KickStart Jobs
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KickStart is an award-winning, global nonprofit social enterprise that develops and mass-markets low-cost irrigation solutions that are bought by thousands of small-holder farmers in developing countries and used to increase their income by up to a factor of ten, enabling them to lift themselves sustainably out of poverty.
Job Title: Budget and Grants Finance Manager
Function: Finance & Admin
Location: KickStart HQ Office - Nairobi
Grade: 3
Type of Contract: Open Ended
Key Areas of Accountability:
Budget planning, monitoring and control
Working closely with the Director of Finance & Administration and senior management, helps with the preparation of annual budget calendar and working documents. Updates all base salary and benefit information, makes year-end projections based on actual expenditures, and inputs the approved new budget information into the ERP. Assists with the preparation of the budget and annual Consolidated Fiscal Report. Ensures that senior staff and project managers are kept informed of budget changes;
Prepares monthly expenditure analysis including accrual projections to determine where budgets are over and/or underspent. Coordinates quarterly meetings with senior management and Director of Finance & Administration to review analysis, program changes impacting the budget, contract issues, etc.;
Updates internal budget documents as necessary, prepares budget modification forms as needed, inputs changes into the ERP, and communicates all changes to relevant staff. Working closely with program staff, prepares budget modification forms and no costs extension requests for government contracts as needed;
Keeps CFO, COO and Director of Finance informed of significant variances from budget or other donor compliance issues that should be addressed.
Helps the Director of Finance to initiate budget re-forecasts and amendments.
Other duties as may be required by the Director of Finance.
Grant management and Reporting; including reviewing of key grant terms
Oversees all grants and contracts – the policies, procedures, and compliance issues related to grants and contracts management and reporting, internally as well as for subcontractors and sub-awards. Creates a reliable review system for assessing grants and contracts with staff. Understand all contract regulations and train program staff to ensure compliance;
Create templates for contracts, sub contracts, letters of agreement, and reports;
Supervises Accountants to ensure timely and accurate preparation of all monthly, quarterly and annual invoices/requests to funding sources, and reconciliations with general ledger;
Working with Development staff, prepares or reviews budgets and budget narratives for submission in our responses to donor requests for proposals (RFPs) and grant proposals;
Reviews monthly budget variance reports and general ledger reports to insure that items are being charged to the correct programs and grants/contracts. Prepares correcting journal entries as required.
Assists the Director of Finance in determining appropriate allocation methodology for those items requiring allocation among different sources. Ensures that allocations are made correctly and reviews methodologies with program and administrative staff;
Maintains ongoing communication with program staff regarding needs and budget status;
Monitors spending/run rate against grants and awards on a monthly basis and provide information to program leads to adjust spending accordingly
Monitors work flows and helps develop and implement systems to provide sound management control over compliance with award terms and conditions
Establishes and maintains financial record keeping and procedures for tracking and reporting on grants and awards
Coordinates with finance, fundraising and program staff to apportion use of unrestricted funds and ensure the fully-funding of KickStart operations.
Monitors cash flow of field offices and manages advance request approval
Manage program results reporting (as required by grants and contracts).
Work with various teams to ensure coordinated efforts in grant development and management. Assists program managers and other coordinators with daily implementation of the grant program.
Monitor/tracks the status of each program through its program life cycle.
Works with Development & Program teams to send notification to Grant Awarding Agencies of significant events required for changes in grant programs.
Operates as the liaison between the Accountants, Budget Managers, Program Managers and Awarding Agency in relation to program compliance.
Provides regular status reports on grant implementation in conjunction with accountants’ reports.
Performs site visits to verify compliance with staffing guidelines related to grant award agreements.
Prepare &/or coordinate program reports for submission to the granting authority according to grant guideline schedules.
Assist the Accountants in assuring that expenditures support program objectives and that budgets submitted are consistent with original grant application.
Prepare &/or help coordinate all applicable program reports for sponsored programs and ensure the timely submission thereof.
Responsible for grant closeout, which includes assisting with assurance that all purchase orders will be paid &/or liquidated within 90 days of grant ending period and assurance that all expenditures (services &/or goods) were received within the grant award period.
Qualifications and Experience
University degree in administration, finance or related field. Advanced degree preferred;
Minimum 5-7 years of budget analysis experience necessary;
Minimum 3-5 years of progressive experience in pre- and post-award Grant and Contract management;
Highly proficient in word processing and spreadsheet applications;
Excellent analytical, verbal and written communication skills required;
Extremely detail oriented;
Familiarity financial management information systems, Microsoft Navision’s suites such as Donor Vision, Award Vision, ERP and grant accounting preferred.
Previous grant and contract experience required.
Knowledge of government, non-government, foundational and corporate donor contract guidelines;
Must have the ability to work in a fast paced environment with strict deadlines and be able to manage multiple priorities;
If you posses the above skills and believe you are the right candidate for this position, e-mail your application and CV stating the position title on the subject line to our HR Director at: hr [at] kickstart.org
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
For more information about KickStart visit our website: www.kickstart.org
Job Title: Country Accountant - Kenya Program
Function: Finance & Admin
Location: KickStart HQ Office - Nairobi
Grade: 4
Type of Contract: Open Ended
Key Areas of Accountability:
Financial Management
Prepare, examine, and analyze accounting records, financial statements, and other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards.
Maintain and reconcile all records of income and expenditure and preparation of monthly and annual financial reports. Ensure that there is proper accounting and financial control over all income received and expenses incurred.
Ensure strong systems of internal control are implemented and followed, specifically:
1. Maintenance of an effective and controlled ordering/procurement, sales and inventory processing systems.
2. Maintenance of a system to ensure goods received are matched against orders and that variations to orders are reconciled.
3. Payment of all creditor accounts on a timely basis taking advantage of discounts where ever possible.
4. Control of expenditure against budget.
5. Maintenance of systems to account for all incoming and outgoing monies.
Payment of accounts and banking of cash receipts in a timely manner.
Maintain a petty cash system and reconcile monthly.
Maintaining an up to date record of transactions within the Asset Register/ledger. Ensure the organisation’s Asset Register is maintained on a regular basis and appropriate depreciation schedules are completed on monthly basis.
Supervision of daily payments and receipts.
Maintaining the Financial Policy and Procedures Manual on a continual basis. Develop and review accounting policies and procedures to ensure optimum effectiveness across all aspects of the organisation’s operations.
Assist in preparation of elements of the annual budget in consultation with the Program Manager and other functional managers, Budget & Grants Finance Manager and the Director of Finance in the context of goals set by the organisation.
Management of weekly and monthly cash and cash flow process by keeping all the finance/accounts books up to date to a point where it would be easy to extract current cash balances on a day-to-day basis.
Payroll activities; such as payment of all salaries, payment of tax and other monthly deductions as required by legislation, timely preparation of annual payment summary reconciliation, monitor compliance with all tax Legislation.
In coordination with the Sales & Marketing Managers, develop a credit management policy for debtors that ensure all outstanding debts are collected on time and that any disbursement of KickStart equipments is done following the laid down procedure.
Reviewing business/field advances taken by employees and ensure that KickStart’s policies regarding these advances are adhered to and that all monies are accounted and ensure staff are provided with regular updates of their personal accounts.
Ensuring that all the bank accounts held by KickStart are reconciled on month-to-month basis. All these should be reviewed by the Grants & Budget Finance Manager every month before more funds are released into the accounts.
Ensure that book of accounts are audited by external auditors yearly and at any other intervals as necessary. Ensuring all recommendations from such audits is implemented. Preparation of financial records for the annual Audit.
All the finance staff in the country program fall under the instruction of the Country Accountant. He/She is to ensure that they are well supervised, trained and coordinated. They should also be working and ensure their smart goals are reviewed in order for them to give the desired results.
Establish and maintain office systems for the sound operation of the organisation, including:
Ensure legal and regulatory obligations of the organisation are met including compliance with taxation, insurance and to keep current with changes in these areas.
Ensure that proper and accurate administration of records are maintained, including
1. Asset register.
2. Customer, Vendor data base.
3. Adequate and effective filling.
Ensuring all accounting activities as specified in the monthly activity log are completed and signed off.
Prepare periodic financial reports and statements
Qualifications and Experience
University degree in Accounting, Finance or related field. Advanced degree preferred;
Minimum 4-6 years in Book keeping or Accounting experience necessary;
Minimum 3-5 years of progressive experience in donor funded organisations;
Highly proficient in word processing and spreadsheet applications;
Excellent analytical, verbal and written communication skills required;
Extremely detail oriented;
Familiarity financial management information systems, Microsoft Navision’s suites such as Donor Vision, Award Vision, ERP and grant accounting preferred.
Must have the ability to work in a fast paced environment with strict deadlines and be able to
Sound working knowledge of quality management systems and internal auditing processes
If you posses the above skills and believe you are the right candidate for this position, e-mail your application and CV stating the position title on the subject line to our HR Director at: hr [at] kickstart.org
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
For more information about KickStart visit our website: www.kickstart.org
Business Officer
This position will work with other Business Officers and other stakeholders in a designated geographical area of operations, in order to engage directly with County Youth Bunge Forums and Youth Bunges (which are mobilized by the Yes Youth Can-Regional projects) to provide Community Development Grants, micro-investments, and other programs.
The Business Officer will execute a standardized grant application process and procedure in a transparent, client friendly manner.
The Business Officer is a key function in fraud prevention and grant management at the field level.
Essential Job Functions
Engage directly with qualifying Youth Bunges in an efficient, transparent, client-friendly manner in order to provide Community Development Grants to Youth Bunges.
Provide qualifying Youth Bunges with all information regarding the processes, policies and procedures of applying for a grant from the TYF Youth Grant Fund, specifically highlighting the role and responsibility of the Youth Bunge.
Work in a respectful, transparent manner with the County Youth Bunge Forums by creating an environment in which the County Bunges are provided an equal space and opportunity to lead the grant application process in conjunction with the TYF Regional Manager.
Support the Youth Bunges and County Bunges in becoming stronger, more sustainable youth institutions.
Drive a client-friendly “front office” service delivery process to all Youth Bunges that are engaged.
Work with the field Finance Officer to ensure smooth disbursement of funds to the Youth Bunges.
Provide minimal technical assistance across a variety of areas such as: agriculture, light manufacturing, horticulture, technology etc. etc.
Work with the TYF team to gradually and effectively utilize information from the database for future strategic planning of the fund from the 3rd year of operation.
Ensure proper filing of all hard copy documents and correspondences of clients.
Maintain a client file for all Youth Groups who apply for a TYF Grant.
Oversee effective communication and conduct outreach to all TYF potential clients on procedures for accessing funds, including time frames.
Present monthly fund updates to TYF management team.
Knowledge and Experience:
Bachelor's degree in economic development or development-related field.
Three years of work experience with increasing responsibilities in private, NGO or government sector.
Two or more years of experience in grants’ making and management, especially under a USAID grant.
Experience implementing, monitoring and managing Community Development or Youth Leadership projects at the field-level.
General working knowledge of SACCOs’ operations.
Demonstrate skills in outreach, meeting facilitation, and public speaking.
Experience in identifying and managing fraud at work.
Strong organizational and planning skills.
Good computer user-skills in MS Excel, Word, Power-point, & Outlook.
Excellent oral and written English and Kiswahili.
Thorough understanding of project management cycle.
Proven project management experience.
Professional grant-making & management training.
Application Process:
Interested candidates who meet the above minimum requirements should submit a cover letter, detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV) listing three professional references (including a recent supervisor) to hrkenya [at] ke.mercycorps.org
Please do not attach any certificates!
Applicants must clearly indicate on the email subject field; "Business Officer".
Applications without this subject heading will not be processed.
ONLY Qualified short-listed candidates will be contacted.
For more information and application, see: Product Management Fellow
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