Finance Manager
Rising Academies, Liberia
Job Description
The context:
Across the developing world, more children than ever are in school but they are not learning. A recent study estimated that less than 1% of school children in Sub-Saharan Africa attend a school where the teaching meets basic standards of quality. At Rising Academies, we’re changing that, and we want your help.
About us:
At Rising Academies, our mission is to create the best schools and the most powerful teaching and learning tools for the people that need it most. The goal is to unleash the full potential of every student, equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and character to succeed in further study, work, and day-to-day life. We’re one of the fastest-growing quality-focused education companies in Africa, and a Certified B Corp.
We own and operate our own great value private schools, partner with governments to improve the quality of public school systems, and use our content and technology to help other education providers. Founded in Sierra Leone in 2014, we provided emergency education to children kept out of school by the Ebola Epidemic before opening our first school in April 2015. Today, we serve more than 250,000 students across more than 900 schools in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and Rwanda.
Through great curriculum, intensive teacher coaching and actionable data, we help teachers and school leaders bring quality to every classroom. And we get results: independent studies show Rising students make more than twice the progress of their peers in comparable schools. We continually evaluate our efforts to identify where we can improve our curriculum and coaching support for teachers and school leaders.
About the role:
We are looking for a dynamic and exceptional Finance Manager to join our team in Liberia. The Finance Manager will play a pivotal role in overseeing the financial health of Rising Liberia, ensuring compliance with financial regulations, and providing strategic financial guidance to senior leadership, department and programs leads. The Finance Manager will collaborate closely with Rising’s central finance team to continue to build a best-in-class finance function and processes in Liberia. The Finance Manager will oversee all finance related activities for the associated office and business operations in Liberia.
The Finance Manager will:
- Develop, implement, and manage comprehensive financial plans, budgets, and forecasts for Rising Liberia.
- Provide insightful financial analysis that identifies trends, opportunities, and potential risks to support decision-making at the country level.
- Prepare accurate and timely financial statements, reports, and presentations for key stakeholders such as senior management, department and programs leads.
- Ensure compliance with local financial reporting standards and regulatory requirements.
- Monitor and manage cash flow and implement effective cash management initiatives to ensure operational needs are met in Liberia.
- Collaborate with the central finance team to identify and mitigate financial risks through proactive measures and strategic planning for Liberia.
- Lead, mentor and conduct regular training sessions for the finance team in Liberia, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture.
- Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, including auditors, tax authorities, and financial institutions in all aspects of the role.
- Identify cost-saving opportunities without compromising quality and implement cost control measures to optimize operational efficiency.
Location and reporting:
Finance Manager, Liberia will report to the Managing Director, Liberia and will be based out of our country office in Monrovia, Liberia.
Application deadline:
The target start-date for this role will be mid-January 2024.
Requirements
Qualifications and Experience:
- Proven ability to create, manage, interpret, and present financial analysis and reporting
- Commercially and operationally-savvy, with experience of working in a fast-paced, rapidly-growing company
- Experience developing and implementing end-to-end operations best practices in procurement-to-payment, cash and receivable cycles
- Experience in building and maintaining financial statements and models is required
- Intermediate to advanced Microsoft excel skills is essential
- Minimum Bachelor's degree from a top university and a professional qualification in business, finance or accounting (ACCA, CIMA, CPA, ICA - full or partly qualified).
- 5-7 years experience in a fast paced, rapidly growing company in a finance role.
- Good understanding of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs)
About You:</