Finance & Operations Manager(South Africa)

Who we are

Girl Effect is an international non-profit that builds media that girls want, trust and need.

From chat-bots to chat-shows and TV dramas to tech, our content is reaching millions of girls in Africa and Asia to make choices and changes in their lives. Igniting their confidence to act differently at a time that can define their future.

We create safe spaces for girls, sharing facts, and answering questions about health, nutrition, education, relationships and so much more. And we use innovative technology so we can reach girls at scale. We arm girls with the skills to negotiate and redefine what they are told is possible, so every girl can choose to be in control of her body, her health, her learning and livelihood.

When a girl unlocks her power to make different choices that change her life, it inspires others to do so too. She starts a ripple effect that impacts her family, her community, her country. That’s the Girl Effect.

Girl Effect in South Africa

Girl Effect has been present in South Africa for the last 7 years through its global digital brand ‘Springster’, and its AI powered chatbot for girls - ‘Big Sis’. 

Springster was launched as a series of mobi-sites under the Facebook Free Basics program and later pivoted to social media. It has made girl-friendly content accessible to girls for free, reaching  6.1M users  across the African continent.

Big Sis, Girl Effect’s chatbot in South Africa, offers girls a virtual friend to talk to about their health concerns and curiosities.  Launched 3 years ago, Big Sis has scaled to 75,000 conversations, started over 1.2 messages sent/received, proven impact across behavioural drivers, and been shortlisted for multiple awards. 

Campaigns run on the Springster and Big Sis ecosystem have also been able to successfully direct girls to services.  

Girl Effect continues  to invest in South Africa   - we are launching new campaigns around sexual  and reproductive health and mental well being, connecting girls to services and expanding Big Sis’s AI models to understand the language  young people use to express mental health and SRHR issues so that we may respond appropriately, timely, and efficiently at scale. 

And now, we have a new opportunity to bring hope and inspiration to an entire generation of South African youth. We are building a national scale youth brand that will help young South Africans to rise up and take charge of their dreams, take different actions and make informed choices about their sexual health and economic prospects. 

Context of the role 

Girl Effect is looking for a Finance and Operations Manager to lead on all finance, and support the general administration and  procurement for the office in South Africa.  You will join the global Finance team (with colleagues in Kenya and the UK). From a finance perspective, you will be responsible for ensuring good accounting practices, budget management, financial reporting and audit/donor/tax compliance.  From the procurement and administration side, you will manage the day to day procurement, logistics and administration activities, ensuring that those activities uphold GE procurement policy and best practices in all aspects of procurement implementation. You  will also oversee procurement solicitations and sourcing procedures, cost and selection analysis, issuance of contract awards, reviewing payment requests, monitoring awardee performance, and maintaining procurement files.

Financial Management:

• Manage day-to-day financial operations, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, and payroll.
• Maintain accurate financial records and ensure compliance with accounting principles and local regulations.
• Monitor cash flow and oversee bank reconciliations.
• Maintain the fixed assets register 
• Petty cash management
• Bank account reconciliations
• Perform month-end activities as per the agreed organizational timelines (transaction entries, journal entries, reconciliations, etc.) and maintain all Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss (P&L) schedules as required on a monthly basis
• Lead on generating financial reports to different stakeholders when required

Treasury management:

• Maintain relationships with banks
• Cash Flow management through maintaining and preparing cash flow forecasts 

Financial Planning and Analysis:

• Prepare annual budgets, forecasts, and financial reports for management and donors.
• Conduct regular financial analysis and provide insights to inform decision-making.

Grant and Donor Compliance:

• Conduct a review of partner/donor financial reports when required and make occasional field trips to monitor finance-related issues and procedures.
• Ensure compliance with all donor financial reporting requirements.
• Prepare and submit timely and accurate financial reports to donors.
• Monitor grant budgets and expenditures to ensure alignment with project goals.

Audit and Compliance:

• Preparation of the Year-end Financial Statements and provision of supporting schedules to the auditors.
• Coordinate annual financial audits and ensure the timely submission of audited financial statements.
• Implement and maintain effective internal controls to safeguard the organization's assets.

Ad-hoc duties: 

• Identify opportunities to streamline financial processes, enhance financial systems, and implement best practices to improve overall financial operations.
• Work with the Procurement team when required to support execution of local sourcing strategies.
• Perform other tasks as and when required

Who you are

• Bachelor degree in Accounting, finance or business related field,
• Qualified accountant and have the required membership and registration to perform the accounting functions in SA 
• Proficient in MS office especially Excel
• Attention to detail and ability to perform tasks with accuracy and efficiency 
• Good organizational and time-management skills
• Team player with strong communication interpersonal skills
• Ability to work collaboratively in cross-functional teams
• High levels of integrity and ability to handle confidential information
• Previous audit experience highly desirable

Minimum experience required

5 years of experience in accounting or/and finance, preferably in the nonprofit sector

What else you should know

As we continue to scale and grow - we are hugely ambitious for our future and we are looking for people who are driven to change the world for girls.

Our teams are a diverse mix across sectors (non-profit and commercial) and specialisms (from Brand and Creative through to Gender and Insight). You’ll learn and grow in an environment that will challenge you to think and work with a fresh perspective. In turn, you can expect to work somewhere where you will be stretched and developed in your role, a place where you can build your career and work with talented, engaged people committed to our cause.

Girl Effect is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

We are committed to building an organization that is increasingly representative of the communities that we serve. To this end, due regard will be paid to recruiting candidates with diverse professional, academic and cultural backgrounds.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all those we work with and for, especially children and young people. We expect all staff to share this commitment, uphold standards in our safeguarding policy and our code of conduct. In particular:

• To take reasonable steps to prevent any harm caused by Girl Effect
• To report any safeguarding concerns through the reporting pathways

This role is being recruited on a 12-month fixed term contract basis.

This role is subject to a standard background check.

Application closing date – 20th May 2024