Finance Officer – Kigali, Rwanda
Company Overview
The Pharo Foundation (the “Foundation”) is a privately funded entrepreneurial organisation that runs philanthropic programmes as well as for-profit social enterprises. The Vision of the Foundation is an economically vibrant and inclusive Africa. The Mission is to achieve the Vision by investing in the human and physical capital of Africa, with a strong focus on job creation
Established in 2011 as a UK based non-profit, the Foundation has since made a strategic shift to directly design and implement its own programmes to ensure greater engagement with communities, better results and increased accountability.
At the end of 2019, the Foundation also started its Pharo Ventures franchise to prioritise sectors where the Foundation believes a real impact can be made by establishing self-sustaining businesses, which focus on job and economic value creation.
The key strategic pillars for the philanthropic side of the Foundation are education, health, water and agriculture. We have recently established a new modern office in the iconic Kigali Heights to support our strategic plans and are now seeking dynamic and talented professionals who are eager to pursue impactful careers with the Foundation as we expand in Rwanda.
Headquartered in London, the Foundation has an operational head office in Nairobi (Kenya) with country offices in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and Assosa) and Somaliland (Hargeisa).
Position Summary
The Finance Officer role is an ambitious challenge for a self-driven individual who seeks to leverage on their deep knowledge and understanding of local accounting principles and tax regulations to ensure that the Foundation complies with the required regulatory standards.
Working in a collaborative fashion with highly committed colleagues, this position offers a career enriching opportunity to a resourceful individual who is seeking to work within international standards and relishes the challenge of managing multiple, time sensitive assignments with the strongest attention to detail and with the capacity to independently prioritise.
Role: Finance Officer (Kigali)
Reporting to: Finance and Administration Manager (Kigali) Functional Relationships: Country Representative (Kigali) Head of Education (Kigali), Office Manager (Kigali) and School Principals (Rwanda)
Direct Reports: School Accountants/Cashiers (Matrix reporting)
Key Duties and Responsibilities
- Prepare and process all financial transactions and submits these for further review and appropriate approvals.
- Post daily transactions in the accounting system on a regular basis, review and seek approvals where required.
- Closely monitor the Pharo Schools’ financial systems and ensures that they are regularly updated.
- Track outstanding fees on a daily basis and shares with the relevant teams for further action.
- Support and supervise the Pharo School’s Accountant/Cashier to perform all accounting functions as per the guidelines and procedures outlined by the Foundation.
- Prepare and ensure the schools’ payrolls are processed and settled within the agreed period.
- Ensure that electronic and paper filing records for all accounting transactions and banking information are fully documented, complete, robust, well structured, transparent, scanned, and archived for easy accessibility.
- Process and manage petty cash and sundry expenses and ensures it is reconciled on a daily basis.
- Process financial transactions and ensure that budget holders use the right project codes before approval(s).
- Ensure monthly controls and reconciliations relating to petty cash and the bank accounts of the Foundation are performed accurately.
- Prepare the monthly schools’ income and finance reports as per the Foundation’s guidelines.
- Support the review and development of financial policies and makes sure they are implemented to maintain integrity and transparency throughout the organisation.
- Reconcile school fees accounts within five working days after the end of the month.
- Monitor the movement of the relevant bank accounts and takes corrective action where necessary.
- Ensure compliance in all tax matters and submits tax schedules to the supervisor for relevant approvals.
- Other ad-hoc finance related tasks as may be required by the supervisor from time to time
Qualification Requirements
- The ideal candidate should possess a first degree in Accounting, Finance or Business Administration and or related equivalent. Membership of a professional association/certification in accountancy or finance related certification would be an added advantage.
- S/he must possess a minimum of five (5) years related professional experience, preferably within a multicultural, international organisation.
- Experience in using an accounting software package like QuickBooks, Tally, Sage, Xero being the ideal but not mandatory.
- Strong financial analytical skills.
- Excellent proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office packages: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
- A self-starter with initiative and the ability to multi-task, work under pressure and meet deadlines.
- Excellent communication skills and comfortable working with senior level colleagues
- Be fluent in reading, speaking and writing in English.
- Strong numeracy and literacy skills.
Behavioural Competencies
- Dedicated team player with demonstrable experience in setting up finance procedures and systems.
- Problem solver and creative thinker with the ability to get results in fast-paced environments.
- A self-assured, internally motivated and passionate individual driven to succeed and make a difference.
- An individual with high levels of integrity, professionalism, resilience, accountability and determination.
- An individual with strong work ethics and a mature, professional proactive attitude.
- Extremely organised and efficient individual with high attention to detail.
Application Procedure
Due to the expected high volume of applications, we regret that we will only be able to contact shortlisted candidates. Review of applications will begin as soon as they are received and only complete applications will be reviewed. In the event that an outstanding applicant is identified early in the search process, we reserve the right to appoint before the deadline. For this reason, we encourage interested and suitably qualified candidates to apply at the earliest possible opportunity.
Please send the information listed below, as a single PDF file to the following email address: recruiting.rw@pharofoundation.org and add the job title ‘Finance Officer- Kigali’ to the email subject line.
1. A detailed CV and Cover Letter
2. An essay of no more than 1,000 words outlining:
- What experience have you gained that makes you the most qualified candidate for the role?
- What challenges do you foresee as a finance officer in managing increasingly complex financial accounting tasks in a growing international organisation and what steps will you take to successfully resolve these based on your experience and knowledge?
3. A one-page list of five references with current addresses, phone numbers, and email contacts.
Deadline is 30th June 2021.
