Careers

World Education, a division of JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI/WE) is dedicated to improving people’s lives around the world through greater heath, education and socioeconomic equity for individuals and communities, and to providing an environment where people of passion can pursue this cause.

JSI/WE is seeking a Finance & Administration Manager for a five-year USAID funded Targeting the Learning Crisis (TLC) Activity in Uganda, which aims to create sustained, measurable improvements in development outcomes in Basic Education through Targeted Instruction for foundational skills, a learner-centric pedagogy that reorganizes math and reading instruction based on children’s actual learning levels, rather than on the prescribed grade-level syllabus. The Activity seeks to implement cost-effective, sustainable, and impactful programming, centered around Targeted Instruction pedagogy for P3-P5, Targeted Instruction and other evidence-based approaches for P1-P2, and evidence-based early childhood education for pre-primary years, in order to significantly improve math and reading learning outcomes for Ugandan primary students.

The Finance and Administration Manager is a full-time position based in Kampala. S/he will be responsible for office administration and monitoring the JSI/WE financial accounts and systems for the project and for the accounting system and bank accounts, budget tracking and expenditure projections, expense monitoring and financial reporting for the contract. S/he will develop a comprehensive financial disbursement system based on established mobile money and other electronic payment platforms, to limit cash transactions and reduce the risk of fraud. S/He will report to the Director of Finance and Operations and will supervise the Procurement and Logistics Officer and the Accountant. S/he will provide leadership of the Finance and Administration unit in the absence of the Director, Finance and Operations.

Finance:

• In collaboration with the Director of Finance and Operations, establish and maintain a financial and administrative system fulfilling all USAID rules and regulations and in line with JSI/WE financial policies and procedures;
  
• Develop a comprehensive financial disbursement system based on established mobile money and other electronic payment platforms, to limit cash transactions and reduce the risk of fraud;
  
• Establish strong internal controls to mitigate against the risk of financial fraud;
  
• Supervise the day-to-day work of the Procurement & Logistics Officer and Accountant reporting to her/him;
  
• Provide technical and management oversight of the Finance & Administration Officer based at the regional level
  
• Support non-finance staff through in-house trainings;
  
• Manage the monthly accounting cycle and bank account monitoring and reconciliation;
  
• Collaborate with Director of Finance and Operations to maintain and update the monthly budget tracking sheet (BTS) in a timely manner to make ready for monthly financial analysis;
  
• Review and track program budget(s) on at least a quarterly basis and prepare a report for the Senior Management Team;
  
• Review and monitor field operations budget with the management team; this may include the reviewing activity cost projections;
  
• Review and certify the monthly payroll, invoices and payment requests;
  
• Prepare expenditure projections and place timely cash flow requests to the home office;
  
• Review and certify the monthly field accounts documentation, including QuickBooks vouchers and reconciliation reports prepared by the Accountant;
  
• Respond to queries raised on finance reports uploaded to Field Link and resolve them in a timely manner;
  
• Ensure that outstanding advances at the end of each month are to a minimum level;
  
• Participate in the preparation of work plans and work closely with the technical team to prepare and monitor costed work plans;
  
• Ensure that all project incurred expenses are paid in a timely manner;
  
• Develop and maintain an effective professional relationship with JSI/WE’s local bank;
  
• Ensure that all taxes deducted from staff and vendors are paid monthly to relevant authorities and on time;
  
• Collaborate with the Sub Award Manager on the management of the grants program, including the financial monitoring visits, adherence of grantee expenditures to USG policies and procedures, and training of grantee finance/accounting staff as is needed;
  
• Develop and maintain an Electronic payments system that is efficient to support project activities;
  
• Ensure quarterly VAT reports and documentation are prepared and submitted to USAID;

Office Administration:

• Thorough oversight of the office administrative function, ensuring day-to-day office operations run smoothly, including management of meetings and events, adherence to safety and security policies and procedures, and facility maintenance and repairs.
  
• Management and supervision of project procurement, administration support and operational logistics functions:

- Oversee and manage the procurement of goods and services for project operations and ensure compliance with USAID regulations, JSI/WE policies
- Supervise and provide oversight to the management of project fleet
- Supervise the management of the project inventory of equipment and key materials
- Ensure that facilities are properly maintained to ensure safety of staff and visitors by engaging high Environmental Health and Safety standards this will include ensuring that all offices comply with GoU Environment and Health Safety laws and regulations.

• Work with the HR Manager to create and maintain office administrative files;
  
• Oversee office upkeep in terms of needed repairs and daily cleaning;
  
• Work with senior management to ensure safety and daily security of office premises;
  
• Oversee the office filing system and handling of official documents confidentially;
  
• Manage operations contracts in close coordination with the Director of Finance and Operations;
  
• Acts as the Safety and Security Focal Person (SSFP) for TLC and undertakes all the SSFP activities in line with the TLC safety and security guidelines
  
• Oversee development of the Field Office Safety and Security Manual and ensure staff are trained in its use;
  
• Work with senior management to ensure safety and daily security of office premises;
  
• Ensure that in your line of duty, you are aware of child safeguarding principles and guidelines and apply it in your day-to-day roles as you interact with communities and children.
  
• Ensure promotion of safe child practices and mitigation, prevention, and reporting of violations of children to ensure compliance; and
  
• Carry out other tasks as assigned by the Director of Finance and Operations or the designee.

• Bachelor of Science in Finance, Business Administration, Finance/Accounting or related field, Master's degree is highly preferred;
  
• CPA or professional training in ACCA is an added advantage.
  
• At least seven (7) years of relevant experience in finance/accounting with a USAID project, 5 of which must have been at managerial level;
  
• Demonstrated experience supervising, mentoring, and training of finance and non-finance teams
  
• Experience working with mobile money transfer systems required;
  
• Experience with USAID contracts is an added advantage;
  
• Knowledge of USAID rules and regulations strongly desired;
  
• Strong organizational skills;
  
• Experience with QuickBooks accounting system desired;
  
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills;
  
• Fluency in English, written and oral communications skills; and
  
• Extensive knowledge of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Access;

JSI/WE is committed to protecting the populations we serve from exploitation, sexual abuse, child abuse and child neglect. We are a child-safe organization and the safety and wellbeing of children is a priority of our organization, as is the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse in any form. We have zero-tolerance for such behavior and we will take every measure to prevent such incidents. We have robust recruitment procedures to ensure that all staff are suited to work with the communities served by our programs.

Deadline for receiving applications is Wednesday 8th January 2025. Applications my close earlier as we are shortlisting on a rolling basis.