Temporary Finance Officer at Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHAK)

Job Summary

• CHAK invites applications from suitably qualified, competent and results-oriented professionals for the position of Temporary Finance Officer to support the effective financial management and implementation of the Evaluation of Integrated Services (EIS) Study Project. The Temporary Finance Officer will provide dedicated financial management and operational support to the project, ensuring accurate accounting, timely financial reporting, payroll processing, payment management, reconciliations and proper maintenance of financial records, in compliance with CHAK policies, donor requirements, statutory obligations and established internal controls.

Key Responsibilities

• Management reporting and budget monitoring: Prepare monthly management reports, expenditure analyses and burn rate reports; monitor budget utilisation, investigate variances and support financial forecasting and management decision-making.
• Payroll and statutory compliance: Prepare monthly payroll for research assistants, verify supporting documentation, calculate statutory deductions and submit payroll schedules and related computations for review and timely processing.
• M-Pesa bulk payments and reconciliations: Coordinate M-Pesa platform replenishments, monitor balances, reconcile disbursements against approved payment schedules, investigate discrepancies and ensure timely resolution of failed or outstanding transactions.
• Payment processing: Review and process payment requests for vendors, staff and consultants, including invoices, imprests, advances and claims, ensuring completeness of supporting documentation.
• General journals: Prepare month-end journals for review and approval.
• Financial records and document management: Maintain complete and well-organised physical and electronic financial records, including scanning and uploading documents into the designated document management system (Doc IT), and ensure records are readily available for review and audit.
• Financial controls and donor compliance: Ensure transactions comply with approved budgets, CHAK financial policies, donor rules and regulations, statutory requirements and internal control procedures; identify and escalate unsupported transactions, discrepancies and potentially ineligible expenditure.
• Coordination and operational support: Work closely with the existing Finance Officer, project team, Payroll Accountant, Procurement and IT teams; provide biometric registration support during the creation of field events in the CHAK Finance System, coordinate biometric registration and verification, and facilitate timely claim submission and payment processing.
• General financial support: Maintain accurate accounting schedules and registers, follow up on outstanding financial matters and undertake any other related duties assigned by the supervisor in support of effective project implementation.

Qualifications and Experience

• A Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting or a related discipline.
• A current Certified Public Accountant (CPA) qualification or equivalent professional certification.
• At least three (3) years of relevant experience in a busy finance and grants office handling multiple projects.
• Practical knowledge of NGO financial management, project cycle management, donor rules and regulations, and statutory compliance.
• Demonstrated experience in donor financial reporting, including expenditure reporting (E/R), human resources for health (HRH) reporting and VAT-related matters.

Required Skills and Competencies

• Proficiency in financial software applications; knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central/Navision (NAV 365) will be an added advantage.
• Strong financial reporting, budgeting, expenditure analysis and reconciliation skills.
• Good knowledge of payroll processing, statutory deductions, journal preparation and payment management.
• High levels of accuracy, integrity, accountability and attention to detail.
• Strong organisational, analytical, documentation and records-management skills.
• Effective communication, interpersonal and coordination skills, with the ability to work collaboratively and meet strict deadlines.
• Fluency in written and spoken English.