Director of Finance and Operations for CORE

Organization -Adeso: African Development Solutions, www.adesoafrica.org

Position Title – Director of Finance and Operations for CORE

Reporting To -Executive Director

Working Closely With -Executive Director, Director of Programs and Operations, Adeso Team

Duty Station – Virtual [Ideally based within 3 hours (+or-) of East Africa Time Zone]

Starting Date – Immediately

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Adeso is a vibrant African-based development and humanitarian organization. At Adeso, we work with African communities that are on the path toward realizing their full potential by working inside these communities to create environments in which Africans can thrive. We work to prevent and overcome situations that adversely affect community well-being by: reinvigorating the economy, developing skills for life and work, providing humanitarian aid, and influencing policy. For the past 30 years, we have strengthened rural livelihoods through environmental awareness, training, technology transfer, and innovative humanitarian projects in pursuit of a peaceful, self-reliant, and greener future.

Currently, Adeso has programs in Somalia. In addition, Adeso has proven itself to be one of the foremost leaders in the ongoing global effort to decolonize the humanitarian and development aid system. Adeso currently leads coalitions to re-imagine aid to shift power, resources, and decision making toward Global South communities where they will ultimately be the most effective, enduring and transformative. Adeso is a great place to work that is currently experiencing managed rapid growth. We have great benefits, a great team, and we pride ourselves on our opportunities for personal growth and development.

POSITION SUMMARY

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director of Finance and Operations for CORE will lead and start CORE, a private management services company, that will provide business process outsourcing solutions for local organizations in the Global South, through which they can outsource their Operations, Finance, Human Resources, and other administrative systems. CORE will provide services that are standardized and that meet the due diligence requirements of all donors; ensuring that all policies and procedures meet the threshold for the most stringent donor rules and regulations.

Adeso is seeking an entrepreneurial leader with a strong compliance background, who has extensive experiencing working within the compliance requirements of bi-laterals and multi-laterals such as: USAID and/or FCDO and EU.

This position will start as the Director of Finance and Operations for CORE at Adeso, spending approximately 25% of time on oversight of Adeso finance and operations and 75% of time building up CORE. Once CORE is an established enterprise, this position will spin off to become an employee of CORE.

SPECIFIC ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

For CORE:

• With a strong spirit for entrepreneurship, start up, manage and oversee CORE’s strategic vision, make key decisions to guarantee top notch professionalism with service delivery from piloting stage and beyond.
• Lead the design and development of the Market Analysis/Feasibility Study for CORE.
• Work with Adeso leadership to establish CORE based on the recommendations from the study including:
  • Determining the best location to register CORE.
  • Based on the Study findings, develop the initial CORE product and service offerings
  • Research, select, and customize the best Technical Software / Enterprise Resource Planner to meet the needs of CORE’s client base.
• With a developer’s support, design and develop CORE’s website with graphically appealing explanations of services offered.
• Work within a budget, and/or actively seek other funding, to continue the advancement of the CORE enterprise.

For Adeso:

• Work with the Director of Programs and Operations to provide oversight to Adeso’s Administration and Operations.
• Provide guidance and advise on financial planning, budgeting, cash flow, investment priorities, and policy matters.
• Take a leading role in assisting Adeso to review current policies (Finance, Human Resources, Procurement) and update them according to Adeso’s new strategic plan, current donors and shift to global team;
• Work with the Adeso team to train and add procurement and human resources components of Adeso’s current ERP system, Serenic Navigator.
• As Adeso’s global programs expand, assist with increasing the capacity of the Human Resources Department on policies and procedures for Adeso’s global team.
• Other tasks as needed for Adeso’s Operations and Finance.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

• As a prerequisite, the successful candidate must believe in the core values of Adeso and be driven by the mission.
• The candidate should demonstrate a passion for breaking new ground to lead change.
• 10+ years working on operations and/or finance teams funded by USAID or FCDO.
• Demonstrated excellence in managing compliance, controls, finance, accounting, budgeting, and reporting.
• A self-starter team player, with the ability to work independently and lead the creation of a business from ideation stage to successful pilot to an A+ business;
• Expertise working with a range of Enterprise Resource Planning software.
• Strong analytical skills and experience interpreting a strategic vision into an operational model.
• Ability to think strategically, anticipate future consequences and trends.
• Evidence of good decision-making, problem-solving skills, setting priorities, critical thinking skills, high level of business acumen and the ability to balance the delivery of programs against the reality of the budget.
• High degree of self-confidence and ability to communicate well with both internal and external partners.