ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY
Under the supervision of the Regional Director, the Director of Business and Program Operations’ primary responsibility is setting, implementing, and overseeing the operational, financial, and compliance priorities for the Africa Program Management Unit (PMU) portfolio and supporting the Regional Director with setting the overall strategic priorities. The Director oversees the PMU’s business and program operations team in support of all projects in the Africa PMU.
LOGISTICS
Internews has a regional office in Nairobi, Kenya and headquarters offices in Washington, DC, London, UK, and Paris, France which support a hybrid workforce with staff working remotely, fully in-office, or partially remote. Our preference is to hire a candidate based in the Nairobi area; however, candidates based in the Washington, DC, Paris, and London areas will also be considered. The selected candidate may work remotely, partially remotely, or fully in-office from one of the locations named above.
This is a full-time role. The successful candidate will be able and willing to travel, with an anticipated Level of Effort averaging 25% over the course of a calendar year. This LoE will vary from time to time based on program needs and may include longer trips (up to three weeks). Most travel will be within the Africa region; however, periodic travel to Internews’ US and UK offices will also be expected.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so candidates are encouraged to apply soon.
OUR COMMITMENT TO FOSTERING A CULTURE OF BELONGING
We are an organization of dynamic, mission-driven individuals who are passionate about our core values and about supporting positive change in the world. We pride ourselves on our commitment to innovation and flexibility. We believe that diverse teams are strong teams and work to support an ethic of belonging, dignity, and justice for all people. Our current team includes a mix of genders, parents and non-parents, and people of multiple races, nationalities, ages, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. We are an EEO employer and encourage candidates of all races, genders, ages, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply, and welcome those with alternative backgrounds and experiences.
DAY-TO-DAY TASKS will include:
Programmatic (75%)
- Provide analytical/financial support to the Regional Director, including detailed financial analysis for project budgets (burn rate analysis) and labor forecasting.
- Directly manage the PMU’s Business Management Unit, including regional staff, and support country program offices’ Operations teams.
- Oversee operations of all country program offices, including leading (together with appropriate counterparts on the business operations teams) local registration, office opening and closeout, bank account opening/closing, local human resources, inventory tracking and disposition, alternate banking and cash movement options, and local financial management.
- Oversee project start-up/office opening, including recruitment and training of core staff, development of work plan budgets, identifying local legal firms to navigate registration, securing work permits, establishing local employment handbook, supporting subgrant start-up, and facilitating office set-up. This requires frequent travel to country program offices.
- Support Regional Director with PMU strategy, including fundraising, staffing structure, liaising with key Headquarters-based departments to advance requests and addressing training needs across the region.
- Responsible for setting, implementing, and overseeing the operational, financial, and compliance priorities for the PMU portfolio.
- Oversee development and monitoring of Alliance Accounting budgets and Resource Sharing Agreements and advise field teams on Alliance Accounting processes, identifying issues and finding solutions.
- Oversee proposal budget development across the alliance for new projects and modifications and adjustments of current budgets, including cost extensions and no-cost extensions. As part of this duty, oversee the development, review, and approval of subgrantees’ budgets.
- Conduct review of Budgets vs. Actuals and JSRs with country program teams and Regional Director on a regular basis.
- Ensure PMU business team is coordinating with Financial Reporting team on expense reports, vouchers, and process payment requests.
- Maintain labor forecasting for PMU management and support teams.
- Oversee bottoms up financial forecast of all projects within the portfolio.
- Review trends to assess accuracy of the financial forecast and work with project teams to remediate issues.
- Serve as budget authority and compliance control for the portfolio. Review and approve monthly field office operating disbursements.
- Oversee regional and country program office subgrants teams, providing guidance on partnership building and management with external partners, local stakeholders, and administrators
- Liaise with Program Managers and business staff within portfolio and other departments as required.
- Significant communication and interaction with program staff and Headquarters Accounting, People and culture, Enterprise Risk and Global Operations, and Grants & Contracts departments.
- Travel to country offices to open, close, problem-solve, onboard new staff, and perform other duties required of this position, sometimes at very short notice, as needed and as requested by the Regional Director.
Corporate (25%)
- Monitor and resolve financial obligation issues with funders.
- Prepare advanced financial analysis and deliver presentations on the performance of the Africa portfolio as required.
- Oversee and monitor cost share obligations. Design cost share plans and oversee their implementation and reporting – this includes staff allocations and subgrantees’ financial reporting, among others.
- Responsible for monitoring, understanding, and escalating operational and financial risks to relevant HQ staff. Raise red flags to supervisor, COO, and Chief Programs Officer immediately.
- Design the Africa regional office budget as part of the annual indirect budget design exercise.
- Collaborate with Internews Europe business support teams on identifying and tracking co-financing requirements, staff allocations and alliance accounting agreements.
- Support implementation of policies, procedures, and audit finding responses.
- Serve as PMU escalation contact for business operations departments to resolve transactional business process issues and region-specific support issues or provide clear delegation of specific processes to other team members.
- Support Finance and Audit teams with annual corporate audit documentation.
Values and Flexibility
- Other duties as assigned.
- In all duties, an understanding of and demonstrated commitment to upholding Internews’ Core Values.
QUALIFICATIONS WE’RE LOOKING FOR
Required
- University degree in a relevant field of study OR equivalent lived/professional experience.
- Minimum 10 years’ prior relevant work experience.
- Minimum of seven years of non-profit project and portfolio management experience, as well as experience developing operations management for USG and European-funded programs.
- Demonstrated skills and success in grant proposal and budget development.
- Experience with financial analysis, accounting, bookkeeping, and financial management.
- Experience working in Africa.
- Professional proficiency in French and English (written and spoken); other regional language skills helpful.
- Proficient in MS Office and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms.
- Excellent communication skills (speaking, writing, and listening).
- Demonstrated interpersonal skills including diplomacy, tact, and the ability to negotiate, with experience operating effectively in a multicultural and remote work environment.
- Demonstrated skills in managing a diverse team, establishing rapport and cultivating relationships with individuals at all levels of an organization.
- Strong project management skills.
- Proven ability to set priorities and manage time effectively.
- Proven analytical and problem-solving abilities.
- Proven ability to work both independently and as an effective team member.
- Proven ability to prioritize and handle multiple ongoing assignments.
- Flexibility to adjust working hours as needed to accommodate periodic shifts in workload and colleagues in different time zones.
- Ability and willingness to travel within and outside the Africa region.
Preferred
Note: Candidates who do not have these preferred qualifications, but are interested and willing to learn, are encouraged to apply.
- Experience in financial and operational management of USAID projects a plus.
- Experience with legal/regulatory issues and/or policy advocacy a significant asset.
How to apply
To apply, please submit CV and optionally a cover letter via our Careers page.
