Back Finance and Operations Associate, WRI Africa Food Program

This is a hybrid position which requires 8 days per month in the office. You can be based in our office in Nairobi. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission as WRI is unable to sponsor visas for this position.

About the program:

The Food Program at WRI Africa aims to transform the food systems in Africa to address food and nutritional insecurity for a rapidly growing population, while achieving institution’s goals for people, nature, and climate. The program prioritizes three key areas: (i) promoting sustainable, nature-positive agriculture practices, including agroecology and regenerative farming to improve soil health and yields for smallholder farmers; (ii) reducing food loss and waste, and (iii) shifting diets toward diverse, nutrient-dense foods to address malnutrition and health issues especially for women and children. The program embraces circularity for food to address the interconnected goals of improving human well-being, protecting nature, and combating climate change.

Job Highlight:

Reporting to the Manager, Finance and Operations, Food, Land & Water Program, you will work with colleagues in the Food, Land and Water Program team to provide financial and budgetary support for all projects under the Food program. This will include liaising with individual project managers to manage and monitor grants and contracts, support project budgets for new proposals, track expenditures, prepare financial reports and discuss them with the Finance and Operations Manager, process invoices, manage and monitor subawards under the Food Program, participate in project audits, prepare invoices and donor accountability for all financial aspects of the projects. Your other duties will include supporting program operations and with administrative tasks, and events coordination. You will integrate equity into your work.

You will work with the Food Program team, WRI Africa Finance and Operations Manager and global operations and finance teams, including the cost and pricing team, grants and contracts team, and accounting teams.

What you will do:

Project Financial Management (40%):

• Manage annual project budgets, in coordination with the Finance and Operations Manager, the Director of Food Program and the WRI Africa finance staff
• Develop project budgets, notes and narratives for funding proposals on a need-by-need basis following different donor requirements while adhering to WRI cost and pricing rules and regulations
• Regularly review, update, and monitor all transactions, commitments, and revenue flows for the Food Program and projects to support healthy financial management
• Prepare quarterly projections and reviews to be discussed with the respective project managers and the Finance and Operations Manager, while advising on any risks and providing risk mitigation strategies, or course correction
• Update and maintain project budgets utilizing WRI’s budgeting and forecasting software (TM1) and soon to be introduced Workday
• Lead all grant finance aspects of the projects for grant close-outs
• Prepare all financial reports for donors for all projects under the Food Program,
• Create and implement financial best practices for the projects, in line with WRI and donor policies for effective operational efficiency
• Manage all Project audit processes for the projects providing detailed feedback to audit queries on financial matters of the grants
• Monitor all subgrants including budgets, financial reports and provide relevant advice for effective operational and financial efficiency
• Perform periodic financial analysis on all projects to detect and resolve problems

  Grants and Contracts Management (30%):

  • Review draft contracts and provide advice on financial compliance
  • Monitor project performance against grant and contract requirements and deliverables and ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of grants and contracts
  • Ensure financial contract requirements are fully understood and met by all partners/subgrantees
  • Provide training and support as needed to project partners on grant compliance and financial reporting

    📚 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯! 🌍🤝 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗡𝗛𝗖𝗥, 𝗪𝗙𝗣, 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗙, 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗦, 𝗨𝗡𝗙𝗣𝗔, 𝗜𝗢𝗠 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀! 🌐

    ⚠️ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰: 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐖!

    Administration (30%):

    • Process documentation for project commitments (i.e., agreements, contracts, payment requests and invoices)
    • Liaise with the Finance and Operations Manager to advise the team on budget management and all grant and contract related deadlines, raise and address any financial issues in coordination with the Food Program Director and Project managers
    • Support the team on Program Operations and administrative tasks, Workshops and events coordination.

      What you will need:

      • Education: You have a completed bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, business or a related field. Relevant work experience is accepted in lieu of a degree
      • Experience: You have 3+ years full-time relevant work experience in financial management, grant administration and project operations preferably in a non-profit setting
      • Professional qualification: You have attained the highest level of Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Kenya or other accredited institutions
      • Experience organizing and managing detailed and complex budgeting structures, donor reporting and/or grant or financial management
      • Experience working with international teams or on projects involving international donors or partners
      • Experience preparing financial proposal and reports for donors
      • Budgeting experience with Excel and complex spreadsheets, or other budgeting software
      • Experience handling multiple projects with varying deadlines as well as rapidly changing priorities
      • Languages: You are proficient in English, additional proficiency in French would be a bonus
      • Requirements: Existing work authorization is required where this position is based. WRI is unable to authorize visa work authorization.

        Potential Salary:

        Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

        How to Apply:

        Please submit a resume with a required cover letter by the date of 1 July 2025. We may close for applications sooner if we receive a high volume of qualified applications.

        We are unable to consider your application without a cover letter in addition to your resume.

        You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered.

        What we offer:

      • Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the US
      • The chance to have an impact and to develop your career within a mission driven organization with access to varied learning and training opportunities
      • A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work
      • The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI
      • Commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours