Chief Financial Officer

International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) within its Corporate Services Division. The CFO will direct and oversee all aspects of the Finance and Accounting functions of the Institute. S/he will have the primary day-to-day responsibility to ensure the existence and adherence to fundamental principles of financial management – financial accountability, internal controls, record-keeping, compliances, financial integrity, planning, budgeting, cash-flow management and financial reporting. S/he will support planning, monitoring and decision making processes to achieve best value in utilising resources and providing quality information, financial analysis, training and professional advice.

ILRI works to enhance the roles livestock play in pathways out of poverty in developing countries. ILRI is a member of the CGIAR Consortium, a global research partnership of 15 centres working with many partners for a food-secure future. ILRI has two main campuses in East Africa and other hubs in East, West and Southern Africa and South, Southeast and East Asia. www.ilri.org.
CGIAR is a global agricultural research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 research centres that are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.org.

Responsibilities:

• Provide overall supervision of the processes of recording, classifying and summarizing financial transactions and events and interpreting the results, ensuring that all transaction of the Institute are recorded and that there is easily accessible supporting original documentation for all the transactions. Providing necessary approvals for transactions and processes within set policies.
• Provide custodianship to all financial policies and procedures.
• Review and provide timely and accurate analysis of budgets, financial trends and forecasts including identifying fixed costs, profit cost centres and break even analyses.
• Continuous development and improvement of all supporting financial and management information systems for the Institute, ERP systems, project costing, mapping of accounts codes and analysis codes.
• Ensure that effective internal controls are in place to safeguard financial assets of the Institute and ensure records systems are maintained in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable financial regulatory laws and rules for financial reporting in all jurisdictions where the Institute operates.
• Oversee the coordination and activities of independent external auditors for the Institute and project audits, ensuring that all compliance issues are met and that the preparation of annual financial statements is in accordance with CGIAR requirements and IFRS.
• Oversee the preparation of periodic financial statements, financial management reports, cash flows, special analyses, and information reports for use by the Institute Management Committee (IMC) and Board of Trustees. Ensure that the finance unit is capable of meeting all financial reporting requirements – statutory, management and contractual – on a timely basis.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with program/project managers identify their needs and deliver enhanced business solutions. Provide support to other business support units in financial related matters. Provide recommendations to strategically enhance financial performance and business opportunities. Analyze costs and expenses and guide program/project managers. Analyze financial statements to pinpoint trends and potential problem areas.
• Analyze cash flow, monitor banking activities, manage the investment of cash deposits in line with set policy and other short and long-term investments to ensure adequate cash flow to meet the Institute’s needs,
• Establish and implement short and long-range goals, objectives, policies, and operating procedures for the Finance Unit.
• Oversee financial management of regional operations, including the development of appropriate financial and budget policies and procedures that incorporate local regulatory requirements.
• Evaluate and advise the IMC on the impact of new program/strategies and regulatory changes.
• Represent the Institute externally to government agencies and funding agencies.
• Serve on planning and policy-making committees.
• Recruit, train, supervise, and evaluate Finance Unit staff.

Requirements:

• MBA or equivalent and advanced finance/accountancy qualification.
• At least 10 years’ experience in a senior management role.
• Strong track record in leading the finance function of an organization operating in a complex, fast changing environment.
• Experience in introducing and managing change initiatives in financial management.
• Demonstrated ability to recommend or make decisions, including difficult ones, in a complex, changing environment.
• Ability and interest in continuous learning that deepens understanding of the dynamics of the internal and external environments in which a not-for-profit, publicly funded research institute operates today.
• Demonstrated ability to work in multi-cultural settings and to build productive relationships with diverse internal and external stakeholders.
• Working experience outside the candidate’s home country is required; preference will be given to experience gained in developing countries.
• Experience in similar organizations (science-based, public/private research, consulting firms) is desirable.
• Experience in business development and/or resource mobilization highly desirable.
• Essential personal qualities: integrity, responsiveness and decisiveness.

Post location: The position is based at ILRI’s Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.
Position level:The position is Research Level 3 dependent on qualifications and experience.
Duration:3 years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and continued funding.

Benefits: ILRI offers a competitive international and salary and benefits package which includes 15% Pension, Medical insurance, Life insurance and allowances for: Education, Housing, Relocation, Home leave, Annual holiday entitlement of 30 days + public holidays.

*Benefits are tax free subject to compliance with tax regulations of country of citizenship.
Applications: Applicants should provide a cover letter and curriculum vitae: a list of publications and names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience should be included in the curriculum vitae. The position title and reference number:CFO/CS/05/2014 should be clearly indicated in the subject line of the cover letter.

All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal:http://ilri.simplicant.com by 19 June 2014.
To find out more about ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org