Head of Finance & Operations job at Educate

Who We Are!

 Africa has the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. By 2035, the continent is poised to contribute more young people to the global workforce each year than the rest of the world combined.

At Educate! we're obsessed with impact. We leverage iterative learning to build highly scalable youth employment solutions aimed at unlocking the potential of the world’s youngest continent.

Educate! prepares youth in Africa to learn, earn and thrive in today’s economy by:

Introducing an employment-focused school subject into secondary and

Delivering livelihood boot camps for out-of-school youth, with a focus on marginalized rural girls and young women.

To date, more than 500,000 youth have been meaningfully impacted across Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania, and along the way, Educate! has become the largest youth employment and skills provider in East Africa.

Educate! is a team of over 300 largely African staff and 300 volunteer youth mentors. We prioritize building an engaging, fulfilling and growth oriented work environment. 50% of our top 30 leaders have been with us for over 5 years, 10+ alumni have started their own organizations, and 6 current or former team members were Acumen Fund East Africa fellows.

We have been backed by top foundations such as Imaginable Futures, Livelihood Impact Fund, Jack Dorsey’s #startsmall, CIFF and Echidna Giving. Educate! won a 2018 Klaus J. Jacobs Prize and a 2015 WISE Award, and has been highlighted by the World Bank’s S4YE's Impact Portfolio, an Al Jazeera documentary, BBC, The Brookings Institution as one of 14 case studies on scaling education, and the Gates Foundation as a Goalkeepers Accelerator. In 2022, we received a catalytic investment from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott to scale our systems change work.

Educate!'s long-term vision is to design solutions that measurably impact millions of youth across Africa each year.

Good to note: To Our Awesome Applicants!

We know that incredible candidates sometimes hesitate to apply if they don’t meet every requirement. If this role excites you, we encourage you to apply!

We’re looking for passionate individuals who believe in our mission and can bring unique perspectives to our team—not just those who check every box. We value diversity and strongly encourage women and individuals from all backgrounds to apply.

What You’ll Do

 Financial Management & Reporting (40%)

Financial operations and control

• Own the country's financial operations end to end — transaction processing, payroll inputs, cash and bank management, month-end close and the integrity of the ledger.
• Deliver accurate management accounts to the Managing Director and Global Finance to an agreed monthly calendar, with variance analysis that explains what happened and what should change.
• Manage cash flow and foreign exchange exposure across currencies, forecasting requirements and flagging risks early.
• Approve payments and transactions within delegated authority, escalating beyond it with a clear recommendation rather than an open question.
• Budgeting and business partnering
• Run the annual and periodic budgeting cycle for the country: build the calendar, equip budget managers, consolidate inputs and challenge assumptions before numbers go to the Regional Finance and Operations Director and Managing Director.
• Partner with budget holders through the year so spend decisions are made with good information, not reconstructed after the fact.
• Produce donor financial reports that are accurate, on time and reconciled to the general ledger, and support proposal budgeting with realistic costings.

Operations, Procurement & Field Logistics (30%)

• Oversee the Operations and Procurement Manager in running office administration, inventory, asset management and supplier relationships to agreed service standards.
• Ensure procurement is competitive, documented and compliant with organizational and donor rules, while fast enough that programs are never waiting on paperwork.
• Oversee field logistics — transport, warehousing and distribution — so program resources reach field locations on time and in full.
• Identify where process, automation or system changes would remove cost or delay; design the change, make the case for it, and lead adoption through the managers who own the process.
• Maintain a safe, well-run working environment across offices and field sites.

Compliance, Risk & Audit (20%)

• Maintain the internal control framework in practice — not just on paper — and test it periodically for gaps and workarounds.
• Lead the external audit and any donor or statutory audits: prepare the schedules, manage the fieldwork, and close out findings within agreed timelines.
• Ensure statutory compliance — tax, social security, NGO registration and employment obligations — and keep a current register of legal and regulatory status for the Regional Finance and Operations Director and Managing Director.
• Maintain the country risk register for finance and operations, with owners and mitigations, and escalate material risks promptly.
• Manage contracts and supplier agreements, liaising with external counsel, auditors and tax advisers as needed.

Team Leadership & Development (10%)

• Lead a team of managers and their staff across finance, operations and procurement, setting clear goals and holding a consistent performance standard.
• Run a real coaching cadence — regular one-to-ones, honest feedback, development plans — and build depth so the function is not dependent on any single person.
• Build the team's capability in analysis, systems and business partnering, not only in processing.
• Model the Five Cultural Tenets and hold the team to them.

Who You Are

•  5+ years of progressive finance and procurement experience, including 3+ years managing people — experience managing other managers is a strong advantage.
• A professional accounting qualification (CPA, ACCA, or equivalent) or an equivalent combination of qualification and experience.
• Demonstrated ownership of a full finance cycle: month-end close, management reporting, budgeting, and external audit.
• Experience with donor-funded, multi-currency operations, including donor financial reporting and grant compliance.
• Exposure to operations, procurement or supply chain management, or clear evidence of the judgment to take it on.
• Strong systems orientation — comfortable with accounting and ERP systems and confident redesigning a process rather than working around it.
• Demonstrated ability to operate well in complex and fast-changing environments.
• Passion for Educate!'s mission is a must, but past work in education or youth development is not required. We value diverse perspectives and encourage applications from people with a variety of backgrounds looking at Educate!’s culture deck here

Terms

A vibrant, mission-driven environment with a supportive and fun team.

Flexibility—hybrid work environment (location dependent)

Competitive salary based on experience.

Competitive benefits based on location

Learning & growth opportunities

This is a Fixed term contract with a possibility of extension based on performance

• Own the country's financial operations end to end — transaction processing, payroll inputs, cash and bank management, month-end close and the integrity of the ledger.
• Deliver accurate management accounts to the Managing Director and Global Finance to an agreed monthly calendar, with variance analysis that explains what happened and what should change.
• Manage cash flow and foreign exchange exposure across currencies, forecasting requirements and flagging risks early.
• Approve payments and transactions within delegated authority, escalating beyond it with a clear recommendation rather than an open question.
• Run the annual and periodic budgeting cycle for the country: build the calendar, equip budget managers, consolidate inputs and challenge assumptions before numbers go to the Regional Finance and Operations Director and Managing Director.
• Partner with budget holders through the year so spend decisions are made with good information, not reconstructed after the fact.
• Produce donor financial reports that are accurate, on time and reconciled to the general ledger, and support proposal budgeting with realistic costings.
• Oversee the Operations and Procurement Manager in running office administration, inventory, asset management and supplier relationships to agreed service standards.
• Ensure procurement is competitive, documented and compliant with organizational and donor rules, while fast enough that programs are never waiting on paperwork.
• Oversee field logistics — transport, warehousing and distribution — so program resources reach field locations on time and in full.
• Identify where process, automation or system changes would remove cost or delay; design the change, make the case for it, and lead adoption through the managers who own the process.
• Maintain a safe, well-run working environment across offices and field sites.
• Maintain the internal control framework in practice — not just on paper — and test it periodically for gaps and workarounds.
• Lead the external audit and any donor or statutory audits: prepare the schedules, manage the fieldwork, and close out findings within agreed timelines.
• Ensure statutory compliance — tax, social security, NGO registration and employment obligations — and keep a current register of legal and regulatory status for the Regional Finance and Operations Director and Managing Director.
• Maintain the country risk register for finance and operations, with owners and mitigations, and escalate material risks promptly.
• Manage contracts and supplier agreements, liaising with external counsel, auditors and tax advisers as needed.
• Lead a team of managers and their staff across finance, operations and procurement, setting clear goals and holding a consistent performance standard.
• Run a real coaching cadence — regular one-to-ones, honest feedback, development plans — and build depth so the function is not dependent on any single person.
• Build the team's capability in analysis, systems and business partnering, not only in processing.
• Model the Five Cultural Tenets and hold the team to them.

• Financial Management
• Operations Management
• Procurement
• Budgeting
• Reporting
• Compliance
• Risk Management
• Audit Management
• Team Leadership
• Process Improvement
• Systems Orientation

• 5+ years of progressive finance and procurement experience
• 3+ years managing people (managing other managers is a strong advantage)
• Professional accounting qualification (CPA, ACCA, or equivalent) or equivalent combination of qualification and experience
• Demonstrated ownership of a full finance cycle: month-end close, management reporting, budgeting, and external audit
• Experience with donor-funded, multi-currency operations, including donor financial reporting and grant compliance
• Exposure to operations, procurement or supply chain management, or clear evidence of the judgment to take it on
• Strong systems orientation — comfortable with accounting and ERP systems and confident redesigning a process rather than working around it
• Demonstrated ability to operate well in complex and fast-changing environments
• Passion for Educate!'s mission