Finance Manager

Who We Are! 

Africa has the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. By 2035, the continent is poised to contribute more young people to the global workforce each year than the rest of the world combined. 

At Educate! we're obsessed with impact. We leverage iterative learning to build highly scalable youth employment solutions aimed at unlocking the potential of the world’s youngest continent. 

Educate! prepares youth in Africa to learn, earn and thrive in today’s economy by: 

• Introducing an employment-focused school subject into secondary and 
• Delivering livelihood boot camps for out-of-school youth, with a focus on marginalized rural girls and young women.

To date, more than 500,000 youth have been meaningfully impacted across Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania, and along the way, Educate! has become the largest youth employment and skills provider in East Africa.

Educate! is a team of over300 largely African staff and 300 volunteer youth mentors. We prioritize building an engaging, fulfilling and growth oriented work environment. 50% of our top 30 leaders have been with us for over 5 years, 10+ alumni have started their own organizations, and 6 current or former team members were Acumen Fund East Africa fellows. 

We have been backed by top foundations such as Imaginable Futures, Livelihood Impact Fund,  Jack Dorsey’s #startsmall, CIFF andEchidna Giving. Educate! won a2018 Klaus J. Jacobs Prize and a2015 WISE Award, and has been highlighted bythe World Bank’s S4YE's Impact Portfolio, anAl Jazeera documentary,BBC,The Brookings Institution as one of 14 case studies on scaling education, and the Gates Foundation as a Goalkeepers Accelerator. In 2022, we received a catalytic investment from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott to scale our systems change work.

Educate!'s long-term vision is to design solutions that measurably impact millions of youth across Africa each year.

Good to note: To Our Awesome Applicants!

We know that incredible candidates sometimes hesitate to apply if they don’t meet every requirement. If this role excites you, we encourage you to apply! 

We’re looking for passionate individuals who believe in our mission and can bring unique perspectives to our team-not just those who check every box. We value diversity and strongly encourage women and individuals from all backgrounds to apply.

Position Overview 

Educate!, an award winning non-profit social enterprise is seeking an enthusiastic, systems-oriented, ethical and analytical individual with great interpersonal and communication skills to fill the Finance Manager position. She/he will be the finance lead in the organization ensuring the implementation of accounting and financial management functions, design and co-ordinate the implementation of sound accounting and financial management and control systems and procedures for all operational and administrative areas and to facilitate the maintenance of accurate and up to date financial and accounting records for effective and smooth running of all business operations under fast changing and complex circumstances.

The Ideal candidate; is someone who has non-profit experience, delivers results while leading multiple projects, is willing to improve on processes and able to lead change management processes. The Finance Manager will supervise a team of three, and shall report to the Head Of Finance.

What You’ll Do  

Financial Management & Oversight (30%)

• Provide day-to-day leadership of the Finance function, ensuring effective implementation of financial management systems, policies, controls and procedures.
• Directly manage the Finance Coordinator and Finance Officer(s), including setting priorities, allocating workloads, conducting regular check-ins, providing feedback and managing performance.
• Coach and develop Finance team members, strengthening technical capability, ownership, accountability and readiness for increased responsibility.
• Lead continuous improvement of Finance processes and systems to improve efficiency, accuracy, scalability and service delivery across the organization.
• Serve as a key Finance business partner to Implementation, Operations, Budget Managers and other functional leads, providing timely financial guidance to support effective programme planning and delivery.
• Work proactively with internal stakeholders to understand upcoming activities, anticipate financial requirements and ensure budgets, approvals, payment arrangements and supporting documentation are ready ahead of implementation.
• Provide financial insights, analysis and recommendations to management to support strategic and operational decision-making, including preparation of ad hoc financial scenarios where required.
• Identify and escalate significant financial, compliance, operational or control risks and work with relevant stakeholders to develop appropriate mitigation actions.
• Ensure the effective operation and continuous strengthening of internal controls across key financial processes.
• Ensure compliance with applicable Tanzania Revenue Authority, NGO regulatory and other statutory financial requirements.
• Act as a key Finance contact for external stakeholders including banks, tax advisors, auditors and other contracted financial service providers.
• Coordinate with the Group Finance team, including Country Finance Managers, Controllers and the Group controller, on accounting requirements, financial deliverables, systems and organization-wide Finance priorities.

Financial Reporting (30%)

• Ensure the monthly budget balances report is up to date and shared with budget holders
• Confirm expense codes on all requests as they are received, correct where necessary through the budget manager.
• Minimize the number of errors from the team through constant feedback and also in reporting.
• Prepare and analyze accurate monthly financial and management reports, including; income statement, balance sheet, budget and variance, projections and forecast, and cash flow
• Submit accurate, complete and timely management reports.
• Coordinate the preparation of the audited financial statements and all tax returns
• Reporting as needed to the regional finance team on Educate! financials

Financial Control & Accounting (20%)

• Observe and implement all Educate! accounting systems, payments, bookkeeping, and statutory filing.
• Ensure that all financial transactions are processed accurately, in a timely manner, and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles through the QuickBooks system, identifying and correcting any variances.
• Develop, implement, and maintain processes and controls that are current best practices related to transaction processing.
• Manage, oversee, process (as appropriate), all of the following transactions: payroll, accounts payable, revenue and expense, fixed assets, cash, bank reconciliations, and allocations.
• Perform month-end closing procedures, including account reconciliations, and updating schedules.
• Maintain an orderly accounting filing system
• Revenue management & improvement of payment systems

Budget Management (20%)

• Involved in the preparation of periodic budgets and updates
• Collaborate with budget managers by sharing budgets and providing support and clarity where needed.
• Ensure budgets are entered into the accounting system.
• Ensure BVA reports are prepared and have clear explanations at month-end.
• Share monthly BVA reports with budget holders for ease of planning.
• Share quarterly BVA reports with clear explanations
• Monitor the budget memos and update the approved budgets and QuickBooks with the Budget Memos where needed
• Offer periodic training or refresher training to the teams aimed at improving financial management, discipline and accountability as stipulated in our policies and procedures.

Who You Are

• BSc. in Finance, Accounting or Business Administration or Commerce
• Must be a Member of CPA (T) (NBAA) in good standing
• Proficiency in Ms. Excel and QuickBooks.
• Finance & Accounting experience working in a non-profit environment.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of finance and accounting experience, including finance, accounting, audit, and analysis (including gathering, evaluating, presenting, and reporting financial information to management and external stakeholders).
• Minimum of 3-5 year s of managerial experience leading finance teams and cross-function collaborations.
• Solid experience in coordinating audit activities and managing reporting, budget development and analysis, accounts payable and receivable, general ledger, payroll, and accounting.
• Entrepreneurial drive and proven ability to take ownership and lead the team’s combined learning.
• Collaborative, data-oriented approach to problem-solving.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a self-directed manner, seeking out areas that need attention rather than being asked to look at specific problem areas.
• Consistently asks for help and seeks advice from colleagues to let the best idea or process win.
• Engaging and interactive communicator with a passion for coaching others.
• Fits our Five Culture Tenets (see What is Educate! About? below); Learn more by looking at Educate!’s culture deck here 

Skills/experience this candidate absolutely must have (MUST HAVEs)?

• People Relations skills
• Attention to detail
• Personal organization and Coordination skills
• Good written & verbal communication skills
• Problem solving
• Ability to use the google drive (docs, sheets, slides and forms)
• High level of integrity
• Strategic thinking
• Prioritization and project management
• Strong management skills

What We Offer 

• A vibrant, mission-driven environment with a supportive and fun team. 
• Competitive salary  based on experience.
• Learning & growth opportunities  

Application Process: Rolling basis, interviews happening soon!

Terms 

• Location is Tanzania, preferably Mwanza OR Arusha

Our Culture & Tenets(Values)

We’re ambitious. Are you? Educate! is growing fast, so new opportunities are opening up and expanding all the time. We’re inspired by people with drive, and we love to help them reach their full potential. We expect everyone at Educate! to contribute above and beyond their job description, grow their skills, and advance their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey of their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey. 

• We put Youth First, Impact-Obsessed - We are purpose-driven, focused on impact, and prioritize what truly matters. We listen to youth, design our efforts around their needs, and ensure every dollar creates transformative experiences they value.
• We Exceed Expectations - We take pride in going above and beyond to achieve the best results-proactively identifying problems and seeking solutions without waiting or stopping at what's requested.
• We Are Always Learning - We are committed to seeking and applying new knowledge and ideas. We stay open-minded and continuously try new things, experiment, grow, and improve. We invest in learning for ourselves and our teams.
• We are One Team, Many Views - We value all individuals, believe diverse ideas and open dialogue drive excellence, foster a supportive and respectful environment where everyone can freely express themselves. We work as one team and prioritize the organization's mission over personal or team interests.
• We have the Startup Mindset - We innovate relentlessly to grow our impact, we never think “we have arrived” or “we’re done.”We constantly challenge the status quo, embrace change, and move quickly toward our vision. Unafraid of failure, we question anything that hinders progress.

Every person at Educate! - from interns to the executive director - is evaluated by how they live up to these five cultural tenets. They are at the core of how we achieve our mission and why we work as well as we do.  Educate is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all who interact in our community. In creating this environment, we encourage people from a variety of cultures, backgrounds and life experiences to join our diverse team. 

We’re committed to ensuring all candidates are screened for child and youth safety. As part of the process, candidates must successfully complete our standard background verification and safeguarding review in accordance with local legal standards. Educate! reserves the right to withdraw an offer of employment if any screening results indicate potential risks to youth.