Africa Finance Director at Marie Stopes

About the Role

• You will line manage Regional Financial Managers, to ensure high quality, disciplined and supportive financial structure is in place to support all programmes under MSI Africa. You will also be responsible for managing the Regional Finance Teams and coordinating with the Senior Africa, Director and Africa, Director Deputy to ensure strong financial oversight of country programmes. Moreover, you will develop and implement the necessary strategy to ensure standardization, simplification and compliance across MSI Africa operations.
• Working closely with the MSI Senior Director, Africa you will have significant internal and external facing responsibilities ranging from ensuring compliance with MSI’s financial internal standards to representing MSI financial systems vis-a-via donors and strategic stakeholders.

About You

• We recruit talented, dynamic people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, all united by a belief in our mission and a focus on delivering measurable results. We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to creating a fully inclusive workplace, where everyone feels able to participate and contribute meaningfully. You must be open-minded, curious, resilient, and solutions-oriented, and committed to promoting equality, and safeguarding the welfare of team members and clients alike.

To perform this role, it is essential that you have the following skills:

• Effective interpersonal skills, with the ability to lead, motivate and guide finance leadership across the continent and in regional support structure.
• SUN accounts (ideally), Vision XL and Excel skills
• Highly motivated with the ability to motivate and develop the skills of the team and inspire individuals and teams through situational leadership and by providing clear direction

To perform this role, it is essential that you have the following experience:

• 5 – 10 years proven experience of financial leadership within a complex, multi-regional business
• Experience of developing and successfully implementing different financial strategies, with demonstrable push to implement a standardization and simplification across a complex business.
• Experience of communicating a range of complex issues with the ability to convey an inspiring vision.
• An understanding of major policies/ issues that arise when implementing in Africa, strong knowledge of good business practices
• An international mind-set, with an understanding of social businesses, together with an appreciation for cultural differences
• Experience in working with social business preferably in a developing country.
• Experience in producing, delivering and presenting meaningful financial analysis and recommend appropriate actions to enhance organizational performance
• Experience in initiating, developing and maintaining relationships with their staff, peers and external stakeholders at a senior level
• Knowledge and experience of the region
• Demonstrable ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing, including with people who do not have a background in finance

Formal education/qualification

• Qualified accountant
• Degree-educated or equivalent
• Relevant post-graduate qualification e.g. MBA, MSc, MA (desirable)
• Knowledge of English (Required)
• French language knowledge preferred but not essential

Personal Attributes:

• We seek exceptional individuals who are aligned to MSI’s mission and entrepreneurial mindset. You must be a strong communicator, self-motivated and solutions-seeking, committed to driving social change in an environment that measures sustainable results and impact at an individual and global level. You must be able to work effectively with and across diverse teams and be comfortable with ambiguity.

For this role, we’re looking for an individual who is:

• Energetic, driven and an unwavering commitment for MSI’s mission, with the ability to push boundaries, and make tough decisions and challenge others in line with our mission
• Passionate about system and process improvements to consistently meet and exceed expectations, putting the clients at the centre of everything, and ensuring we deliver high quality, high impact services that meet their individual needs
• Able to work as part of a team, providing support and flexibility to colleagues, demonstrating fairness, understanding and respect for all people and cultures
• Commercially minded, understands the levers for profitability for success within the marketplace. Focuses on results, ensuring long term sustainability and increased impact
• Takes accountability for the decisions made and the behaviours demonstrated
• Aware of the emerging developments within our sector, with the ability to focus and articulate a vision of the future which inspires and excites others, while understanding the detail and looking for the evidence
• Highest levels of integrity, and a strong ethical sense
• Able to travel throughout Africa and international