Job Title: Finance & Operations Manager
Organisation: S.O.U.L. Foundation
Duty Station: Jinja, Uganda
Reports to: Country Director and line manages the Finance and Human Resource Officer Location: S.O.U.L. Foundation Office, Kyabirwa Village, Jinja City. Occasional travel to Bugweri office
Employment type: Salaried Full-time
Office working hours: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday. Evenings and weekends as requested and during grant proposal seasons.
About S.O.U.L. Foundation:
Built upon a foundation of trust and collaborative solutions, Supporting Opportunities for Ugandans to Learn (S.O.U.L.) Foundation focuses on using a community-engaged development (CED) model to eradicate poverty in rural Eastern Uganda. The S.O.U.L Foundation envisions vibrant and resourceful Ugandan rural communities with the power to transform a collective future. We engage project and program beneficiaries as well as community leaders, the private sector, global citizens, other development partners, and key Ugandan government stakeholders, to drive sustainable approaches to reduce extreme poverty in rural communities. Our main programmatic areas are supporting educational opportunities, and improving maternal health. Our geographic focal communities are in Jinja City and Bugweri District in eastern Uganda. For more information, please check out our website: www.souluganda.org
Job Summary: Under the supervision of the Country Director, the Finance and Operations Manager will be responsible for;
- Overall management of budget preparation and expenditure reporting, cash management, accounting, auditing, and financial aspects of grants management and internal controls.
- Enabling effective and timely disbursement of the running costs to different programs to allow a smooth implementation of programs.
- Supporting the development of internal finance policies and guidelines regulating processes related to finance as well as overall internal control system in line with the vision, mission, strategy, policies, and standards of S.O.U.L. Foundation.
- Ensure that human resource policies and procedures are up to date and being followed, all staff are familiar with them, and all job descriptions are current.
- Preparing and providing all relevant financial, accounting, and human resource information for review by the Country Director and Executive Director in a timely, efficient, and proactive manner.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Planning, Budgeting, and Budget Control
- Set the strategic plans, objectives, and priorities of the Finance Department, through close consultation with the Country Director, US-based Finance Team, and Executive Director.
- Review monthly income and expenditure statements (and other parameters) and advise program teams as well as the Country Director on needed action.
- Control overall expenditures of the organization, ensuring that financial resources are used modestly and efficiently to support planned activities and for the benefit of the program beneficiaries.
Accounting and Operations
- Review and validate accounting data monthly
- Ensure proper recordings of acquired assets
- Ensure proper recordings of receivables and payables
- Lead on developing and implementing an up-to-date documented system of accounting policies, financial procedures, and internal control guidelines (in compliance with local regulations & SOUL Foundation standards).
- Supervises SOUL fixed assets registers, regularly checking them to ensure that all assets are well documented and secure.
- Ensures that all donations, fees, and other incomes are adequately accounted for, and are promptly banked.
- Supervise payroll for SOUL staff on the approved salary scale, ensuring that statutory deductions are accurate and promptly remitted.
- Takes the lead in organizing annual external financial audits for the Organization as well as specific projects and the implementation of action plans
- Takes a lead role in the formulation and implementation of Audit Action plans
- Checking the completeness and appropriateness of supporting documents of both income and expenditure transactions, codes, and documents for account recording, ensuring timely recording of all transactions.
- Controlling cash and bank accounts, reconciling bank accounts with bank statements.
- Lead procurement processes for operational efficiency, in line with S.O.U.L.’s procurement process. Oversee construction of S.O.U.L. building and infrastructure strengthening.
- Manage office administrative duties such as electricity, solar system maintenance, Office vehicles, and other asset management and maintenance.
- Supervise and evaluate S.O.U.L. service providers’ performance and work with maintenance technicians to ensure good care of all facilities and buildings.
- Investigate and facilitate the transition to online accounting software that is linked to the accounting software of our US-based funding office
Human Resource Management
- Line management responsibility for the Finance and HR Officer, including regular 1-2-1’s, performance reviews, etc.
- Review the monthly payroll and ensure employees are paid in accordance with contractual agreements and legal requirements
- Together with the Country Director, manage the performance and development procedures and annual salary review.
- Support the Finance and HR Officer with any other recruitment or retention matters.
- And any other duties incidental to the above.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- The applicant must hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance or Accounting, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Business Administration – Finance and Accounting.
- Minimum three (3) Years work relevant working experience.
- Prior management of staff
- Experience in human resource recruitment, management, team development, staff morale, staff retention strategies, staff discipline, onboarding, and exiting of staff.
Desired Qualification and Experience
- Professional Qualification of ACCA or CPA
- Knowledge and use of accounting software such as Quickbooks
- Computer Skills with familiarity using QuickBooks
- Planning and Organizational skills
- Leadership skills
- Good communication and finance report-writing skills
- Strong analytical skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Team Work
How to Apply:
If you believe you are the right candidate for this position, please send your ONE PAGE cover letter and no more than FOUR PAGE curriculum vitae (CV) to the email address below by Tuesday 31, October 2023. Candidates locally based in Jinja are strongly encouraged to apply.
All applications must be sent electronically as one single PDF document not exceeding FIVE PAGES to: soulcommunity@souluganda.org with an email heading marked “Application: Finance and Operations Manager”.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Deadline: 31st October 2023