Position: Finance Manager
Reports To: Country Director
Deadline To Apply:Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, therefore early application is strongly recommended
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Eligibility: Position open to local Kenyan hires only
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to discovering and promoting effective solutions to global poverty problems. In close partnership with decision makers—the policymakers, practitioners, investors, and donors working with the poor around the world—we design and evaluate potential solutions to poverty problems using randomized evaluations,
the
most rigorous evaluation method available. We also mobilize and support these
decision makers to use these solutions to build better programs and policies at
scale.
In collaboration with over 250 leading academics and implementing organizations, we have results from over 175 completed studies with over 225 in progress around the world. Our studies cover solutions for effective agriculture, education, health, finance, governance, social protection, and post conflict recovery.
We
have over 1,000 colleagues in 11 permanent offices supporting 16 countries,
where we conduct research and routinely consult with governments, foundations,
NGOs, and others to present evidence that can inform their work. For more
information, visit www.poverty-action.org.
IPA-Kenya (IPAK) is IPA’s oldest country program, and the site of many of its most influential projects, including seminal studies on de-worming, clean water promotion, bed-net usage and fertilizer subsidies. IPAK is now also the site of IPA’s largest “scale-up” projects – including a national de-worming program and community-based chlorine dispensers.
These
are programs whose impact and cost-effectiveness have been proven by
researchers and can now be implemented at scale, and millions of Kenyan
children have been de-wormed, and hundreds of thousands have access to clean
water as a result. IPAK employs more than 400 contracted staff working on 20
different projects across multiple offices.
The Head of Finance will consult directly with the Finance team at IPA’s HQ (New Haven, Connecticut).
Management Responsibility
- To
ensure effective utilization of Program/project funds according to the
organization’s policies and procedures and the donor guidelines
- Member
of the Country Management team
General Outline of Responsibilities
- Provide
general oversight to ensure compliance, transparency and accountability of
Finance functions.
- Improve
cost-effectiveness of finance structures while maintaining necessary
support to projects
- Ensure
appropriate billings of costs to the appropriate grants and ensure that
expenditure reallocations are timely and accurately executed
- Create
systems to closely track spending against grants and budgets,
communicating to project managers regarding balances, deadlines and
spending prioritization
- Ensure
that financial reports for each grant are timely issue and collaborate
with research associates and research managers to eliminate residual
errors.
- Maintain
budget projection documents and assist project/research managers to
develop budgets in consultation with relevant senior managers
- Participate
in preparation of annual operational budgets for the program and projects
by determining funds available for the budget, activities scheduled for
the year and their cost.
- Provide
operational support to project managers on expenditure management to
include: Short-term action plans and expenditure scheduling
- Initiate
and engage regular review meetings with research Managers to resolve and
discuss various financial and accounting issues and queries.
- Provide
monthly progress reports for review by the Country Director on project
funding status and cash management.
- Participate
in internal audits as scheduled and in external audits by providing
auditors with accounting documents as requested and providing explanations
for audit queries.
Required Qualifications
- Degree
in financial management, business administration, or related field
- CPA-K/ACCA
qualifications
- At
least 5 years of professional experience in finance.
- Proven
record as an excellent communicator and a strategic thinker
- International
work experience with a global organization, preferably in sub-Saharan
Africa
- Knowledge
of Abila formerly SAGE accounting software
- Experience
working with large international donors
Desired Qualifications
- Experience
working in Kenya
- Willingness
to work in a dynamic, fast-paced organization and the ability to thrive in
a collaborative, cross-cultural work culture.
- Experience
working on USAID-funded projects
Applications can be submitted by email to
jobs-kenya@poverty-action.org. If you submit by email, please ensure that the
subject line reads: “Finance Manager.” REF NO: FK-2014-09-01. Only short-listed
candidates will be contacted.
Disclaimer:
The
above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the
work being performed by the Finance Manager. The statements are not intended to
be an exhaustive list of all possible duties, tasks, and responsibilities.
Management reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet
organizational needs as necessary.
Please
note that IPA will never request any form of payment from an applicant.
Applicants are encouraged to confirm the information listed above with IPA
prior to releasing any extensive personal information to the
organization.
Please
direct questions to jobs-kenya@poverty-action.org.