Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at ASA Microfinance (Rwanda) Limited:Deadline: 31-07-2020

Department

ASA International

Job Title

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Location

Rwanda

Reporting to:

Managing Director with a dotted line to Group CFO

Type of contract

Open-ended contract

Level/Grade

VI

Job purpose:

An integral part of the ASA International management team.  In charge of managing day to day financial management process, as well as providing strategic direction to ASAI management team.  Emphasis on Reporting, Financing, Budgeting, Group Reporting Cohesion, Development, and Timeliness.

Major responsibilities:

• Financial Strategy, Risk Management, and Regulatory Requirements:

 Plays a key role in the development of finance strategy for the Operation.  Develop operating plans for Accounts, Payroll, Data Management, and Budgeting in collaboration with local and group finance and accounts team.  Sets performance objectives for the team and creates annual execution plans.  Works closely in securing resources required to align department activities to overall organizational strategy.  Actively identifies and manages financial risks by overseeing ALCO and ALM with effective controls.  Correspond to local regulations, laws, and taxes.

• Financial Management:  Lead the development of the annual budget process.  Liaise strongly and regularly with group budgeting prepared by the Budget team.  Monitor annual planning and budgeting exercise of core funds.  Coordinate budgets and forecast preparation.  Seeks approval and guidance on the budget plan from Country CEO/MD and Group CFO.  Manage and supervise treasury functions and investment portfolios in ASAI country level.  Review lender documents, lender reporting.

• Financial Control and Reporting:  Monitor teams for timely execution of process activities (e.g. processing vouchers, releasing payments, manage credits), and adherence to policy guidelines.  Track progress against the execution plan and monitoring framework of each team.  Review finance metrics, covenants, and incident reports.  Take corrective action with CEO/MD to minimize deviations from plans.  Provide key financial and management reports on time.  Reviews and Signs off on timely Reporting Packs sent to Group.  Manage the Statutory and Group Audit and Review process.  Introduce efficient measures in Reporting.

• IT System Management: Closely work with IT team to ensure all financial reports are in order.  Work to digitalize processes in the system and ensure a smooth transition into IT systems.  Develop the system.

• Process Improvement and Knowledge Management: Periodically review and revise Finance Policies and Procedures to ensure consistency with standards and best practices. Collect feedback from team members and internal customers on the efficacy of activities. Identify opportunities to improve the effectiveness of processes across departments in order to continuously improve the quality of service.  Apply internal control procedures to minimize risk.  Participate in bi-weekly video conferencing with Group CFO on recent transactions, updates, progress, ideas, and issues.

• People Management: Identify, prioritize, and deploy action items for competency development of team members; Cascade department goals to individuals, allocate resources, and appraise performance against set targets.  Guide on-the-job training for team members.  Work closely with other departments.  Identify, develop, and promote high performers in a team in order to build an efficient team.

Major challenges

• Need to work under constant time pressure to ensure all deadlines are met.
• Working with a different group of stakeholders and manage expectations.
• Manage dotted relations in the Group level.

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

• Maintain and Strengthen financial control in ASAI Countries
• Ensure flawless and timely audit completion at both statutory and group level
• Ensure on-time high-quality reporting for the Statutory and Group level.
• Diversify funding sources in country level and manage investor/lender relations
• Effectively comply with all fiscal stipulations
• Create or work towards new funding sources for business
• Preparation and Submission of Board and Audit committee documents on time
• Local Board reporting, presentations and board pack

Decision making

• Decision was taken independently:

Day to day operational issues on managing finance and accounts department of the respective operation

• Decision referred to the Supervisor:

On major strategic issues impacting on country and group profitability

Performance appraiser for this role

Managing Director in consultation with Group CFO

Additional responsibilities

• Special assignments by Board Chair/Executive Directors/Group Chief

   Financial Officer/Directors

Number of reporters:

Direct: (Accounts Officer and Assistant Accounts Officer)

Indirect: (Branch Heads)

Education

Graduated in Finance or Accounting (Bachelor’s Degree) but a Post-graduate Degree is preferred (Master’s Degree).

Being a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or fully completed ACCA with proofs.

Salary and Allowances

Competitive salary compared to other MFIs

In-house Medical Insurance covering 90% of medical expenses for him/her and legal dependents. 

Requirements – skills, knowledge, abilities – for chief financial officer

• Proven working experience in similar positions not below five (5) years;
• Solid experience and having a certificate of Modern Applied Banking Software and MS Office particularly MS Excel;
• Having completed CPA / ACCA is a must.
• The ability of implementation of the group policy for the group reporting;
• Demonstrable ability to communicate, present and influence key stakeholders at all levels of the company, including executive;
• Proven ability to juggle multiple account management projects at a time, while maintaining sharp attention to details;
• Excellent listening, negotiation and presentation skills;
• Strong verbal and written communication skills;
• Possess excellent understanding of MFI, banking and financial regulations;
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, accept and discharge substantial responsibilities, prioritize work assignments, meet deadlines, and exercise professional judgment;
• Be Rwandan by Nationality.