Finance Manager

SEMA is being incubated within Amref Health Africa to rapidly scale and deliver quick wins from the get-go and will spin out to form an independent entity once established. It is overseen by a governing body and leverages a technical oversight committee of a diverse group of experts for strategic and technical advice.

ABOUT SEMA REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

Shaping Equitable Market Access for Reproductive Health – SEMA Reproductive Health – is a new, innovative partnership that aims to transform SRH markets so that people everywhere have sustained access to comprehensive, quality, and affordable SRH products. It emerged from a collective reflection by partners that although we have made tremendous improvements in SRH markets, we need to do business differently moving forward. In particular, we need to support countries to be stewards of their total markets and build a collaborative platform for countries, donors, and other partners to align on priority market problems, jointly problem-solve, and coordinate resources more efficiently to overcome SRH market challenges.

To that end, SEMA has been designed to strengthen countries’ and global partners’ capacities to build healthier, more equitable, and more resilient SRH markets to ensure sustained access to comprehensive, quality and affordable SRH products and services. To do so, SEMA will focus on aligning and strengthening efforts across geographies and private and public sectors through three core focuses:

1. Proactively monitor SRH market health by aggregating, analyzing, and monitoring market data to develop a holistic, unified view of user demand and current market supply of different SRH markets across regions and sectors to generate critical insights that can drive strategy and execution
2. Identify market barriers across geographies and co-design strategic solutions, tapping the unique strengths of existing networks and organizations in-country and globally to align on the most strategic approach
3. Support countries and global partners to finance and implement interventions including helping governments mobilize domestic funding against the problems, crowding in new players, directly funding market interventions and encouraging coordination of global investments to drive impact.

SEMA was announced in July 2021 alongside the Generation Equality Forum in France, with country governments from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Uganda; financial support from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MAE); and strategic partnership from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO), and the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition. The donors have currently committed approximately $55-70 million over five years to launch this organization with the aspiration to mobilize additional resources.

SEMA will operate in a lean coordinating structure backed by in-country focal points. SEMA will implement select functions directly and manage a pool of re-granting or contracted services via implementing partners to leverage and invest in ecosystem partners.

JOB PURPOSE

The Finance Manager will report directly to the SEMA Head of Operations and drive all financial and commercial management activities for SEMA to advance its mission. The portfolio will include activities to support the financial processes and budget management of SEMA ensuring that the initiative’s implementation adheres to the agreed commercial management framework principles agreed with SEMA’s donors and in line with Amref’s compliance framework.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Ensure effective project financial management and reporting systems are in place to manage compliant and efficient project spending against budget.
• Collect, prepare and analyse required reports in a timely manner in order to meet internal and external deadlines for submission in order to receive payments from SEMA donors.
• Coordinate with the Executive Director and Head of Operations on the oversight of all project financial processes and transactions, including the disbursements of funds and verification and approval of financial reports from partners and suppliers.
• Lead the adherence to key financial controls for SEMA, including budgeting, management reporting and forecasting, procurement policy, travel policy, bank reconciliations, and treasury management, to ensure fully compliant end to end financial management.
• Review programmatic documents and other relevant documents to ensure budget feasibility, compliance with forward-funding guidelines, appropriate methods of financing/payment, and adequacy of financial reporting.
• Review sub-budgets and reports prepared by SEMA heads of department and country leads, giving support and capacity building to teams to build expertise and capability.
• Ensure financial oversight responsibility for SEMA financial transactions:

1. Process and maintain transactions on Amref ERP
2. Maintain regular reconciliations of bank and other balance sheet accounts
3. Monitor foreign exchange fluctuations and track exchange gains and losses
4. Ensure payments are made in good time to suppliers, partners for invoice payments, etc
5. Ensure adequate documentation supports transactions.

• Produce reports as required for donors, internal management and other key stakeholders
• Ensure all financial project documentation is managed, filed, and available on Amref’s ERP and SEMA shared drive workspace
• Oversee and ensure adherence to key financial controls for SEMA including budgeting, management reporting, forecasting, procurement processes, treasury management, etc.
• Ensure all costs incurred by SEMA are coded correctly and in a timely manner into Amref’s ERP
• Ensure all payments via the Amref finance department are paid within the agreed upon internal timelines
• Support banking requirements for SEMA including ensuring compliant per diem payments, compliant payments to suppliers, and other requirements as necessary
• Working with colleagues in Amref to prepare SEMA inter-company payments and reports in Amref ERP in order to ensure correct and timely payments.
• Oversee SEMA’s financial audits and reviews (both external or internal audits) from time to time
• All other duties as identified and agreed to fulfil SEMA support costs and transactions

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Professional Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in accounting, business, or a closely related field
• A certified Accountant or Finance professional, such as CPA (K), ACCA, etc.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum of seven (7) years of relevant experience designing, implementing, and managing highly effective financial and commercial management processes, preferably in the field of sexual and reproductive health, global health, and/or global development.
• Experience supporting financial and commercial management for comparable programs or organizations working with diverse stakeholders (governments, funders, implementation organizations)

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Robust and evidenced knowledge of performance, financial, and budgeting performance processes
• Excellent use of Excel for business analysis
• Proactive and able to think strategically, set priorities and manage concurrent projects, handle pressure, manage time effectively, exercise independent judgment, and assume responsibility for seeing projects through to timely and successful completion
• Up to date on industry trends in commercial and financial management able to stay ahead of the latest developments in the industry.
• Deep personal commitment to sexual and reproductive health and rights, including the right to safe abortion for all who need it
• Self-motivated; willing to work independently and as part of a team
• Great communication and interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively in a multi-cultural work environment and committed to promoting an inclusive culture where everyone is valued and belongs
• Eagerness to contribute positively and collaborate effectively in a team working in a start-up environment (i.e., enjoy creating, can be flexible, embrace ambiguity)
• Entrepreneurial and creative