The Ipas Africa Alliance for Women’s Reproductive Health and Rights is based in Nairobi, Kenya. The organization works to reduce maternal deaths from unsafe abortion, expand the availability of high-quality comprehensive abortion care, and advocate for policies that advance women’s reproductive health and rights across the continent. The Finance Advisor is responsible for ensuring efficient, transparent, and compliant financial management systems across assigned work areas, proactive risk mitigation, and providing technical financial oversight and capacity strengthening to implementing partners and subgrantees.
Summary of Responsibilities
Organizational Leadership and Strategy:
- Responsible for deliverables and results in assigned work areas.
- Works collaboratively with other teams and units.
- Provides support supervision (where applicable).
Financial and Risk Management:
- Complies with Ipas financial management and other operational policies and procedures in relevant functional areas (inventory, procurement, grants, subawards, payroll, IT).
- Proactively identifies financial and operational risks within the country office and subgrant/subaward portfolio management, and works with the Program Manager, Finance Manager and relevant teams to develop and implement risk mitigation plans and activities.
- Ensures good stewardship of funding in their work areas.
- Ensures timely preparation and filing of statutory returns with URA and other relevant bodies, including PAYE, NSSF, and withholding tax, in accordance with local laws and donor requirements.
- Maintains an up-to-date tracker for all statutory submissions and remittances to avoid penalties or delays.
- Ensures efficient, transparent, and compliant financial management systems that promote value for money, effective cost controls, integrity and strong accountability in all transactions.
- Monitors financial performance of subgrantees and ensures that risks identified during reviews are addressed through documented mitigation actions.
- Participates in partner support supervision and joint monitoring visits to ensure sound financial management and compliance.
Program, Technical, or Functional Content of the Job:
- Supports program teams in developing activity-based budgets that clearly align with program outcomes and donor requirements, promoting efficient project cycle management, activity planning, resource allocation, and efficient execution.
- Reviews, processes, coordinates, and reconciles payments to vendors and other outside entities.
- Prepares monthly bank reconciliation, reviews and approves transactions on Ipas accounting software, and approves petty cash expenses.
- Participates in the preparation and construction of donor reports, as directed.
- Reviews payments to consultants, ensuring that agreements, invoices, and other documents are properly completed and submitted.
- Maintains records of withholding tax deducted from consultants while ensuring the deductions are remitted and entered.
- Reviews all travel advances, program activities pay-out, and medical insurance advance requests as well as process travel retirements.
- Prepares monthly payroll and remits payroll deductions to statutory bodies in accordance with local laws.
- Supports preparation of financial statements and schedules required for external and internal audits.
- Coordinates with auditors, URA officials, and other regulatory bodies during financial reviews or audits.
- Promotes efficient financial management practices across projects and partners by supporting accurate activity-based budgeting, timely reporting, and prudent expenditure control.
- Provides technical financial oversight and capacity strengthening for implementing partners and subgrantees/Subawardees focusing on building their capacity for efficient resource use and internal controls.
- Reviews partner budgets, financial reports, and supporting documentation to ensure accuracy, compliance with donor and Ipas policies, and proper cost allocation.
- Conducts regular financial spot checks, follow-ups on audit findings, and ensures timely submission of partner accountabilities.
- Supports partners to develop financial management systems, strengthen internal controls, and build capacity in areas of budgeting, reporting, and compliance.
- Assists in problem solving as needed.
Resource Mobilization:
- Contributes to donor reports and externally facing documents.
- Contributes to proposals (primarily budgets) in relevant technical areas.
Communications & Representation:
- Represents Ipas with business partners, such as contractors or consultants.
- Documents learning and results.
Position Requirements
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field (BA/BSc/HND).
Experience:
- Minimum of 4–6 years of progressive experience in financial management, including grant and donor fund accounting.
- Experience operating within a strong organizational culture of accountability, effectively managing financial integrity and ethical decision-making.
- Demonstrated experience managing large multi-donor budgets and complex financial reporting.
- Solid understanding of URA tax compliance, NSSF and PAYE filings, and other statutory obligations.
- Proficiency in accounting systems and advanced Excel skills.
- Proven experience providing financial management support to subgrantees or local implementing partners, including budget review, reporting, and compliance verification.
- Knowledge of human resources processes related to payroll and benefits management is an advantage.
Required Attributes & Skills:
- A deep commitment to sexual and reproductive health and rights, especially abortion and contraception access.
- Unwavering commitment to professional integrity, ethical conduct, and transparency in all financial dealings and decision-making.
- Professional-level fluency English (speaking, reading, and writing).
- Proven ability to lead and motivate teams and create a positive work environment, including through supportive supervision, strong communication, nonhierarchical leadership approaches, and modeling the Ipas core values.
- Demonstrated capacity and commitment to good stewardship of funds, including strong skills in work planning, budgeting, financial monitoring, and data-driven problem solving.
- Proven ability to build positive working relationships with diverse internal teams and external partners, adopting a positive, solutions-oriented, and collaborative approach to resolve challenges across departments, partnerships in feminist ways.
- A proactive team player with a strong focus on collective success, demonstrating respect, open communication, mutual accountability, and emotional intelligence when interacting with all colleagues and partners.
- Experience preparing and filing statutory returns (PAYE, NSSF, Withholding Tax, etc.) with URA.
- Demonstrated ability to apply principles of efficient financial management, cost control, and donor compliance in complex multi-project environments.
