implementation of the Finance Service Level Agreement (SLA) by understanding and anticipating the needs of the non-finance Functions; and proactively liaising with treasury, payments, and accounting functions for smooth delivery of the SLA.  
• Preparation of country and donor budgets across various periods of time 
• Delivery of Budget-to-Actual reports to stakeholders within the timelines stipulated by the Finance SLA
• Prepare punctually every month a Business to Actuals report and explain it to the Country Director, so that the CD is aware of expenditures vs. budget each month and year to date, flagging where things are going over budget. 
• Collaborate with the HR Manager in preparing payroll, including tracking salary advance statuses and payments owed/due.  
• Suggest to the CD ideas for reducing and streamlining costs in the country office

Profile

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of professional experience in accounting or finance, with strong experience in budgeting and reporting. 
• Strong data analysis skills
• Ability to liaise remotely with a wide range of people at all levels and across different cultures and to act with credibility, tact and diplomacy
• Excellent stakeholder management and strategic influencing skills
• Ability to be proactive and logical in problem-solving scenarios
• Strong time management skills with an ability to plan ahead, anticipate requirements, and obstacles, and an ability to juggle competing priorities successfully, and to work to tight deadlines
• Conscientious and client focused
• Maintains a calm disposition and positive outlook particularly when working under pressure
• A full appreciation of the value of cooperation, both internationally and within a team environment
• Aptitude to learn quickly new software tools, such as Slack, Intacct, Limelight, and Google Spreadsheets
• Alignment with GiveDirectly Values and active demonstration of our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity.