Job description

About FSD Africa 

FSD Africa works to reduce poverty by strengthening Africa’s financial markets. Established in 2012 and supported by UK Aid, FSD Africa is a specialist development agency working to build and strengthen financial markets across sub-Saharan Africa. They work to reduce poverty through a ‘market systems development’ approach, which means they aim to address the structural, underlying causes of poverty by improving how financial market systems function.

They believe that investing in building a financial system that is transparent, stable and accessible creates the conditions for a fair and sustainable future, where inequality is reduced, corruption is tackled, and where individuals, businesses and governments alike are able to prepare for future challenges, from climate change to political instability.

From their headquarters in Nairobi, their team of financial sector experts work alongside governments, business leaders, regulators and policymakers to design and build ambitious programmes that make financial markets work better for everyone. Depending on the project, they can provide a combination of grants, investment capital, market insights or technical assistance to ensure they achieve their objectives.

They focus their work where the need is greatest, and where they believe the potential for impact is the most significant. FSDA has a specific mandate to invest in breakthrough, innovative ideas that they believe can have transformative impact. By sharing risk with key partners, they’re able to address more difficult, persistent, or higher-risk challenges, in more unstable or fragile geographies, than traditional development finance organisations.

About the role

The Senior Manager, Finance provides strategic and operational leadership of the finance department and is responsible for the day-to-day management of the financial operations, controls, and procedures of FSD Africa and FSD Network. The role involves developing and implementing financial policy, ensuring compliance with internal policies, legislation, and other regulatory requirements; and providing high value financial advice to; FCDO, senior management, and the Board of Directors. The role holder will be responsible for financial planning, analysis,reporting, and management, under the direction of the CFO.

The role directly reports to the Chief Financial Officer and indirectly to the Chief Executive Officer. The Senior Finance Manager will directly manage a Financial Accountant and Management/Investment Accountant as well as indirectly manage an Accountant. Some of the other key stakeholders that this role will engage with include FCDO Advisors, New FSD Steering Committees & Boards, Implementing partners,External Auditors, External Tax Accountants and Internal auditors.

Key Responsibilities: 

1. Financial & Resource Management

• Lead and develop budgets and financial plans that demonstrate value for money; ensuring alignment with FSD Africa’s strategic objectives and compliance with relevant policies and guidelines.
• Coordinate the planning and preparation of the annual organisational budgets for FSD Africa and FSD Network; ensuring that financial plans have been critically reviewed and are consistent with FSD Africa guidelines.
• Develop and maintain an effective resource allocation model that delivers business priorities and ensure that FSD Africa’s incoming funds are effectively managed and monitored, and appropriate action is taken to adequately avail resources, anticipate shortages, and manage issues that might impact on the financial wellbeing of FSD Africa and FSD Network.
• Work collaboratively with the Financial and Management Accountants to ensure timely dissemination of accurate financial information and analysis to support effective decision making as well as ensuring that financial reports meet the requirements of the Board, funders, and senior management.
• Develop financial management tools and approaches which will guide the FSD Africa/Network team and implementing partners in applying best practice.
• Support the CFO in general accounting functions including asset and balance sheet management, financial reporting, investments, internal controls, checks, and audits.
• Lead the effective management of all FSD Africa/Network’s tax affairs, ensuring compliance with MOU requirements & restricted grants, FSD Africa/Network & FSDA policies, tax regulatory requirements (including withholding tax and PAYE, Professional standards (such as IFRS, IAS, etc.).

2. Business Planning & Risk Management

• Develop, implement, and maintain a framework of financial controls and procedures for managing financial risk, which ensure that FSD Africa applies appropriate measures to protect its assets from fraud and loss.
• Identify and monitor immediate and longer-term financial risks associated with business decisions and opportunities by pinpointing exactly how and where risk will impact, incorporating the risk into forecasting models, and developing risk minimisation measures.
• Work collaboratively with the CFO, and Pillar heads to develop and implement a risk management framework for the finance function, making sure that appropriate strategic financial and operational response procedures are in place should a risk event occur.
• Work with the Risk function to ensure the development of a set of core financial and risk analytics to inform investment and strategic decision making.

3. Strategy and Policy Development

• Work with CFO and senior management to develop financial management strategies to deliver FSD Africa and Network priorities, and ensure compliance with relevant legislation and statutory requirements within an acceptable level of risk.
• Contribute to strategy development to support FSD Africa/Network’s goals and objectives through the provision of timely and accurate management information or policy papers for meaningful financial decision making by Board, senior management, and implementing partners.
• Formulate an overall financial strategy that meets strategic programme objectives and ensures best use of FSD Africa’s and FSD Network’s available capital resources and partnership opportunities.
• Support the CFO in advising and supporting senior management by aligning financial plans with FSD Africa/Network’s overall strategy, and ensuring that policy initiatives are analysed and appropriately addressed.
• Develop and implement appropriate financial policy frameworks, processes, and systems to ensure that all financial activities comply with statutory requirements and best practice; support the CFO in refining the Finance Manual from time to time.

4. Relationship Management

• Forge productive relationships with relevant stakeholders to enable the effective delivery of programme outcomes through collaboration, knowledge- and information-sharing.
• Support the CFO to articulate and, where necessary, refine, FSD Africa/Network’s distinctive value proposition, MOU requirements, and restricted grants.
• Forge close working relationships with FCDO as well as other UK government-funded investment-related programmes such as TradeMark East Africa, GuarantCo, CDC etc, learning from these to refine financial management approaches and strive for “best practice” on a continuous basis.
• Through effective two-way communication, establish productive links with FSD Africa Pillar heads and FSD Network CEOs, such that service delivery to them can be constantly improved.
• Leverage personal relationships in the development finance world to maximise possibilities for co-funding; build sustainability; and increase effectiveness and technical capacity of FSD Africa.

5. Leadership and People Management

• Lead the Finance team, of staff and consultants, in a manner that empowers them to add value to FSD Africa and deliver high standards of performance.
• Ensure that the finance function is resourced with the expertise necessary to deliver high quality, timely support through a combination of recruitment, procurement and management of staff and consultants.
• Plan and organise the work of the finance function to accomplish strategic goals and targets in the most cost-effective and impactful manner possible as well as ensuring that each team member is provided with clarity concerning goals and expectations of their role in achieving results, standards and behaviour.
• Support and build the capacity of team members to enable them to give of their best e.g. by encouraging and praising good performance, coaching, training, assisting staff to prevent or resolve problems, providing resources, tools, and equipment.
• Monitor and review performance and, in particular, hold team members accountable for achieving results and meeting standards by taking decisive action in case of poor performance.
• Develop a team culture that rewards hard work and delivery, and that safeguards FSD Africa’s reputation with zero tolerance for unethical behaviour, while still rewarding creativity and nurturing intellectual curiosity.

Does this sound like you?

• A minimum of 8 years of progressively responsible experience in financial management, accounting, reporting, financial analysis and planning preferably in IFRS environment culminating in at least 3 years with leadership responsibility for financial management.
• At least 5 years’ track record of success in senior management coupled with experience in complex organisations with international presence.
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of financial markets, IFRS and tax management.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate and lead high performing teams and manage external stakeholders.
• Experience in formulating, developing, and implementing new financial strategies and plans with a 3- to 10-year scope.
• Excellent interpersonal skill and proven record of establishing and maintaining collaborative and trusted relationships with implementing partners, donors, private sector players and government counterparts.
• Demonstrated ability to innovate and show resilience in face of change or obstacles as well as developing innovative solutions and approaches.
• Demonstrated track record of rigorous project management skills and achievement of results.
• Proven experience developing Demonstrated risk-calculating skills and ability to evaluate emerging high development impact opportunities that are aligned with FSD Africa’s strategy.

Nice to have:

• Previous experience in international not for profit as well as prior donor engagement exposure particularly FCDO-funded projects, and / or exposure to capital markets.
• Experience of working in a multicultural environment.

Persons of all gender, race, sex, orientation, age, and identity are encouraged to apply.