Summary
Date Posted: Wednesday, March 02, 2022 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Job title: Finance Officer (Maternity Cover)
About Spark Microgrants
Decades of prescriptive aid have sidelined the poor from the very programs meant to uplift them. Having reached 500+ villages across six countries, Spark works to open opportunities for villages facing rural poverty across East and West Africa to drive local change. Spark’s key innovation, the
FCAP, is a village planning and grant process that consists of curated weekly village meetings and a seed grant that families use to launch initiatives of their choice — from farms to feed their families to schools to educate their kids. As a result, the number of families who eat more than one meal per day doubles, women’s civic engagement increases sevenfold, and 85 percent of villages continue to meet and work together. Spark trains partner organizations and works with governments to scale the FCAP as the model of choice to advance social and economic development, improve lives, and secure lasting change. With demand from the Government of Rwanda for a national scale program and civil society groups around the world, the Director of Strategic Partnerships will play a critical role in raising the capital and developing policy that will enable 10 million+ lives to be reached in the next decade.

Values
At Spark our values are what define us and shape the work that we do. Our values are:
• Facilitators. We don’t impose; we enable others to generate impact.
• Community-driven. We are motivated by what is best for the community.
• Process-centered. The how of what we do is just as important as the what.
• Authentic. Our vision and values live in everything we do.
• Dynamic. We seek opportunities and are willing to take risks to serve our community partners better.
Safeguarding
Our safeguarding follows a do no harm principle. All Spark staff are expected to respect and uphold the safeguarding procedures and principles to minimize harm to stakeholders, program participants, and the environment, in compliance with the World Bank Environmental and Social Framework and Ugandan Legislation.

About The Role
• We are looking for a dynamic, innovative and resourceful person to join the COP Program in the capacity of Finance Officer to cover for a staff proceeding on maternity leave.
• The Finance Officer will be responsible for Bookkeeping, Accounting, Finance Management and Payroll Management.
• Reporting to the East Africa Finance Manager, the Finance Officer is a critical role to ensure that the COP team and Spark Implementing Partners are supported in their finance needs, and are compliant with Spark policies and procedures.
• This maternity cover position is for a period of 4 months starting 4th April, 2022.

Roles and Responsibilities:
Partner Finance Management
• Review FCAP partners’ budgets, support the preparation of agreements and follow up on compliance
• Receive and review periodic financial progress reports from Partners as per the reporting calendar and take relevant action on performance
• Conduct regular review meetings with Program staff and Partners to resolve and discuss any financial and accounting issues and queries
• Provide training to Partner staff and capacity development to plan, implement, monitor and report on funds received
• Provide Micro Grant management tools and training to Partners and capacity development to manage microgrants at the community level
• Perform regular community file audits and report findings to the Program team
• Train Partners on Community Monitoring systems
• Oversee MicroGrant disbursements, receipts, transactions and proposals for direct communities

Bookkeeping and Accounting
• Responsible for day to day entry of financial information and maintaining all financial records for the COP Program in accordance with established financial procedures.
• Ensure that expenditure is charged correctly against approved budgets
• Complete all month end procedures in line with the reporting deadlines
• Complete monthly bank and account reconciliations
• Prepare monthly Budget Variance reports and share with functional teams as per the reporting calendar
• Hold Budget Vs Actual discussions with functional teams

Finance Management
• Participate in projects to improve finance processes and systems
• Review and process expense submissions and requests
• Manage weekly payment cycle; ensuring timely disbursement of payments to staff and vendors
• Ensure assets are well tracked and safeguarded
• Train staff on finance policies and procedures and ensure compliance
• Forecast cash needs for Uganda operations and ensure timely cash flow requests
• Support the external audit as required

Payroll Management
• Prepare monthly staff payroll and ensure payroll data integrity before submission for approval
• Submit statutory filings and payments on time with proper supporting documentation
• Process monthly payroll journal entries
• Ensure monthly payroll reconciliation to the General Ledger

Qualifications/ Skills/Experience:
• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Finance, Commerce or other related field
• Minimum of 3 years relevant experience
• Proficiency in Excel and Accounting software; experience with Oracle Netsuite is an added advantage
• Experience in and understanding of essential accounting principles, accounting systems and Uganda tax requirements
• Professional standard of finance ethics as well as the ability and willingness to enforce adherence to Spark Microgrants and donor policies and procedures

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 60

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Job application procedure
To apply for this role, submit a motivation letter detailing your interest for the position and updated CV to diana@sparkmicrogrants.org and copy maggie@sparkmicrogrants.org. Your application must be submitted by close of business Tuesday 8th March 2022.

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