Finance Manager job at Child’s i Foundation Full Time

Background

Child’s i works with government and national partners to highlight the harm and cost of orphanages in Uganda and globally. We are helping to reimagine the whole child protection and care system, repurpose orphanages as community and educational facilities, reintegrate children home and rebuild services at the heart of communities. These initiatives seek to strengthen families and ensure children are protected, healthy and educated. Our programs address the root causes of poverty, strengthen communities to prevent family separation and ultimately reduce the institutionalization of children in Uganda.

Job title: Finance Manager

Location: Head Office

Department: Finance

Reports to: Head of People, Culture, Governance & Operations

Direct reports: Accountant & Finance Officer

JOB PURPOSE:

The main purpose of the role is to ensure and enable effective financial management of the organisation, including budgeting & planning, accounting, reporting, internal controls and grant management.

KEY JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1.Budgeting & planning:

Ensure that the organisation has realistic, accurate budgets in place to support proposals and guide spending.

• Support departmental budget holders to develop activity based budgets based on approved strategies and plans, using Child’s i activity based budgeting templates.
• Monitoring implementation of donor agreements and resource utilisation. Highlight variances, provide analyses and recommend reallocation of resources
• Develop Child’s i overheads budget based on historical costs adjusted for known changes
• Manage financial aspects of budget development for new proposals. This may include support sub-grant partners to develop activity based budgets for incorporation into proposals
• Maintain of a coding map for each donor budget, describing the linkage and relationship between the codes we report against and the QuickBooks codes.
• Share coding maps with relevant programmes staff with responsibility for requisition or approving expenditure, and budget holders.
• Check the accuracy, logic and coding of budgets developed by others
• Consolidate departmental budgets into a master budget
• Coordinating budget revision and forecast on a quarterly basis
• Ensuring the organisation has sufficient cash available to meet its obligations by submitting requests to Child’s i UK and donors

2. Accounting:

Ensure that all financial transactions of CiF are accurately reflected in the accounting system on a timely basis, supported by properly kept files of supporting documents.

• Ensure coding structure meets the organisations needs and requirements in terms of reporting on performance and position, and managing risks associated with debtors and creditors, suggesting changes as appropriate
• Confirm correct coding on income and expenditure transactions prior to posting to the system, including code, activity and class, with reference to donor budgets and coding maps.
• Ensure that files of supporting documents are sensibly organised, properly labelled and correctly maintained
• Prepare the payroll based on information about staff changes provided from managers, ensuring all calculations are correct and deductions properly made and remitted in accordance with statutory requirements.
• Monitor control accounts to confirm that balances are zero, following up all discrepancies
• Review and approve bank reconciliations each month
• Review accountabilities and cash balance at each petty cash top up
• Act as cheque signatory and first approver of online payments uploaded by the Finance Officer
• Chase up, receive, check, review and post returns from sub-grant partners
• Ensure the QuickBooks file is properly backed up and protected
• Review the month end checklists completed by Accounting staff and close off QuickBooks ledger after each month end.

3. Financial management and Reporting

Ensure that financial reports are prepared for budget holders, CiF senior management, Board and donors as necessary, which correctly reflect the performance and position of the organisation.

Tasks include, but are not limited to;

• Working consultatively to ensure finance policy and procedures are robust and user friendly
• Proposing/contributing to amendments to the Finance Manual, and making changes as needed
• Ensuring both programme and operations staff are trained in relevant financial policies and procedures
• Ensuring transactions are processed and posted safely, accurately and efficiently, with proper value for money.
• Ensuring timely and accurate month end process, with hard close no later than 10th of each month
• Overseeing budget monitoring by ensuring monthly departmental Budget vs Actual reports are prepared, shared with budget holders, variances analysed and appropriate actions taken
• Ensuring monthly finance summary presented to Senior Leadership Team, including balance sheet, fund balances, income and expenditure against budget and explanations for variances
• Ensuring monthly finance review summary is shared with the Ugandan Board.
• Ensuring monthly management accounts and finance review summary are shared with Child’s i Foundation UK Finance Manager after review by Senior Leadership Team
• Ensuring quarterly reports for the Child’s i Foundation UK board are prepared in the agreed format, and presented to the CEO and Financial Controller in accordance with an agreed timetable
• Ensuring KPIs are defined, tracked and reported on appropriately

4. Risk & Compliance

Responsible for identification and mitigation of certain elements of risk management and ensuring compliance.

Tasks include but are not limited to;

• Being aware of relevant taxation, legal and other regulatory requirements for NGOs in Uganda and ensuring compliance with requirements
• Ensuring timely filing of audited financial statements and annual returns
• Ensuring audit findings and recommendations are actioned
• Working with Director HR & Operations to ensure that all significant financial risks are logged and tracked on the risk register
• Ensuring or undertaking internal audit checks, and other actions to mitigate fraud risk

5. Internal controls:

Ensure that the organization’s internal control policies are adequate, are complied with, and that internal risks are adequately mitigated.

• Read and be aware of relevant policy documents
• Ensure policy is followed
• Make recommendations for improvements where policy is not appropriate, ensuring that legal requirements are met and best practices are introduced and followed.
• Approve all payments, confirming authorisation by relevant budget holder where necessary, correct coding, budgeted, reasonable, supported, goods delivered where applicable, and correct
• Ensure compliance with all taxation requirements, including PAYE, BIKs, NSSF, WHT and LST
• Update standard format documents as needed, in liaison with users
• Liaise with auditors to ensure satisfactory completion of annual audit process

6. Logistics , Inventory and Procurement

• Ensure that CiF logistics capacity and systems are able to satisfy the programming requirements.
• Ensure goods and services procured are cost effective and of standard quality.
• Ensure procurement processes are effectively implemented.
• Review quotations submitted and make selection with procurement committee
• Sign LPOs on behalf of CiF
• Maintain a list of approved suppliers
• Work closely with the Procurement Committee in negotiating the best deals with suppliers.
• Ensure proper record keeping, maintenance and control of inventory.
• Ensure proper documentation and recording of fixed assets of the organisation.

7. Grant Management:

Ensure that the financial aspect of the relationship with donors is well maintained. Review of grant agreements before signing to identify areas where CiF systems need to be revised in order to be able to comply.

• Ensure clarity of responsibilities with respect to sub-grantees, and CiF’s ability to deliver on those responsibilities (e.g. fraud, error, capacity building)
• Work closely with programme staff to develop budgets for proposals, provide analysis for BvA reports, submit reports and cash requests, and respond to queries

8. Managing staff:

Ensure that accounts staff are supported and motivated to fulfil their roles. Plan departmental activities and deadlines such as leave, meetings & reports to ensure the effective and efficient running of the Finance department.

• Hold monthly departmental meetings; promoting and developing effective communication in the department, across CiF and externally
• Ensure departmental values are upheld and worked towards by all departmental staff
• Review, approve and track applications for leave
• Ensure that staff have clearly defined roles and responsibilities; working with HR to achieve
• Ensure staff are supported with appropriate training, mentoring and supervision; working with Programme/Services departments
• Supporting and motivating the finance team to fulfil their function, ensuring roles clearly defined, with objective setting, regular one-to-one meetings, departmental meetings, appraisals, leave management, mentoring and training as needed.
• Ensuring team activities and deadlines are well planned, such as leave, meetings, audits & reports to ensure the effective and efficient running of the team.
• Offering professional guidance and advice from a financial perspective; making recommendations and following through, taking a lead as may be directed from time to time, with agreed actions
• Promoting and developing effective communication in the team, across CiF Uganda and with CiF UK, and externally

9. Member of CiF Management Team

Play your part in the wider team, contributing to the achievement of CiF’s organisational objectives.

• Be aware of and understand CiF’s programmatic strategies and activities
• Attend and participate in management meetings
• Listen to and appreciate different viewpoints within the team
• Offer professional guidance and advice from a financial perspective; making recommendations and following through, taking a lead as may be directed from time to time, with agreed actions
• Work with the team to find creative, ethical, fair and win-win solutions to problems foreseen or arising
• Willingness and ability to dramatically change work practices and hours, and work with incoming surge teams, in the event of emergencies.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS (CONTACTS):

Internal contacts

• Accountant
• Finance Officer

External contacts

• 3rd party vendors
• Government agencies such as NSSF, URA

JOB SPECIFICATIONS:

Education, Knowledge & Working experience

• Qualified accountant (ACCA, CPA etc.)
• Finance or Business- related Degree e.g. BCom
• Good understanding of INGO accounting practices and requirements
• 3 years’ experience in Finance management position

Skills and Abilities

• Excellent Excel skills
• Excellent understanding of business and financial planning including strategic modelling.
• Excellent analytical skills – the ability to analyse complex financial data and design and produce effective management information.
• Excellent experience of budgeting and budget management.
• Excellent understanding of financial systems and procedures.
• Strong business acumen and the ability to contribute to strategic decisions.
• Excellent experience of computerised accounts packages like QuickBooks, Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to manage a complex and diverse workload and to work to tight deadlines.
• Ability to build a small, proactive team, motivating staff and working collaboratively with colleagues and providing support and advice as necessary.

Personal Attributes:

• Proactive, solution finder, motivated and committed to CiF cause
• Superior attention to detail
• Integrity and strong work ethics
• Understanding of confidentiality
• Adaptive

How to Apply

Send your application letter and CV ONLY to applications@childsifoundation.org. The closing date for applications is June 3, 2023 at 17:00 EAT. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Child’s i Foundation is committed to Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Tagged as: NGO Jobs