Job Description

Company overview

The Pharo Foundation (“the Foundation”) is a privately funded entrepreneurial organisation that runs philanthropic programmes as well as for-profit social ventures. The Vision of the Foundation is an economically vibrant and inclusive Africa. The Mission is to achieve the Vision by investing in the human and physical capital of Africa, with a strong focus on job creation.

Established in 2011 as a UK based non-profit, the Foundation has since made a strategic shift to directly design and implement its own programmes to ensure greater engagement with communities, better results and increased accountability. The Foundation has carried out numerous projects in East Africa, with a focus on Ethiopia and Somaliland and is now establishing an office in Rwanda and with plans underway into Uganda. The key strategic pillars for the philanthropic side of the Foundation are education, health, water and agriculture. At the end of 2019, the Foundation also started its Social Ventures franchise to prioritise sectors where the Foundation believes a real impact can be made by establishing self-sustaining businesses, which focus on job and economic value creation.

Headquartered in London, the Foundation has an operational head office in Nairobi, Kenya with country offices in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and Assosa) and Somaliland (Hargeisa) with further expansion plans in East Africa. 

Contract type: Permanent

Reporting to: Finance and Admin Manager, The Pharo Foundation, Country Office

Functional Relationships with:

• Senior Finance Officer, The Pharo Foundation, Country Office
• Finance and Admin Coordinator, Program Office - Assosa
• Finance Coordinator, The Pharo Farm –Shaga
• Finance Manager – Pharo Boarding School – Homosha

Contributing towards efficient and effective resource management of the Foundation by ensuring accurate recording of financial transactions, preparing reconciliations and reporting.  

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Work closely with Finance and Administration Manager and Senior Finance Officer to ensure compliance with the Foundation’s accounting manual/guidelines.
• Check accurate and timely recording of transactions by field office finance team (Assosa finance, Farm finance, The Pharo Boarding Homosha finance team), Country Office Finance and Admin Officer and post them before deadline.
• Identify gaps and irregularities during document review and advice field office finance staff and country office Finance and Admin Officer on how to improve.
• Develop the technical capacity of field office finance team in collaboration with Country Office Finance and Administration Manager.
• Prepare monthly bank and other balance sheet account reconciliations.
• Review requests for payment documents and ensure the adequacy and sufficiency of supporting documents before payment is made.
• Lead annual fixed asset and stock items counting team and ensure counting report is submitted to management in collaboration with the Country Office Finance and Administration Manager.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, local taxation and The Foundation policies while reviewing financial transactions. 
• Plan, organise and manage own work to ensure adherence to monthly organisation financial reporting time table.
• Prepare staff payroll and facilitate deposit of the same to individual saving bank accounts.
• Ensure suppliers and contractors are paid on time.
• Acquaints himself/herself with the financial and accounting policies and procedures of The Foundation.
• Administers and controls use of approved budgets in collaboration with Finance and Admin Manager.
• Checks appropriateness of requests for payment before passing for approval.
• Codes transaction documents and records entries in proper accounts.
• Review fixed asset record periodically and ensure it is being updated by Field finance/admin team and Country Office Accountant.
• Follow-up old balance sheet accounts and coordinate with relevant team timely clearance.
• Other related activities as assigned 

Job Requirements

Required Qualification and Skills

• BA Degree in Accounting and 8 years related experience preferably in an NGO sector.
• ACCA or similar qualification/partial qualification is a plus.
• Good competency in the area of accounting and Finance.
• Good verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficient in computer skills particularly Microsoft Office, especially use of Excel.
• Collaboration skills, being driven to work with others and able to build strong working relationship.
• Analytical thinking
• Problem analysis, solving and consolidate financial information.
• Ability to manage and priorities a varied workload and work to deadlines.
• Good command of the English language and ability to prepare reports.

Behavioral Competencies

• Great attention to detail and a flexible approach to work.
• High professional and ethical standards.
• Positive outlook and outgoing personality with solid leadership, interpersonal and diplomatic skills.
• Structured and process oriented.
• Excellent time and project management skills with ability to balance multiple priorities.
• Motivated to learn and perform and not afraid to ask questions.
• Willing to challenge status quo and add value by introducing positive change.
• Excellent communicator and comfortable to work in a team environment.

How to Apply

Review of complete applications will be on a rolling basis. In the event that we identify an outstanding early in the search process, we reserve the right to appoint before the deadline. For this reason, we encourage interested candidates to apply at the earliest possible time. Due to the high volume of applications, we regret that we will only be able to contact short-listed candidates. 

Please send the information listed below, as a single PDF file, to the following email address:

recruiting.et@pharofoundation.org

Please indicate ‘’Application for Finance Officer- Addis Ababa’’ in the email subject line and application deadline 12th March 2021.

1. A detailed CV and Covering Letter,
2. A 500-word essay on the below:

• What experience have you gained that makes you the most qualified candidate for the role?

1. A one-page list of five references with current addresses, phone numbers, and email contacts.