Job Description
Responsibilities & Deliverables
Strategic Finance Leadership (30%)
- Develop financial planning models that drive confidence in Heifer Africa's business strategy.
- Lead the finance transformation process to optimize resource allocation, efficiency, and financial sustainability.
- Set up and strengthen a locally led function to enhance frontline capacity and decision-making.
- Provide financial insights to senior leadership to drive strategic decisions and business growth.
Operational Excellence (20%)
- Design and implement risk management, audit, and business reporting processes to drive operational excellence across regional and country operations.
- Ensure internal controls and risk management frameworks are effective.
- Ensure financial reporting is accurate, timely, and in compliance with both internal and external regulatory requirements.
- Implement and optimize financial management tools and systems to improve operational efficiency and financial transparency.
- Support country finance teams in the financial management of donor-funded projects, ensuring compliance with grant requirements.
- Oversee financial operations across the Africa region, ensuring compliance with global, regional, and country-specific financial regulations and policies.
- Lead initiatives to streamline financial processes, improve cost efficiency, and drive operational effectiveness.
- Implement digital finance solutions to enhance financial management capabilities.
Business Partnering and Stakeholder Management (20%)
- Act as a trusted financial advisor to Regional and Country Directors, providing data-driven financial insights and solutions.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including program, fundraising, and operations, to align financial strategies with organizational goals.
- Manage expectations and relationships with global, regional, and country-level stakeholders, ensuring alignment with Heifer International’s mission and strategic priorities.
- Drive a culture of financial accountability and performance across the Africa region.
Deliver Sustainable Locally Led Finance Function aligned to Business Transformation (10%)
- Design and implement a locally led finance function that enhances agility and decision-making at country levels.
- Support the setup of a regional finance organization that integrates private sector best practices with development sector financial management principles.
Capacity Building and Talent Development (15%)
- Develop and implement training programs to enhance financial capability and business partnering skills within country finance teams.
- Lead, mentor, and support finance teams to strengthen their technical expertise and strategic financial management skills.
- Foster a high-performance culture focused on continuous learning, innovation, and financial excellence.
- Establish talent development strategies to build a pipeline of future finance leaders within the organization.
- Implement best practices for knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and professional growth across regional finance teams.
- Ensure finance teams are equipped with the latest financial management tools and systems to optimize efficiency and effectiveness in delivering Heifer International’s mission.
Any Other Assigned Function (5%)
- May perform other job-related duties as assigned.
Minimum Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Management Accounting, or Business Administration.
- Master’s degree highly preferred.
- Professional certifications such as CFA, ACCA, or CIMA are required.
- 20 years of experience in financial leadership roles, with a mix of experience in large, locally led finance organizations in both the private and development sectors.
- Extensive experience in designing and implementing locally led finance functions across multiple markets.
- Proven expertise in strategic finance management, including insights-driven modeling, budgeting, forecasting, risk management, and financial performance analysis.
- Strong business partnering experience, working closely with cross-functional teams to drive financial decision-making.
- Experience in setting up a global finance organization, including structuring financial processes and governance frameworks.
- Strong knowledge of financial management tools and systems, including ERP and digital finance solutions.
Preferred Requirements
- Demonstrated ability to drive business transformation and implement financial efficiency initiatives.
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, with experience managing regional and country-specific financial expectations.
- Experience in managing donor-funded projects and ensuring compliance with grant regulations.
- Strong leadership, team-building, and mentoring skills to develop finance team capacity and capabilities.
Key Behavioural Competencies
- Accountability
- Professional Excellence
- Humility
- Customer Orientation
- Empathy
- Innovation