Job Title: Finance and Operations Manager
Organisation: Street Child Uganda
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda with frequent travel to the field
Reports to: Uganda Country Representative
Number of direct reports: 3
Gross salary: 6m – 8.5m UGX (dependent on experience)
About US:
Street Child believes that every child deserves the chance to go to school and learn. Our projects focus on a combination of education, child protection and livelihood support to address the social, economic and structural issues that underpin today’s education crisis. We partner with local organisations and communities to deliver our locally rooted programmes, using evidence to drive learning and the refinement and scale up of programmes to create maximum impact for the most children at the lowest cost. We pride ourselves on being willing to go to the world’s toughest places where others won’t, including remote, hard-to-reach areas and fragile, disaster-affected states across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Job Summary: The Country Finance and Operations Manager is a key member of the Management Team at Street Child Uganda. He/she will be responsible for Street Child Uganda’s financial and HR management in-country under the authority of the Country Director, with dotted support provided by the Regional Finance Manager. The Finance and Operations Manager ensures that national legislation is adhered to and that Street Child Uganda’s financial and HR/admin standards are applied in terms of accounting, financial control systems, internal/external reporting processes, labour law and legal framework to ensure efficient use of resources. He/She will lead and provide technical support and capacity building to the country’s finance and HR/administrative staff and our local partners’ finance staff.
Key Duties and Responsibilities: The main duties relating to this position are as follows:
Coordination and Technical Support 10%
- Contribute to the Country Programme strategies and policies through advisory services to the Country Director and regional team.
- Provide technical advice and operational guidance on innovative approaches to project financing, risk assessment/mitigation and use of financing structures, mechanisms instruments and guarantees.
- Collaborate with colleagues to identify the need, determine the cost, and plan all Country programme support services, including procurement, logistics finance, human resources, and administrative services.
- Participate in forum discussions/platforms to ensure the organisation’s position, interests and priorities are fully considered.
Project Planning and Coordination Support 10%
- Provide assistance and support to the programmes team on project budget preparation.
- Monitor Country office financial projections and refer critical issues to the Country Director for action.
- Provide advice on programme and project cost sharing, deployment of funds and closure.
- Work with the programmes team to develop budgets for new programmes, ensuring that budgets are in line with actual costs
- Constantly monitor and analyse the operating environment to identify potential risks.
- Support and ensure close liaison with the Field Offices is maintained, to troubleshoot any issues that might cause an interruption in the support services management.
Procurement 15%
- Support viable procurement solutions that meet operational needs and compliance with the organisation’s procurement procedures, regulations and standards of accountability, ethics, integrity, performance, and cost-effectiveness.
- Evaluate the efficiency and integrity of the procurement evaluation process to ensure cost-effective procurement of goods and services.
- Evaluate contractual arrangements and legal commitments/risks for appropriate action.
- Evaluate, list, update and monitor the performance of service providers of suitable/current vendors.
- Review all procurement contracts to ensure compliance.
- Oversee the acquisition, maintenance, inventory, recording, verification and protection of project and administrative facilities/assets, including IT infrastructure, equipment, and servers.
- Member of the Procurement Committee by self or by delegation
Financial Management 40%
- Oversee the programme Finance Unit and ensure compliance with the organization’s Financial Rules & Regulations and Finance procedures.
- Supervise the timely review, posting and closure of accounts, and verify accuracy and compliance with policy and standards of the accountability framework.
- Providing in-country training and liaising with HQ in the development of the finance system
- Oversee all financial services (accounting, cash management, payments etc.) ensuring timeliness and compliance with standards of accountability and performance.
- Continually review and assess the effectiveness of internal controls and recommend changes and improvements as required and review any improvements in internal controls recommended by auditors or donors.
- Review financial plans and oversee the budget process/cycle to ensure timely revisions and reallocation of funds.
- Preparation of monthly Budget vs Actual Reports and review with Programmes and Internal staff
- Ensure the availability and timely submission of required financial reports, both internal and external.
- Manage and monitor the cash flow based on established financial goals and resource mobilization plans.
- Preparation of monthly cash requisitions
- Oversee certifying and authorizing payments, expenditures, and disbursements, entering all transactions into the Finance Accounting system (Aqilla) and that the supporting documents are filed according to internal procedures.
- Ensure all spending is in accordance with the Street Child and donor requirements, and all relevant files for documentation are created, updated, and maintained.
- Monitor that Street Child and donor policies, procedures and guidelines are strictly adhered to, and that Street Child Uganda operates in compliance with local laws.
- In close collaboration with the regional office, support the compilation of yearly budget forecasting, and annual reports and contribute to Donor reporting guidelines.
Human Resource Management – 15%
- Oversee the ongoing development of team composition and structure to ensure that is fit for purpose, aid in the development of Job descriptions/Terms of Reference, follow up field staff-related recruitment processes and orientation of staff.
- In consultation with relevant colleagues, plan and implement staff annual appraisal system/performance reviews.
- Promote and support a learning culture by empowering individuals and teams to identify critical learning needs and plan/provide easy access to learning opportunities to maintain personnel competency and flexibility.
- Ensuring that hiring managers actively seek to create diverse teams in terms of gender and geography.
- Foster a positive work environment, respectful of both men and women, and ensure that the highest standards of conduct are observed.
- Administration, Information Technology and Knowledge Management
- Coordinate the recruitment onboarding and offboarding process.
- Ensure all contracts, and letters of hire are in Place with relevant documentation.
- At the request of the Country Director and in collaboration with the team, plan, implement and organise the strategic capacity building of personnel.
Accountability and Learning – 10%
- Provide advice on goal setting, targets, and performance indicators for support staff.
- Act as a focal point for any internal/external audit exercise.
- Monitor and supervise all aspects of the programme to ensure compliance with organizational rules, regulations, policies, and standards of accountability, ethics, and integrity.
- Manage external relationships with Partners.
- Coordinate partner’s monthly cash requests and transfers.
- Coordinate all partnership reviews and give timely feedback.
- Conduct necessary training to help partners maintain good financial practices and records.
- Monitor the use of Grants advanced to partners.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- A qualified accountant.
- Must have a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or any related degree
- At least four years of senior financial management experience, with preference given to those having worked in an NGO setting.
- Proven financial analysis and forecasting ability.
- Experience managing a large annual budget.
- Demonstrable experience in training and leading a team.
- Experience in managing multiple projects.
- Proven experience in donor reporting.
- Excellent proficiency in Microsoft Office and large datasets
Core Values:
- Commitment to Street Child’s mission, vision and values, and the ability to convey with enthusiasm Street Child’s role in accompanying and serving forcibly displaced people and in advocating for their right to protection and a life in dignity.
- High integrity, honesty and confidentiality; ability to deal tactfully and discreetly with situations, people and information.
- Acceptance of diversity and inclusion as a core value.
- Willingness to work in a flexible, sub-optimal, stressful, and unstable environment.
- A resource and budget-sensitive approach – mindful of the need to balance high standards with the imperative stretching resource envelopes as far as possible, to benefit as many as possible of the hundreds of thousands of children in Uganda who presently lack, and are unlikely to acquire, these core life skills.
- Ability to prioritise with good time management skills.
- Strong management and interpersonal skills.
- Strong awareness of key development issues and trends at a national level.
- Ability to represent the organisation externally, including with partners and donors.
- Ability to work easily with national and international colleagues alike.
- Entrepreneurial and business spirited.
- Knowledge of donor compliance
Reporting: This position reports directly to the Street child Uganda Country Representative but with a dotted line of technical support from East Africa -Finance manager.
How to Apply:
Please send an updated CV including three related referees and cover letter to recruitment.uganda@street-child.org
Deadline: 15th March 2023 by 11:59pm.