Finance Manager, Liberia

Location :Liberia/ Lagos, NigeriaBridge Liberia

In 2016, Liberia’s President and its Ministry of Education announced Partnership Schools for Liberia (PSL), an innovative public private partnership designed to transform the primary public education system. Eight education providers - with proven track records in delivering high-quality education - were paired with public primary schools across Liberia; while teachers remained on the Government payroll. After a change of national Government, PSL became the Liberian Education Advancement Programme (LEAP).

LEAP is now in its sixth year; supporting 312 schools overall across the country; within that we support 60,800 students. Our schools are based in some of the most remote counties, such as Maryland in the south-east.

Government teachers have been re-trained, supported and equipped to succeed in the classroom. Four Independent Studies and Randomised Control Trials have shown the efficacy of the programme. For us there was a statistically significant improvement in learning outcomes.  In a gold standard RCT, students supported in our programme were found to benefit by an equivalent of 2.5 years more of learning in just 3 years.

LEAP was designed to be self-sustaining once the Ministry of Education raises its education budget to $100 a child per year; until that moment it remains reliant on philanthropic support.

Today, we work across the country, in all of Liberia’s 15 counties, to ensure that all children have access to a high-quality education and that Sustainable Development Goal 4 focussed on Quality Education becomes a reality for all children in Liberia.

You will join a group of dynamic and passionate Liberians taking concrete action to help address the education crisis in Liberia and ensure a better future for the children of Liberia.

Group

The Finance Group at Bridge partners with country and global leadership to achieve financial sustainability of our operations and make our mission come true. We provide strategic partnership to global leadership on raising capital and actionable feedback on our financial performance. We are continually focused on judicious use of resources whether for each one of our territories or for the entire organisation.

Across our rapidly scaling multi-unit enterprise, we provide leadership to build a world-class financial infrastructure. This includes the design and development of financial systems, policies, procedures (taking into account current and fast growing high volume transactions, teams, numbers of geographically distributed business units) and provision of shared services for financial operations by a centralised team specialising in Accounting, Accounts Payable, Payroll, Treasury and Financial Planning & Analysis.

About the Role

The Finance Manager holds a critically important role in Bridge Liberia. This position is responsible for gathering, reviewing, analysing and presenting financial and non-financial information from various sources within and outside the company and make recommendations that will positively impact the company.

The Finance Manager is also able to dive deep into details and think at the ground level. He/she should be able to assist in daily operations, budget monitoring, financial planning & analysis and timely closure. The Finance Manager will report directly to the Regional Director, Finance.

What You Will Do

• Ensure accuracy of monthly, and annual financial statements (Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flows) in accordance with IFRS
  • General Ledger and Balance sheet reviews and reconciliation
• Overseeing supply chain and procurement processes including import documentation, Local Purchase Order approvals, vendor contracting & onboarding in accordance with applicable laws and standard operating procedures
• Be a business partner to other functional leaders in the entity. Support good decision-making with appropriate data analysis
  • Support business expansion strategies by forecasting and assessing the financial impact of key decisions
  • Prepare presentations & narrative detailing the story behind the numbers for the Liberian entity.
  • Control spending to stay within budget and committed expectations
• Develop and implement internal control policies, guidelines, and procedures for all financial reporting related activities
• Ensure that systems and controls are in place to minimize and mitigate risk of fraud/leakage, as well as proactively audit key functions and accounts
• Day to day operational responsibilities of accounts: advances, reimbursements, payments, etc.
• Support timely closure of books of account monthly and at the end of the year
• Coordinate and supervise quarterly stock take and reconciliation
• Manage the external audit process for financial statements; ensure that the Company is in compliance with internal policies and relevant regulations.

What You Should Have

• At least 7 to 10 years of experience within finance/ corporate finance, including experience as Finance Manager
• Advanced proficiency with MS Excel/ you are fast and efficient working in Excel and know there is always more to learn
• Deep experience leading and managing the financial operations for a Company with hyper growth and complex challenges across a broad scope of work
• Degree in a business/finance related field – e.g. accounting; MBA is a plus
• Professional qualifications: ACA, ACCA, CIMA
• Strong background in financial management with a thorough understanding of financial regulations
• Procurement and supply chain experience with deep understanding in inventory management
• Success operating in environments with high risk of fraud and leakage, particularly in emerging markets

You’re also

• A detailed doer – You have a track record of getting things done. You’re organized and responsive. You take ownership of every idea you touch and execute it to a fine level of detail, setting targets, engaging others, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. You can multi-task dozens of such projects at once and never lose sight of the details. Likely, you have some experience in a start-up or other rapid-growth company.
• A creative problem-solver – Growing any business from scratch comes with massive and constant challenges. On top of that, we work in often fragile, sometimes volatile low-resource communities and with complex government systems. You need to be flexible and ready to get everything done effectively, quickly, and affordably with the materials at hand.
• A relentless advocate – The children we serve and teachers we empower never leave your mind. You know them, get them, have shared a meal with them (or would be happy to in the future). You would never shrink back from shaking a parent’s hand or picking up a crying child, no matter what the person was wearing or looked like. Every decision you make considers their benefit, experience, and value.
• A malleable learner – You believe you can always do better. You welcome constructive criticism and provide it freely to others. You know you only get better tomorrow when others point out where you’ve missed things or failed today.
• A data-driven decision-maker – When making decisions, you don’t rely on your intuition alone. You collect data, you analyze it and make decisions with clear justifications.
• A curious investigator – You ask why a lot. You don’t just take what you see and accept it. You wonder why it is that way, and are aware that the world we see is created by human choices and actions – and it could be different. You wonder, and see the world as wonderful even when you want to change a part of it that is unjust.

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