Director of Finance and Operations - Sierra Leone

About Imagine Worldwide

All children have immense potential, but hundreds of millions don’t have access to the learning they need. Imagine Worldwide’s mission is to empower millions of children across Sub-Saharan Africa with the literacy and numeracy skills they need to reach their full potential. We provide an innovative education technology solution and implementation model to the global literacy/numeracy learning crisis using the onebillion application and various toolkits and systems to support implementation . Nine Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) across multiple countries and settings have shown dramatic learning gains, increased school attendance, and gender parity, all for less than $7 per child per year.

Imagine Worldwide partners with governments, organizations, and communities to provide child-directed, tablet-based learning that is accessible, effective, and affordable. We are a California-based (United States) nonprofit organization operating across seven Sub-Saharan African countries. Learn more on our website.

 

About the Role

The Director of Finance and Operations will play an instrumental role in carrying out Imagine’s mission, to design, deliver and scale tablet-based learning solutions that enable children to become literate and numerate. The Director will join a highly committed and collaborative team that is working together to empower every child, everywhere to achieve their full potential. They will work directly with the Executive Director of Imagine Sierra Leone and Imagine’s Director of Administration, to manage Imagine’s path to the national adoption of our edtech program, in Sierra Leone.

The Director of Finance and Operations is the senior finance lead for Imagine Sierra Leone, responsible for overseeing financial management, risk and compliance, procurement, logistics and inventory management, human resources, and administration. The role plays a critical part in ensuring strong governance, efficient systems, and financial integrity as the program scales nationally.

 

Mission and Objectives

Mission

•  Lead Imagine’s mission to advance literacy and numeracy outcomes with an intent to unlock the potential of children in Sierra Leone.

Objectives

• Facilitate a rollout and demonstrate successful implementation of tablet learning to advance literacy and numeracy outcomes in an initial 750 public primary schools by 2026 (serving over 150k students per year), with strong evidence of learning impact, to enable nationwide adoption of the program and secure support from larger funders.
• Advance the program to nationwide scale serving all public primary schools in Sierra Leone by 2035.
•  Institutionalise the program within existing structures of MBSSE.

 

Key Responsibilities

The responsibilities will include, but will not be limited to the following: 

Lead financial management, budgeting, and reporting: 

•  Manage strategic financial planning for the organization, including expenses, income, insurance coverage, objectives, tax status, and risk tolerance; 
• Apply and improve the Imagine Playbook (program manuals, processes, templates, and workplans) for implementation of financial policies and systems, customizing for local context as required;
• Manage daily and month-end accounting, including P&L activity (management fees, fee splitting, gross-ups, re-classes), balance sheet activity (deferrals, accruals), and accounts-receivable cash application, in compliance with GAAP
•  Manage all financial activities for the program including bank account and petty cash reconciliations; accounts payable; review and verification of invoices; data entry into accounting systems; fund transfers from USA to Sierra Leone; and bank, EFT, cheque and cash payments; 
•  Establish and manage systems for cash and EFT payments to staff including expense claims and petty cash;
• Maintain comprehensive financial files and ensure all recording is compliant with audit, corporate, and donor requirements.
• Manage procurement, shipping, clearance of goods, and logistics: ○ Improve and implement existing procurement strategies, principles, processes, and policies for Sierra Leone, across the various product categories the organization requires; 
• Manage the selection and contracting of local Technical Service Providers (TSPs) for the fabrication and installation of storage security cabinets for the program, ensure a credible RFP process, and collaborate with the Director of Technical Services to vet vendors;
• Manage sourcing and vetting of other local vendors, manage local vendor relationships, facilitate selection of vendors for specific projects; conduct local procurement of program-related equipment, consumables, and any emerging requirements;
• Assess budgets, negotiate commercial terms with vendors, and conclude contracts; 
• Collaborate with Imagine Worldwide global procurement on international procurements of program equipment, shipping of goods (by air, road or sea) to receive imported goods;
• Manage custom clearance and keep up-to-date information on required import documentation and certifications required to obtain the tax waivers/duty waivers and meet any other regulatory requirements

Manage inbound and outbound logistics:

• Develop and implement warehousing and inventory management SOPs and oversee inventory management of goods received, stored, and leaving the warehouse, and reconcile with financial records; 
• Manage the arrival and receipt of goods at the storage warehouse or other premises;
• Facilitate co-operation with the Ministry’s logistics and delivery function to support delivery of tablets or other program equipment, where possible;
• Oversee last-mile logistics for safe and timely delivery of goods to schools and storage sites, ensuring coordination across implementing partners and local authorities; 
• Develop reverse logistics in collaboration with Imagine Worldwide and the Ministry, support a centralized repairs model and ultimately expanding to support a decentralized repairs model that leverages the capabilities of the local ecosystem to ensure long-term sustainability;
• Ensure logistics processes are cost-effective, risk-managed, and aligned with program delivery schedules, including the tracking of shipments, warehousing, and inventory control;
• Manage and report outbound logistics and inventory management KPIs (Stock loss, Inventory accounts and Inventory Accuracy);
• Manage and report inbound logistics KPIs (port-to-warehouse transit time, HS codes and tax declarations, distribution costs, and logistics turnover)

Oversee and manage ISP and TSP expenditures: 

• Oversee the development and delivery of budgets prepared by implementing partners and/or consultants ensuring adherence to key donor funding objectives;
• Manage grant payments to project implementation partners and operators; 
• Develop project-level financial policies and procedures, manage roll-out and oversight compliance, reporting, and periodic review; 
• Conduct regular partner expenditure audits and verification.

Manage human capital, recruitment, and onboarding: 

• Oversee the human capital needs of the local organisation; 
• Oversee local payroll through Imagine Worldwide global HR or implement local payroll system for staff, and ensure all salary payments are accurate and timely; 
• Collaborate with Imagine Worldwide global HR to facilitate employee performance reviews, clear goal-setting, and feedback mechanisms across the organisation;
• Train and develop local staff to enable them to use financial and procurement systems
• Build team and partner staff capacity to enhance financial reporting, program reporting, and administration through guidance, training and resources.

Provide administrative oversight: 

• Develop and maintain key organisational policies that operationalize the organizational objectives within the local context and avoid harm to employees, as well as students and other individuals in our programs
• Establish and implement policies and procedures for fraud control, anti-corruption and anti-bribery
• Customize Imagine operating systems to support daily country operations
• Organise strategic meetings including Board meetings, donor visits, team retreats, and other high-level stakeholder meetings or events
• Ensure effective communications between Imagine Sierra Leone, Imagine Worldwide, and key stakeholders to detail key challenges, operational changes, and other operational needs.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Professional Accountant accredited by internationally recognized professional body.
• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, or higher and 10+ years of proven work experience as an administrative or finance executive, or similar role, with a minimum of 5 years experience managing a team, preferably in an NGO context

Ideal Candidate Profile

Proven experience that includes: 

• Professional certification in finance or accounting (e.g., ACCA, CIMA)
• Excellent understanding of budgets, financial processes, reporting requirements, and compliance regulations within donor-funded grants and contracts
• Proven track record in financial management, budgeting and reporting within a group or multinational structure
• Strong knowledge of financial regulations and accounting principles, as well as knowledge of donor funding and grant management
• Proficiency in accounting software, QuickBooks as well as and Microsoft Office, particularly Excel 
• Experience in risk management and fraud detection 
• Ability to communicate financial information clearly, and excellent written and oral communication skills in English 
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills and ability to proactively manage and resolve conflicts
• Ability to work effectively in multicultural environments and teams
• Strong organizational skills, superior attention to detail, ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines

General Skills Required 

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English (required)
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills 
• Ability to adaptive strategies to address complex operational challenges
• Ability to work effectively in multicultural environments and teams
• Strong organizational skills and superior attention to detail
• Experience in managing multi-site and multi-vendor orders at the international level 
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Ability to engage in proactive problem-solving and issue-resolution

Qualities

•  Passion for Imagine’s mission and vision 
•  Demonstrated commitment to equity in educational access and outcomes
• Passion for project management
• Demonstrated ability to think independently and solve problems
• Collaborative team player; clear and proactive communicator
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to work in a fast-paced, changing environment

 

Compensation & Benefits

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.

 

Location

The Director of Finance and Operations must be based in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

 

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Imagine Worldwide is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.