Senior Finance Officer at Universities Fund (UF)

Qualifications, Skills and Experience Required:

Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, Business Administration, Economics, Statistics, Sociology, or related disciplines

Professional Qualifications / Membership to professional bodies

1. Certified Public Accountant (CPA)(K) or Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) or Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is desirable.
2. Supervisory course lasting not less two (2) weeks
3. Membership to the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya or IIA(K)

Previous relevant work experience required.

• 4 years’ relevant experience.

Functional Skills:

1. IT Proficiency 
2. Supervisory 
3. Analytical 
4. Communication 
5. Financial Management

Behavioral Competencies/ Attributes:

1. Interpersonal 
2. Team player
3. Reliable and dependable
4. Attention to detail
5. Fulfill the requirements of Chapter Six (6) of the Kenyan Constitution 2010.

Responsibilities:

The job holder is responsible for coordinating preparation of annual budget and forecasts, Monitoring & Evaluation of budget performance for all cost centers in accordance to the PFM Act 2012 and the National Treasury guidelines and other relevant legal framework, coordination of daily bank reconciliations of over 3 bank accounts with cashflows worth over 19 Billion annually, coordination of both external or internal audits, preparation of management and Financial Reports.

Managerial / Supervisory Responsibilities

1. Co-ordinating the preparation of external and internal audit materials to ensure smooth audit exercise;
2. Coordinating preparation of the annual report with a balance sheet of over Kshs.47billion to comply with the relevant laws and regulations;
3. Coordinating the preparation of budgets worth over Kshs. 240 Million and financial plans for the Fund, based on the strategic plan and Enterprise Risk Management reports to ensure adequacy of resources; 
4. Supervise preparation of sectional risk register to ensure identification, determination of impact of risk and propose corrective actions; 
5. Coordinating analysis of financial, costing and operational data and extract and define relevant information to guide in decision making;
6. Supervising coaching and mentoring the direct and indirect reports for succession planning;
7. Coordinating the development of performance management system in the section to monitor and improve performance; 
8. Coordinating the Implementation of sound financial management practices that ensure effective internal controls and Risk Management to prevent and detect fraud and corruption; and

Operational Responsibilities / Tasks

Financial Responsibility:

• Responsibility for physical assets around the area of work:
• Responsible for physical assets assigned by the institution classified as Computer, Furniture and Equipment.
• Problem Solving
• The job holder will be required to solve the following type of problems:

Communication

The job holder will need to understand the following information to discharge his/her mandate:

1. Supervising preparation of periodic performance reports to ensure adhere to approved budget;
2. Monitoring of costs against budgets of over Kshs.240 Million to guide on over and under expenditure;
3. Coordinate preparation of Universities Fund Management Systems (UFMS) to streamline internal processes and ensure consistency in the day-to-day operational activities;
4. Analyzing and or collating financial/trends data to support recommendations for action;
5. Ensuring production of timely and accurate management reports for decision making;
6. Reviewing responses to and or implementation of Audit recommendations to reduce or eliminate pending audit issues;
7. Generating standard, custom and or complex reports summarizing business, financial, or economic data for review and consumption by users, business managers and other relevant stakeholders;
8. Ensuring timely and adequate response and implementation of Audit or other financial matters recommendations to provide actions to take to correct the findings;
9. Communicating and managing the stakeholder expectations to enhance customer experience;
10. Interpreting financial data for the purpose of determining the root causes of past figures, financial, costing and operational performance;
11. Supervising analysis of funds utilization within the institution to ensure fund optimization;
12. Supervising the preparation of timely and accurate Quarterly and Annual Report and Financial Statements with a balance sheet of over Kshs.93 Billion to reflect the true and fair position of the institution;
13. Supervising the preparation and provision of timely and accurate monthly Bank reconciliation reports to ensure accuracy of transactions;
14. Circulating periodically business information securely with due regard for confidentiality for decision making;
15. Supervising the preparation of audit schedules for all financial reports to ensure accuracy and reduce audit queries;
16. Maintaining Key Performance Indicators, dashboard and build a central database for reporting to manage performance for achievement of set objectives;
17. Preparing periodic reports to comply with the relevant laws and regulations;
18. Participating in committees to broaden exposure and contribute some skills; and
19. Ensuring adherence to laid down accounting controls procedures and processes to ensure consistency in the day-to-day operational activities.
20. Preparation and recommend for approval section budget;
21. Preparation of annual financial statements with assets worth over Kshs47 Billion;
22. Coordinate bank reconciliations for over 3 banks; 
23. Preparations and monitoring of Budgets and forecasts worth over Kshs.240 Million; and
24. Monitoring & Evaluation of budget performance for cost centers.
25. Complex and open-ended problems in the Finance Department.
26. Problems are broad and complex, influenced by finance policy and regulations. Solutions will often be arrived at through consultation of the National Treasury and the Ministry of Education.
27. Strategic issues affecting the financial viability of the department; 
28. Problems are highly complex, requiring significant research and creative thinking. Consultations will be required. Solutions could contribute to the body of research / knowledge in this area.
29. Detailed verbal instructions from the supervisor or written requests from various departments on budget implementation;
30. Financial reports, in depth technical reports, proposals or project briefs affecting public financing from/to the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Planning and National Treasury.
31. High level proposals on Government strategic direction on funding guidelines and systems;
32. Written proposals or presentations on the annual budget for the Universities Fund.