Job Title: Senior Finance Officer

Reporting to: Head Finance and Core Administration

Application: Wednesday, March 3, 2021

The Senior Finance Officer (SFO) will support the Head of Finance and Administration to ensure delivery of the PASGR financial and administrative mandate. S/he will serve PASGR as the vital link between programmes, donors, Sub grantees and operations. In doing so, s/he will provide financial management, facilitate the flow of funds, support contracting, and apply operational expertise for the effective coordination of programmes, projects and cost centres. The SFO will also enforce financial control measures that ensure PASGR financial integrity and accountability to all stakeholders.

Key Roles and responsibilities

1. Budgeting and Budgetary Controls:

  • Prepare timely and accurate project budgets in conformance with the organisation and donor requirements/formats.
  • Undertake rigorous budget management and monitoring over the period of project implementation by ensuring proper tracking of expenditures against approved budgets.

2. Financial Reporting

  • Ensure all project cost expenditures are supported by adequate documentation in line with statutory, organisational and donor requirements;
  • Ensure real-time posting of all cost budgets and financial transactions into the financial system for the purposes of generating accurate budget versus actual reports for use in decision-making;
  • Ensures timely and accurate preparation and submission of financial reports related to programmes/projects to management and donors based on the contractual expectations;
  • Manage any specific donor reporting requirements such as match-funding/co-financing in order to meet the donor expectations without adverse effect to the organisation;
  • Support in audit preparations and ensure the complete implementation of audit recommendations;
  • Ensures timely and accurate preparation of reconciliations relating to bank accounts, partners’ accounts or other accounts as assigned.

3. Procurement, Sub-granting and Payments

  • Ensures efficient preparation and management of outgoing grants and contracts, including review of sub-grantee financial reports and timely posting into the financial system;
  • Undertakes assessments of existing and potential partnerships to identify and determine the mitigating measures that should be put in place;
  • Jointly with the supervisor, develops capacity enhancement plans to address noted areas of concern in the sub-grantee control environment;
  • Closely monitor the performance of sub-grantees and provides training as and when required. Undertakes field monitoring visits to sub-grant offices for training or a physical review of documents vis-à-vis reports
  • Compile and verify requests for direct payment and/or advance relating to programme activities;

4. Other Skills and Requirements

  • Be a self-starter with strong organizational skills
  • Good  leader, team player with people management skills
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively at all levels (written and verbal).
  • Have an affinity with the vision, mission of PASGR and adhere to PASGR values.

Minimum qualifications and experience

  • Bachelor’s degree in a Business field such as accounting, finance, strategic management, business, economics with CPA (K) / ACCA and a member of a professional body in good standing. Those with masters degree are highly encouraged to apply.
  • Minimum of 7 years of experience in programme/projects finance and accounting & reporting, within an international not for profit organization with complex donor requirements.
  • Knowledge of accounting software preferable Serenic Navision.
  • Effective skills and experience in sub-grant management will be an added advantage.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted electronically via email to PASGR (recruitment@pasgr.org) by Wednesday, March 3, 2021 at 1700hrs.  All applications must contain Curriculum Vitae and 3 references.

PASGR is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

African academics will need to embrace blended and online teaching in their quest to transform pedagogy so as to meet the expectations of students and enhance the quality of teaching and learning, according to experts and key African higher education stakeholders.

The community of educators and leaders are drawn from 29 public and private universities in 5 African countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria said that the future of higher education on the continent is fast changing with advancements in technology. They also noted that technology is central in the life of students today and that facilitating technology-enhanced learning would serve the interests of students.

They were speaking this week (8th February) during a live session of technology for transformative pedagogy in Africa training under the Partnership for Pedagogical Leadership in Africa (PedaL) initiative.

The training is the fifth of a series of PedaL’s online training programme that seeks to help university educators enrich their knowledge in the design of courses and how to utilize technologically driven learning management systems to enhance teaching and learning. PedaL training participants cover fundamental concepts and practical application of a variety of toolsets, digital resources and strategies for course planning and design as well as creative facilitation and innovative assessment. The initiative is implemented by Partnership for African Social Governance Research (PASGR) in partnership with African Research Universities Alliance, the UK’s Institute of Development Studies, the University of Sussex, Nigeria’s University of Ibadan, the University of Ghana, Uganda Martyrs University, Tanzania’s University of Dar es Salaam and Egerton University in Kenya with funding from the Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education Innovation and Reform (SPHEIR) programme. SPHEIR is managed on behalf of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office by a consortium that includes PwC and Universities UK International.

“It is our responsibility to mould and bring out the best in our students. With PedaL, we are opening a world full of possibilities for transforming our teaching and learning strategies” said Dr. Beatrice Muganda, PASGR’s acting executive director as she gave her welcoming remarks.

Muganda who is also the director of higher education at PASGR said that the PedaL programme had already trained over 1400 academics in 70 universities spread across 10 African countries. She stressed that PedaL promotes co-creation of knowledge, and inclusivity, giving voice even to the marginalized in Africa’s higher education ecosystem to drive pedagogical transformation. “Unless pedagogical transformation happens to academics, it cannot happen to students. We need a holistic digital transformation of all processes in our institutions as this is the future of universities,” said Professor Robert Gateru, Vice-Chancellor of Riara University in Kenya.

Gateru who has undertaken the PedaL Online training himself, his Vice-Chancellor status notwithstanding, is a visionary leader. He challenged African academics to embrace blended and online teaching and learning as this will define the future of higher education globally.

“Majority of our students today prefer blended learning. We should go where learners are and give them what they want,” added Gateru.

Professor Jonathan Babalola, Provost, Postgraduate College at Nigeria’s University of Ibadan said that lauded PedaL training and urged university educators to focus learning on the competencies they expect the students to develop and demonstrate in the community and at work.

Egerton University’s deputy vice-chancellor academic affairs, Professor Alexander Kahi said that technological transformative pedagogy as advanced by PedaL will enhance the sustainability of higher education in Africa. He further applauded the efforts made by PedaL to support African universities to adopt innovative pedagogies. “This is a very important step we are making towards quality education for future generations”, stressed Professor Kahi.

“PedaL is extremely relevant to the context in which we work because it stimulates ownership with the conversation moving away from the facilitator to the participants. It also promotes peer learning through experiences shared,” said Prof. Betty Ezati, Dean School of Education, Makerere University, Uganda while sharing her the story of her compelling PedaL journey.

“The immediacy of the use of the content is profound; whatever you learn, you put it to use immediately. Coming out of the course, you have a reviewed course or created a new course ready to be delivered online,” she added.

Prof. Samuel Agyei-Mensah, Director, Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation, University of Ghana, Ghana said that PedaL is an eye-opener due to its captivating innovative methods of teaching and learning. He added that; “PedaL programme managers at the University of Ghana and I were able to have a discuss and deliver a training programme that equips lecturers of the University of Ghana with innovative pedagogical skills aimed at enhancing student learning outcomes”.

Inspired by PedaL the University of Ghana established the Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation in 2020. The Center is supported by funding from The Carnegie Mellon Foundation.

Prof. Labode Popoola, Vice-Chancellor, Osun State University, Nigeria observed that; “PedaL is proof to the limitless possibilities of human creativity. It is a programme that has brought lecturers from different institutions in different countries together to bring a breath of fresh air in an area that has been neglected for a long time. It is an opportunity to be relevant and one should not miss it!” He noted that the Osun State University was pleased to be a legitimate member of the PedaL partnership.

The opening ceremony marked the fifth series of PedaL Online training and another significant landmark in the landscape of pedagogical transformation on the continent. As the year unfolds, the growth and impact of PedaL will be closely watched.