Division Summary
The Finance & Resource Planning (F&RP) Division is led by the foundation CFO and partners with our colleagues to invest resources wisely and passionately in service of people who need it most. We do this through improving the impact of our investments and people, protecting the foundation\u2019s assets and brand, and enabling leadership to allocate resources wisely. F&RP leads enterprise planning and the associated governance processes to enable integrated planning across all strategies, functions, geographies, and operations.
The Finance, Planning and Analysis team is seeking an energetic, collaborative Senior Finance Manager to provide business and financial support to the Africa team. Key responsibilities include: partnering with the program team on grantee financial assessment and grant investment structuring, including financial due diligence and organizational capacity building. Other key responsibilities include budgeting and financial planning, resource allocation, and handling foundation-wide projects
The Senior Finance Manager must be successful at influencing through effective partnership and interpersonal skills and should have experience using financial analysis, organizational due diligence and modeling skills in advisory roles. Other critical skills for success include solution-orientation and a proactive approach to responsibilities. The ability to synthesize data and a good sense of humor are key, and most importantly, the candidate must be passionate about the foundation\u2019s mission, particularly in addressing the global health inequities that exist today. Financial experience navigating matrixed organizations and not for profit experience a plus. This role is based at the foundation\u2019s Johannesburg, South Africa, the foundation\u2019s African regional headquarters.
Client Group Summary: The Africa team works to enable the foundation\u2019s ambitious goals of scaling evidence-based interventions that target a range of disease and socio-economic conditions which are endemic across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The team performs its responsibility through direct country engagement to deploy interventions and delivery models, and by building the partner architecture to replicate successful interventions and models across multiple countries. The Senior Finance Manager will work closely with the Deputy Director, Strategy Planning and Management (SPM), Africa and other members of the SPM team and broader program team to implement their responsibilities.
Core Responsibilities
Strategy & Financial Planning
- Perform analysis and provide leadership with strategic and financial information to support effective financial resource allocation and decision-making during strategy refreshes and reviews.
- Work closely with leadership and Program Officers to translate strategy into long-term investment forecast and annual plan. Create dynamic financial planning tools that support decision-making and communication with senior leadership.
Financial Management
- Monitor actuals and forecasts against budget, including major risks.
- Create financial monitoring tools, including workflow management and monitoring tools, and partner with programmatic teams to manage grant and contract spending.
- Identify operational and financial risks of executing against annual budgets and propose mitigating strategies to the leadership.
Investment Analysis
- Perform financial and risk analysis to support investment-making and investment management. Partner with Program Officers to structure effective investments and develop appropriate mitigating strategies to manage risk.
- Benchmark costs where possible and make recommendations and provide advice to Program Officers in negotiating investments and sizing payments.
- Analyze business plans and examine the economics of a certain business; also analyze the financial health of organizations through discussions with CFOs and reviewing financial statement
Organizational Capacity
- Assess the financial and organizational health of organizations through financial statement review and discussions with CFOs and other finance staff.
- Lead organizational assessments/due diligence of key grantees/partners; develop actions plans to address findings and achievements to measure progress towards organizational outcomes.
- Advise program team on investments to strengthen the organizational capacity of critical partners.
Cross-foundational / Project-based
- Participate in program-related and cross-foundation projects to develop tools and best practices in support of effective investment-making, pipeline management and operational excellence.
- Participate in complex transactions and special projects for teams with significant financial analysis component.
Other
- This role is responsible for high quality interactions and clear and consistent communications with grantees and partners in the field.
- Respond to internal and external portfolio data requests and analysis.
- Ability to travel up 40% of the time (travel focused predominately in Ethiopia, Nigeria and at times more broadly)
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Technical and complex financial knowledge, including international finance and capital and currency markets across diverse sectors including non-profit, private sector and international organisations.
- Strong analytics (especially financial modeling, investment/deal structuring).
- Knowledge of risk management and due diligence.
- Knowledge of systems and processes related to financial management.
- Financial and strategic planning; analytical, numerical and financial modeling skills
- Strong relationship building skills
- Business plan development and evaluation
- Ability to translate data into user friendly tools / resources
- Ability to communicate complex financial concepts to partners with diverse backgrounds, including leadership, program staff, grantees and other foundation partners
- Synthesizing skills / ability to absorb and quickly distill significant amounts of information
- Ability to read and analyze financial statements
- Ability to influence without formal authority
- Ability to handle and coordinate multiple projects and activities across multidisciplinary teams
- Negotiation skills
- Solution and action orientation
- Advanced Excel (pivot tables, financial modeling
- Intellectual curiosity
- Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational settings, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people.
- Familiarity with development issues in health, agriculture, and other development sectors is preferable but not required
- Knowledge and experience of Africa developing country economics and dynamics preferred, but not required
Education and Experience
- Master\u2019s (MBA) or relevant advanced degree preferred, with 10+ years of relevant experience
- #LI-LM1
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment with the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
Hiring Requirements
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
Depending upon your work location, we may require proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 and any recommended booster doses. All employees based in the United States are to provide proof of full vaccination upon hire and any recommended boosters, subject to applicable laws.
Accommodations
If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request to hr@gatesfoundation.org.
Inclusion Statement
We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We\u2019re committed to creating a workplace where employees thrive both personally and professionally. We also believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve\u2014in race, gender, age, cultures and beliefs\u2014and we support this diversity through all of our employment practices.
All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and prior protected activity.