ABOUT SPARK MICROGRANTS_
Spark MicroGrants believes in a world where everyone lives with dignity and determines their own positive future. Decades of prescriptive aid have sidelined the poor from the very programs meant to uplift them. For nearly a decade, Spark MicroGrants has been pioneering a new approach to international aid. We believe in local solutions and catalyzing rural villages facing poverty into action. After years of refining a community organizing and seed funding model for rural village action, we are garnering demand from emerging nations and leading civil society organizations to train and support them to adapt and deploy the approach at scale.
At the heart of Spark’s model, the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), are ‘town-hall’ style weekly meetings, in which women, men, young, old, plan together for their community’s future. Each village elects a leadership committee, establishes a village savings account, and launches a project of their choice. Members receive training on financial management, transparency, leadership, village planning, and advocacy. Each village then receives US$8,000 in seed funds to turn project ideas into reality and additional management support.
Spark is now active in 320+ villages in 6 countries, benefiting over 230,000 lives. In the next three years, we seek to accelerate the growth of this approach, through i) establishing a global Community of Practice based on cutting edge facilitation and training design, and ii) establishing a national scale program in Rwanda – our flagship program – in partnership with the Government of Rwanda. Spark is seeking an ambitious and impact-driven leader in Rwanda to scale the program and establish a national framework to be incorporated in Government policy and financing.
As a team, we share a set of common values that shape ‘how’ we work. These are:
- Facilitators. We don’t impose; we enable others to generate impact.
- Community-driven. We are motivated by what is best for the community.
- Process-centered. The how of what we do is just as important as the what.
- Our vision and values live in everything we do.
- We seek opportunities and are willing to take risks to serve our community partners better.
ABOUT THE ROLE_
Spark is seeking a Finance Manager who will be responsible for ensuring that day-to-day accounting operations and payments are done in accordance with Spark Microgrants Policies. Critical to the role will be managing office and administrative functions, payment systems and directly overseeing Programmatic Finance. They will also collaborate with others in the Operations Team at Spark to develop and implement strategies to improve operational and financial efficiency. This role reports to the East Africa Finance Manager.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:_
Financial Management:
- Banking and Accounting, including but not limited to daily bookkeeping, petty cash handling and reconciliation, internet banking agent and correspondence responsibilities, and management of financial responsibilities for Rwanda.
- Team Finance Support, including but not limited to reviewing and approving expense reports per guidelines of the Organization, conducting finance training sessions at team meetings, managing country spending and updates on progress against budget goals, and communicating new policies and procedures to the team.
- Finance and Reporting, including but not limited to compiling monthly finance reports, preparing quarterly presentations for country retreats on progress against financial goals, and donor reporting
- Procurement; oversee the execution of procurement plans in compliance with the Spark Policies
Finance As a Support Functions:
- Review MicroGrant proposals, both implementation, and operating budgets, for consistency, accuracy, and alignment to the Organization’s policy and guidelines.
- Create and execute financial management skills training to internal teams and partner communities as needed.
- Verify MicroGrant disbursement request and disburse funds to Community Bank, Accounts/SACCO accounts.
- Ensure all files are compliant, including required documentation, and work with facilitators to document any variance explanations.
- Manage community audits by the field team and conduct file audits per internal policy. Assist on Rwanda Local Government training where needed
Strategic Planning:
- Assist in Annual Budgeting and Planning activities
- Help create Key Performance Indicators to measure the success of the Rwanda Program
- Raise value-add suggestions to enable programmatic success (reporting, process, procedures, policy)
Project Implementation
- Bookkeeping and Procurement
- Budgets and Payments
- Asset Management
- Programmatic Finance
- Reporting
- Compliance
QUALIFICATIONS/ SKILLS/EXPERIENCE:_
- Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Finance, Commerce or other related fields, ACCA is an added advantage
- Minimum of 5 years relevant experience
- Proficiency in Excel and Accounting software; experience with Oracle Netsuite is an added advantage
- Experience in and understanding of essential accounting principles, accounting systems, and Rwanda tax requirements
- Professional standard of finance ethics as well as the ability and willingness to enforce adherence to Spark Microgrants and donor policies and procedures
- You’ll never be bored – but we also respect and value work-life balance and your need for downtime, vacation, and reflection.
OTHER INFORMATION_
Location: Musanze, Rwanda.
Start Date: As soon as possible. We are looking for someone who is committed to this role for at least 3-4 years.
How to apply
Candidates should submit a CV and a cover letter detailing their interest and aptitude for this position by the link:https://sparkmicrogrants.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=29&source=aWQ9Nw%3D%3D
The deadline: 7th October 2021
