Assistant II, Admin & Finance, Job in Kenya

About This Role

Reporting to the Project Coordinator, the Assistant II, Administration and Finance will provide comprehensive financial management, compliance oversight, and administrative support for the 12-month planning grant, “Strengthening Responsive Caregiving for Children and Families,” funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. This strategic initiative aims to consolidate learning, synthesize evidence, and lay the groundwork for the next phase of ChildFund’s Nurturing Care Program in Kenya and Mozambique. The Assistant position will be responsible for ensuring sound financial stewardship of grant resources, maintaining robust internal controls, and supporting seamless administrative operations for all project activities within the project. The Assistant will work in close collaboration with the program teams, research partners, WCCP team, and local implementing partners to ensure accurate financial tracking, timely reporting, and full compliance with both ChildFund policies and Hilton Foundation donor requirements.

Education Required

Experience and Education

Bachelor’s degree in commerce (Finance or Accounting option), Business Administration, or related field from a recognized university or equivalent combination of experience and education.
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Part II is preferred.

Experience:

Minimum of 3 years of progressive professional experience in finance and administration, preferably within the NGO sector and with donor-funded projects.
Proven experience in financial management, reporting, and compliance for international donors (experience with USAID, Hilton Foundation, or other institutional donors is a strong advantage).
Experience supporting internal and external audit processes, including documentation retrieval and reconciliation.
Experience in bank and cash reconciliation, petty cash management, and advance tracking.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience working on multi-year grants or projects involving travel coordination, engagement with government officers and other stakeholders, etc.
Familiarity with cost analysis tools or providing financial data for research/evaluation purposes (e.g., cost-effectiveness studies).
Experience in sub-grant management or financial oversight of local implementing partners (CBOs).
Experience providing logistical support for workshops, training, or learning exchanges.

Working Conditions

Based in the ChildFund Kenya WCCP Kisumu Office, with occasional travel (approximately 15-20%) to project sites in Busia, Homa Bay, Nairobi, and other Counties as may be assigned from time to time.
Standard office hours with potential for extended hours during month-end closing, audit periods, or major project events.

Primary Responsibilities Financial Management and Accounting

Daily Financial Operations: Process all project-related financial transactions, including preparation of cash and bank payment vouchers, ensuring completeness of documentation and adherence to authorized budget lines.
Accounting Records: Maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records in the accounting system (QuickBooks/ERP), ensuring data integrity and proper coding of all transactions to the specific grant cost centers.
Cash Management: Conduct daily and monthly cash counts, perform petty cash reconciliations, and prepare timely bank reconciliations for all project bank accounts.
Advance Management: Maintain the uncleared cash advance file, track staff and partner advances, and prepare monthly overdue advance reports to ensure timely accountability and liquidation.

Budget Monitoring and Donor Compliance

Budget Tracking: Monitor project expenditure against approved budgets, prepare regular variance analysis reports, and alert the Project Coordinator and Senior Finance Analyst to any potential overspends or underspends.
Donor Compliance: Ensure all financial transactions and documentation strictly adhere to the terms and conditions of the Hilton Foundation grant agreement, as well as ChildFund’s internal policies and procedures.
Support for Costing Exercise: Collaborate with the Project Coordinator and program team to prepare and provide all required financial data to the Brookings Institute for the costing and cost-effectiveness study using the Childhood Cost Calculator, including extracting and organizing historical and current expenditure data by program component.
Partner Financial Monitoring: Support the review of financial reports and liquidation documents from local implementing partners (CBOs) involved in capacity strengthening activities and ensuring sub-grant compliance.

Administrative and Operational Support

Activity Coordination Support: Provide logistical and administrative support for the planning and execution of all project activities including booking of workshop and meeting venues, participant travel and per diem processing, procurement of workshop materials, vendor payments, and participant reimbursements.
Procurement Support: Assist in procurement processes for goods and services required for project implementation, ensuring compliance with ChildFund’s procurement policy and donor value-for-money principles.
Asset Management: Maintain an up-to-date inventory of all project assets and equipment, ensuring proper tagging, safeguarding, and tracking.

Audit Support and Record Keeping

Documentation and Filing: Manage a systematic and secure filing system (both electronic and physical) for all financial records, including payment vouchers, receipts, contracts, and bank statements, ensuring they are properly labelled, safeguarded, and easily retrievable.
Audit Preparation: Support internal and external audit processes by preparing requested documentation, providing timely reconciliations, and responding to auditor queries.
Record Retention: Ensure all financial records are maintained in accordance with ChildFund’s record retention policy and donor requirements for potential future review.

Reporting and Stakeholder Engagement

Financial Reporting: Assist in the preparation of accurate and timely monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports for donor submission, management review, and stakeholder meetings.
Coordination with Program Team: Collaborate closely with the Project Coordinator and program staff to ensure proper financial documentation is in place for all donor reporting requirements.
Staff Support: Provide basic financial literacy guidance and support to non-finance project staff on compliance with accounting procedures, advance liquidation, and expense documentation.

Safeguarding, Risk Management & Compliance

Child Safeguarding: Be alert and responsive to any child safeguarding risks, acquire relevant knowledge and skills necessary for promoting strong safeguarding practices, and ensure full adherence to ChildFund’s Child Safeguarding Policy in all financial and administrative processes.
Internal Controls: Uphold and strengthen internal control mechanisms to prevent fraud, waste, and misuse of project resources.

Required Competencies

ChildFund’s Core Competencies

Teamwork: the ability to work effectively and collaborate with others; values and respects individual differences.
Communication: demonstrates empathy and tact when communicating with others and uses a storytelling approach when appropriate.
Results orientation gets things done; takes proactive steps to achieve organizational goals and quality standards.
Decision making uses good judgement, critical thinking, and non-traditional ways to evaluate problems and opportunities; reflects and innovates to improve decisions and outcomes.
Resilience: thrives and grows in rapidly changing, demanding, and complex environments.
Digital literacy: adopts and champions new technology in relevant contexts, stays aware of technological trends, and embraces technological solutions to business challenges.

Other Required Competencies

The ability to read, speak, and write fluently in English.
Proficiency in QuickBooks, ERP systems, and Advanced Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, v-lookups, financial formulas).
Familiarity with development issues and child-focused programming is highly desirable.
Strong attention to detail and accuracy in financial documentation and reporting.
Commitment to transparency, accountability, and ethical financial management practices.
Excellent organizational and time management skills.
Ability to identify and communicate financial risks. Ability to work collaboratively in a multicultural environment and across diverse teams.