The Kaizen Company is an incubator for innovative, scalable solutions that address emerging market challenges and opportunities. Our proven solutions catalyze locally driven organizational and institutional performance improvements and establish communities of practice that facilitate peer-to-peer learning and the achievement of shared goals.

We leverage existing knowledge, technology, and new media, and local peer networks to support local reforms. Since our inception, we have provided support to more than 100 government, private-sector, and non-profit organizations in markets worldwide. We have created solutions that achieve outcomes across a broad range of sectors including education, governance, economic growth, environment and water, energy, and global law enforcement.

Scope and Objectives

Kaizen is currently seeking a Finance Officer to support a development project with USAID/Kenya and East Africa to strengthen human and institutional capacity development (HICD) for regional intergovernmental organizations (RIGOs). This project enables the RIGOs to fulfil their mandates, to provide leadership to the development agenda in the region, and to ensure the long-term sustainability of development programming. The Finance Officer will be responsible for the financial and procurement aspect of the program to ensure it meets all USAID and U.S. government requirements in funds accountability.

Responsibilities

• The Finance Officer will be based in Nairobi, Kenya and will maintain all administrative and financial records for the project and prepare reports in compliance with USAID and Kaizen policies.
• Establish and manage financial and procurement systems and a set of protocols that enable transparency, accountability, and accuracy.
• S/he will negotiate agreements with sub-grantees and subcontractors and undertake all the necessary financial administration of sub-grants and sub-contracts. S/he will provide training, as necessary, for staff and partners in aspects related to financial systems, protocols, and policies.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Business, Accounting, Finance or related field relevant to the position requirements
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in managing financial and procurement policies of development projects in developing or transition countries, especially in East Africa; experience implementing USAID programs preferred
• Knowledge of the USAID project cycle, agency policies, regulations reporting requirements for financial management and procurement
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational skills
• Professional level of oral and written fluency in the English language
• Strong teamwork and effective cross-cultural interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated professional excellence, excellent writing ability, and ability to resolve sensitive and complicated work issues with senior high-level country counterparts, donor representatives, and senior-level staff
• High-level of proficiency with MS Office, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; Working knowledge of budget management software required