Senior Finance Manager, Pan-Africa

Senior Finance Manager, Pan-Africa 

Start date:
March 1, 2026 

Supervisor:
Project Director

Location: Preference for Nairobi 

Background: 

World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a leading Canadian international development organization driving positive education and economic change for young people around the world. Our vision is a world where every young person thrives and belongs. We believe all young people should have the opportunity to fulfill their aspirations and create their own futures. To help achieve this goal, we develop initiatives that: deliver lasting, measurable impact; are powered by partnerships across the globe; stay true to our core programming principles; and respond to the priorities and aspirations of the people with whom we work.

WUSC is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, and has offices across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East. Our global team of development professionals bring deep expertise and open minds to identify new solutions to old problems and create a better world together. WUSC offers a dynamic international work environment with a diverse intercultural workforce. We offer employees exciting opportunities to apply their skills and gain experience all while making a difference for youth around the world.  Employees at WUSC work hard to create lasting change in the communities they serve.

Project Description:

Pending approval, WUSC is launching the second phase (2026-2031) of DREEM, an exciting initiative which aims to significantly expand efforts to help refugee, displaced, and host community (RDP) youth, particularly young women, secure dignified and fulfilling work and access education opportunities across Africa. Building on prior successes, this Phase II  will deepen engagement in new geographies, strengthen local ecosystems, and equip partners with necessary knowledge and tools for lasting change. A core strategy is emphasizing the engagement and strengthening of Refugee-Led Organizations (RLOs) to provide sustainable, locally-led technical assistance. 

Over the next five years, Phase II’s ambitious goals include indirectly enabling one million RDP youth to secure dignified work and 35,000 to access education through the provision of expert technical assistance to a broad ecosystem of actors. Key implementation strategies involve working closely with RLOs through three pathways: providing financial access via an RLO Opportunity Fund, strengthening their capacity to provide technical assistance to partners, and embedding them across Phase II’s functional areas. WUSC will serve as a network orchestrator, facilitating connections for scale and training partners and other stakeholders on RDP inclusion. The initiative will achieve its targets by increasing knowledge among partners, enhancing capacity to develop innovative programming, improving collaboration and inclusive policies, and strengthening the institutional ability of RLOs to design, implement, and sustain RDP solutions.

Role Description:

The Senior Finance Manager, Pan-Africa is a senior management position responsible for the strategic financial management, control, and compliance of this initiative, ensuring efficient use of the approximately $34 million budget. This role manages a team of 7 finance staff between Abidjan and Nairobi and provides high-level financial oversight to all program components, including grants to partners, operational expenditures, and the successful execution of the Refugee-Led Organization (RLO) Opportunity Fund. The Senior Finance Manager is also critical in ensuring the program meets all donor and organizational financial reporting requirements.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Overall project financial management

• Provide rigorous oversight of the project’s budget and expenditures, including monitoring of outstanding commitments.  Working closely with the project’s leads to ensure timely and responsible use of financial resources.
• Develop and oversee the implementation of financial strategies, ensuring alignment with the project’s multi-year goals across various African contexts.
• Lead the annual budgeting process, providing high-level analysis and forecasting to ensure program sustainability.
• Troubleshooting and management of financial issues that arise during program implementation risk management to ensure funding is being utilized as intended and budget balances are monitored.
• Work closely with the WUSC global finance team to support the development and implementation of financial policies, procedures and internal controls.
• Oversee the project finance team to monitor and review all project accounts GL, advance reconciliations, bank reconciliations and balance sheet accounts.
• Ensures that project internal controls are in place and are followed and continuously identify opportunities for improvement
• Providing oversight over the project financial transactions, including management of foreign exchange 
• Collaborating with WUSCs global finance team to ensure accurate and timely financial reporting, forecasting and donor reporting.

Compliance and donor management

• Ensure compliance with donor regulations and local statutory laws in each operating country.
• Act as the primary focal point for internal and external audits, ensuring all findings are addressed and "clean" audit reports are maintained.
• Manage sub-grantee financial monitoring, ensuring local partners adhere to international financial standards and donor requirements.
• Support the project level risk management through the implementation of risk mitigation measures including leading the due diligence processes for local partners and grantees.

Staff management and support

• Provide ongoing coaching and mentoring to new and current finance staff to enhance competencies, ability to effectively collaborate with other project functions, agency to troubleshoot complex issues, and improve overall project support.
• Design and implement a clear Delegation of Authority (DoA) matrix that empowers finance staff while maintaining central oversight for high-risk transactions.
• Provide coaching support to senior operations and program colleagues to improve forecasting and expenditure competencies.
• Balance workload distribution across the finance and compliance staff to prevent burnout during peak audit, programming and reporting seasons.

RLO Opportunity Fund

• Manage the financial allocation, due diligence, contracting, and disbursement of resources for the project’s RLO granting mechanism, which will provide funding to over 60 RLOs across the African continent;
• Oversee the implementation of the financial component of the granting mechanism, ensuring that financial disbursements are coupled with effective institutional development support for grantees.
• Ensure financial processes, reporting, and systems for the grants are streamlined to minimize administrative burdens on RLOs, addressing capacity constraints, while ensuring strong compliance and risk mitigation.

• Support the design and delivery of the demand-driven technical assistance (TA) component of the fund, specifically focusing on financial management and sustainability for RLOs.
• In close collaboration with the RLO programs team, provide advisory support to RLO grantees on sound financial management to help them successfully implement their projects.
• Work to enhance the institutional capacity of RLOs, enabling them to secure diverse funding and expand their ability to absorb larger grants over time, with the goal of developing a pipeline of "funding ready" RLOs.
• Where relevant, conduct site visits to RLO partners to support training, monitoring and/or compliance activities.

• Ensure all RLO grant expenditures and activities are compliant with WUSC and donor financial policies and donor requirements.
  

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field preferred. 
• A professional qualification in Accounting (e.g. CPA, ACCA or equivalent qualification)
• Minimum of 7-10 years of experience in accounting or financial administration, ideally within a nonprofit or development organization;
• Strong knowledge of accounting software (e.g., Sage) and Microsoft Office, especially Excel. Previous experience with Netsuite a desirable asset;
• Proven experience in grants management, financial oversight, or fund management, preferably within a non-profit or development context.
• Demonstrated experience in capacity strengthening or providing technical assistance to local partner organizations on financial or organizational management.
• Demonstrated experience in providing coaching and mentoring support to project colleagues on effective financial management.
• Superior cross cultural and cross-functional collaboration skills, including providing mentoring and coaching support remotely;
• Strong analytical, communication and problem solving skills;
• Fluent in English; French language skills are
  preferred
  
  

Other requirements:

• The headquarters of this initiative is located in Nairobi, Kenya; the Senior Finance Manager is expected to possess the relevant work authorizations
• The role will require frequent travel across the continent, and occasional international travel for conferences, workshops and meetings;
• Ability to work a flexible schedule.

WHY WORK WITH WUSC?

Join Us. Our work is important, cutting-edge, and rewarding. We encourage curiosity, innovation, and flexibility.

WUSC offers a dynamic international work environment with a diverse intercultural workforce. We offer employees exciting opportunities to apply their skills and gain experience all while making a difference in the lives of youth around the world. Employees at WUSC work hard to create lasting change in education, economic opportunities and empowerment.

WUSC’s office in Kenya is located in Westlands, off Waiyaki Way. Here’s some of what you can expect working with us:

• 40-hour workweek, some ability to work flexible hours and a hybrid work arrangement
• 21 days annual leave
• Health insurance coverage
• Free access to an e-learning platform with 350+ courses on various topics
• Get to know and exchange with people from all over the world
• Being part of a friendly, caring and enthusiastic team!

APPLICATIONS

WUSC’s activities seek to balance inequities and create sustainable development around the globe; the work ethic of our staff, volunteers, representatives and partners shall correspond to the values and mission of the organization. WUSC promotes responsibility, respect, honesty, and professional excellence and we will not tolerate harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation or abuse of any form. 

Persons with disabilities who need accommodation in the application process, or those needing job postings in an alternative format, may e-mail a request to [email protected].

WUSC is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and abilities. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. Please note that only the candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. 

If you are interested in this position, please follow this link to apply through our website.