Senior Manager, Finance & Grants –Nairobi-Kenya or Dhaka, Bangladesh

Senior Manager, Finance & Grants –Nairobi-Kenya or Dhaka, Bangladesh

BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative

Exciting Career Opportunity

Join the BRAC Ultra Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI) and be a part of a global movement to eradicate extreme poverty. We are on the hunt for a dynamic national professional to join our Nairobi office, Kenya or Dhaka , Bangladesh. The role is pivotal in supporting operations and administrative functions critical to our scale-up strategy. You will work alongside an international team, making an impact across continents.

We're seeking a strategic and committed Senior Manager, Finance & Grants to enhance our vibrant team. Your mission will be to lead financial management, budgeting, and grant administration processes for the UPGI Programme. The position will ensure compliance with donor requirements, manage financial control and associated risks, oversee reporting, and contribute to strategic decision-making. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in managing complex grants and financial operations in the development or nonprofit sector. The position will also be involved in business process improvement and special projects from time to time.

The Senior Manager, Finance & Grants will report directly to the Director of Finance & Operations. Additionally, the role involves developing close working relationships and seeking technical inputs and guidance from UPGI’s Operations team members across different regions. Excellent communication and negotiation skills are crucial, as the position requires liaising with various stakeholders and ensuring compliance with organizational policies, donor polices and industry regulations.

This role demands a detail-oriented individual with exceptional multitasking abilities and excellent communication skills to ensure a smooth execution and delivery of services with a customer-centric approach.

 

About BRAC and the Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative

BRAC is an award-winning international non-governmental development organization, with the vision of a world free from all forms of exploitation and discrimination, where everyone has the opportunity to realize their potential.  BRAC is a leader in developing and implementing cost-effective, evidence-based programs to assist poor and disadvantaged communities in low-income countries, including in conflict-prone and post-disaster settings. It is an organization of and for the people of the Global South, pioneering new development and social enterprise approaches to equip communities to achieve prosperity. As well as being the world's biggest NGO by the number of staff and people directly reached, BRAC has regularly been ranked the number one NGO in the world by the Geneva-based NGO Advisor, an independent organization committed to highlighting innovation, impact, and governance in the non-profit sector.  BRAC retained the top spot in 2020 among the top 500 NGOs for the fifth consecutive year.

BRAC was founded in Bangladesh in 1972 by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed. It started its first program outside of Bangladesh in Afghanistan in 2002 and has since reached more than 6.5 million people in 11 countries in Africa and Asia. BRAC has a holistic approach to development that uses a wide array of programs that include microfinance, education, health, agriculture, gender, and human rights. BRAC invests in communities’ own human and material resources, catalysing lasting change and creating an ecosystem in which the poor have the chance to seize control of their own lives.

The Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative is a global unit within BRAC International that was founded in 2016 to build off the success of BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation program in Bangladesh. Graduation is an evidence-based, scalable intervention proven to break the poverty trap for the long term. So far, BRAC’s flagship Graduation program has impacted over 2 million Bangladeshi households—totalling over 9 million people. To help eradicate extreme poverty, BRAC UPGI is working to scale globally by integrating Graduation into existing government programs and help 21 million more people lift themselves from extreme poverty by 2026. At present UPGI has interventions with governments in South Africa, Rwanda, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and India.

 Primary Responsibilities

Accounting & Reporting:

●        Responsible for overall financial accounting and reporting of the UPGI program along with UPGI’s 8 Country Offices,

●        Ensuring program progress reports are prepared on a timely basis for the  8 countries and also BvA conversations are held periodically at least quarterly with the country teams,

●        Regularly report to and provide financial insights and recommendations to the Director of Finance and Operations and senior management contributing to strategic planning and decision-making processes.

●        Liaison with UPGI BI country finance teams and non-BI countries to resolve issues raised in day-to-day operations,

●        Ensure that the accounts payable management is meeting the required thresholds leading to timely payments and reimbursements to both internal and external vendors.

●        Manage cash-flow and treasury functions, including liquidity planning and associated risk management.

 

Compliance & Risk Management:

●        Working directly with the External/Internal Auditors for donor audits and providing necessary support to complete annual audit processes within the deadline and resolve any audit findings.

●        Support the implementation of audit recommendations and periodically providing status of the audit progress,

●         Ensure that financial controls are in place for the entire UPGI program in all the locations

●        Conduct desk reviews and in country review to provide assurance of the Country internal control environment,

●        Ensure compliance with statutory requirements, including filing of documents with the appropriate authorities as required.

●        Support the grants manager in ensuring compliance of partner budgets and financial reports to Brac International and donor requirement as per the sub agreements,

 

Systems Management/Business Process Improvements and Special Projects

●        Identify operations/process and system improvement areas for the finance and other operational functions for all UPGI countries and manage change implementation process.

Provide inputs to the IT team in developing various software modules like procurement, Travel, Finance & Grants, budget management as integrated systems.

 

Budgets & Grants Management:

●        Working directly with proposal development teams/grants team and providing necessary support to develop proposal budgets ensuring submission to donors within given deadlines, ensuring budgets follow donor requirements, proper costing in respect to UPGI 8 country contexts.

●        Ensuring timely submission of all the donor financial reports on a timely basis,

●        Ensure fair share cost allocation between various donor grants for all cost allocation/recoveries as agreed with various donors,

●        Coordinate the annual budgeting process for UPGI,

●        Coordinate the mid-year forecasting process

Capacity Building:

●        Undertake capacity building for staff and other stakeholders on organizational policies, procedures and systems from time to time,

Other (Safeguarding Responsibilities):

●        Ensure the safety of team members from any harm, abuse, neglect, harassment, and exploitation to achieve the program’s goals of safeguarding implementation. 

●        Practice, promote and endorse the issues of safeguarding policy among team members and ensure the implementation of safeguarding standards in every course of action.  

●        Follow the safeguarding reporting procedure in case any reportable incident takes place and encourage others to do so.

 

Qualifications

●        Bachelor's degree in Finance or Accounting, or a related field.

●        Minimum of eight [8] years of progressive experience in finance or similar roles.

●        Accounting certification is mandatory, either CPA/ACCA/ACMA,

●        An MBA will be considered a strong asset.

Other Key Skills & Competencies

●        In-depth understanding of procurement processes, contract management, and travel logistics is an added advantage,

●        Proficiency in MS Office, project management tools, and procurement systems.

●        Excellent communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment.

●        Proven ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities simultaneously while maintaining attention to detail and accuracy.

●        Diplomatic, with strong interpersonal skills and a high degree of political sensitivity  

●        Strong English skills and local language fluency required 

●        Exceptional communication and representational skills

●        Ability and willingness to travel required.

 

BRAC is committed to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share the same commitment. We believe every stakeholder and every member of the communities we work with has the right to be protected from all forms of harm, abuse, neglect, harassment, and exploitation - regardless of age, race, religion, and gender, status as an individual with a disability or ethnic origin. Therefore, our recruitment process includes extensive reference and background checks, self-disclosure of prior issues regarding sexual or other misconduct and criminal records and our values are a part of our Performance Management System.