Finance Manager

Graça Machel Trust overview

Founded in 2010 the Graça Machel Trust (GMT) is a Pan-African NGO that serves the women and children of Africa. We aim to amplify women's movements, influence governance and promote women’s contributions and leadership in the economic, social and political development of Africa, and advocate for the protection of children's rights. Building on the legacy and passion of our Founder, Mrs Graça Machel, the Trust tackles structural barriers to change how public and private institutions address women's and children’s rights.

Drawing from our founding principles and overarching mandate from her legacy as a liberation fighter and global advocate for women's and children’s rights, we aim to harness the power of collective action through networks to drive inclusive social and economic transformation. The Graça Machel Trust has established a geographic footprint across 16 countries in Africa and is headquartered in South Africa.

Purpose Of Job
The Graça Machel Trust is looking to employ a Finance Manager who will provide day to day leadership for accounting operations, with functional responsibility for accounting, accounts payable, and reporting. Responsibilities also include production of financial reports; proper maintenance of accounting records; accurate processing of financial transactions and administration of a comprehensive set of controls and budgets designed to mitigate risk, enhance the accuracy of the company’s reported financial results, and ensure that reported results comply with generally accepted accounting principles, and result in flawless audits. The incumbent will support financial decision-making information by collecting, processing, analyzing, investigating, and reporting financial data.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Financial Monitoring & Payments

· Create, implement and maintain robust systems for the routine preparation of accurate, timely financial records for the organization in accordance with standard accounting procedures and internal policy/standards

· Ensure all statutory remittance and reporting requirements of the organization are met

· Prepare all necessary information for annual returns and audits

· Develop and maintain financial accounting systems for cash management and control

· Oversee all basic accounting functions such as bank reconciliations, cash flow management,

· Proactively review GMT operations and systems to identify financial and administrative forms of risk and exposure, and recommend changes or actions to minimize these

· Proactively review GMT operations and systems to identify opportunities for efficiency or effectiveness improvement, and make recommendations on best use of resources, reserves, etc that help us make the best of these opportunities

Budgeting, Cost Savings and Risk Management

· Support and guide the development of accurate project budgets, providing recommendations based on accurate historical financial records and external benchmarks.

· Prepare financial records and information for inclusion in donor/project reports; these must be useful and relevant to the project requirements and to staff using the information

· Maintain records for each project in a manner that facilitates good project management; empower and advise program management team to manage their budget lines by sharing relevant financial reports and analysis/guidance/recommendation (appropriate to recipient’s level)

Procurement and logistics

Develop and manage the procurement budget; track spend against forecast and flag variances Partner with procurement assistant on supplier negotiations, contract terms, and cost savings initiatives Review and approve purchase orders, contracts, and vendor payment terms above defined thresholds Build cost models and conduct spend analysis (by category, supplier, business unit) to identify savings opportunities Oversee accounts payable processes related to procurement, ensuring accurate accruals and timely payments Establish and monitor procurement KPIs (cost savings, cycle time, compliance rate, supplier payment terms) Ensure compliance with procurement policy, internal controls, and audit requirements Manage vendor financial risk assessments (creditworthiness, financial health checks) Support ERP/procurement workflow implementations and process improvements. Prepare management reports on procurement spend, savings, and forecast vs. actual

Team Management

· Recruit, train and develop finance and procurement staff members, including regular feedback and appraisals

The Graça Machel Trust is a dynamic and rapidly growing entity. The Finance Manager will be expected to adapt quickly to the needs of the organization and could have a range of other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

· CA(SA) Qualification from SAICA, or equivalent.

· Degree in Finance, Accounting or Economics

Experience – Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

· A minimum 8 - 10 years’ experience including 3 years supervising a finance team.

· Varied donor financial reporting experience.

· Demonstrable knowledge and experience adhering to policies, procedures, and instructions as per IFRS

· Strong financial and accounting background, including an understanding of and experience compiling profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow management, and general finance and budgeting.

· Knowledge of ISO 9001, ISO14001 & OHSAS 18001.

· Experience using a variety of finance/accounting software (Pastel, Sage, Quickbooks, etc.)

· Proven knowledge of financial analysis and strategy

· Experience overseeing/completing financial audits.

· Strong interpersonal, communication and presentation skills

· A solid understanding of financial statistics and accounting principles.

· Working knowledge of all statutory legislation and regulations.

· Thorough knowledge of all tax processing (Income tax, VAT, etc.)

Qualifications - Skills, Knowledge, Abilities

· Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills.

· In-depth knowledge of financial reporting standards, tax regulations and industry legislation.

· Analytical skills.

· Attention to detail.

· Interpersonal skills.

· Negotiation skills.

· Strong financial reporting skills.

· Experience working with a variety of finance/accounting software.

· Knowledge of financial planning at the project, program, and corporate levels.

· Knowledge of performance measurement and analysis.

· Intermediate to advanced computer knowledge.

Application details

· Please submit a CV (maximum 3 pages) to recruitment@gracamacheltrust.org

Only successful candidates will be contacted. Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience. Late Applications and candidates who do not comply with the above requirements will automatically be disqualified. GMT reserves the right not to fill the position. Correspondence will be limited to short-listed candidates only. If you do not hear from us within one month of the closing date please consider your application as unsuccessful

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Johannesburg North, Gauteng