Reports to: CEO (based in Kenya)
Location: Nairobi, Kenya or Kampala, Uganda
Direct reports: Country Finance Leads, Business Planning & Analysis Manager, Senior Grants & Finance Manager (US based), Compliance Manager
Total department consists of 16 people and growing
ABOUT LIVING GOODS
Living Goods works to reinvent how we improve the lives of the under-served and uses business practices to achieve social goals. We train and equip community health workers with the tools they need to bring life-saving products and health services to people’s doorsteps, focusing primarily on children and mothers. Our community health workers provide primary healthcare to 7 million people and have reduced under-5 child mortality in these communities by 27 percent, for a cost of less than $2 per person served. We believe community health is critical to deliver universal health coverage, and community health workers are an essential part of that health system.
We think big, but our operations are lean and nimble, and we continuously explore innovative means to deliver greater impact at scale. As our influence has grown, we have also been able to support governments to transform community health systems through the disruptive power of mobile technology. We’ve equipped and deployed over 9,000 government community health workers across Kenya and Uganda, either managing on behalf of government or supporting governments and other partners to increase the impact and lower the cost of community healthcare.
REVENUE MODEL & ORGANIZATIONAL GROWTH
A large portion of Living Goods’ funding comes from private foundations, corporations, and individual donors, most of which are unrestricted. This allows us to focus on enacting our mission and seeking innovation, continuously honing our programs to improve community health. In recent years, the proportion of our funding has increased from bi- and multilateral sources, and we envisage this to increase in the coming years.
Living Goods has grown 30 percent every year for the past 5 years. We closed 2018 with a staff of 450 supporting 9,000 community health workers spread across two countries, soon to be four. Our 2019 budget is $30 million, and we plan to increase to $35 million enabling us to serve 34,000 community health workers by 2021 – thanks to a recent $35 million challenge grant from the TED Audacious Ideas project. Other core partners include the Gates Foundation, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, and USAID.
We’re growing because we have a winning model and mission: to ensure that every family has high quality health care in their community, no matter how dense the neighborhood or how remote the village. Our growth is anchored in three S’s: scaling, strengthening and spreading. To scale, we aim to increase the number of people served within our two operational countries, Kenya and Uganda, and to launch operations in two new countries by 2021. To strengthen, we will broaden and deepen our impact with new programs and make big leaps in our operational effectiveness. As we scale and strengthen, we will also spread our impact in current and new countries by influencing community health policy and financing.
THE OPPORTUNITY
This is an exciting opportunity for a seasoned financial executive to join a respected data-driven organization during a period of significant growth and scale. Beyond traditional oversight of all things financial, the CFO will serve as a strategic thought partner to the CEO, and will also play a strong deputy function to the CEO for ensuring the implementation of organizational strategy.
Specifically, the CFO will hold primary responsibility for overseeing all aspects of Living Goods’ finances, accounting, and risk management, and for ensuring the organization’s financial sustainability. Aside from these primary duties, the CFO will also be a primary contributor to enhancing the organization’s internal operations and infrastructure to allow for sustainable expansion. The CFO will partner with the CEO in designing and developing our global strategy, implementing annual and long-term plans, and achieving our goals for impact and scale.
The CFO will also play critical cross-functional roles related to organizational growth. They will advise Country Directors and the new country expansion team on cost optimization and financial analysis, including calculating return on investment to inform decisions related to scaling and spreading. Additionally, they will work closely with the Chief Development Officer and team to communicate a compelling financial story in support of fundraising efforts, balance revenue forecast and expenditure, and maintain a strong financial position.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Lead Planning and Budgeting. Deliver high quality organization planning processes – annual, multi-year and quarterly strategic planning and review processes. Serve as a thought partner to the global executive team in the design of programs, emerging concepts and business models to achieve Living Goods’ mission and strategies. Provide global leadership for budget strategy; budget development, implementation, cash flow and forecasting.
Organizational Strategy and Financial Performance. Lead the development of the financial strategy in relation to overall organizational strategy. Assess Living Goods’ performance against both short- and long-term strategy and budgets. Develop tools, systems and financial metrics to provide critical financial and operational information to the CEO and stakeholders. Provide the CEO, executive team and the board with decision support on both strategy and operations, insights into pivotal issues like expansion and investment opportunities, contracting models, and overall operations. Provide financial analysis and guidance on all activities, plans, targets and organizational drivers.
Financial Operations. Enhance internal financial operations derived from global best practices, ensuring that the proper infrastructure, policies, processes and controls are in place to effectively and efficiently run a global donor funded organization. Oversee performance in financial activities that include accounting & reporting, tax/regulatory compliance, and compliance with appropriate Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Lead the adoption of new financial processes, technology adoption (ERP, data analytics, etc.), process improvements and systems integration.
Organizational Revenue. Collaborate with the Chief Development Officer and team regarding funding sources. Plan, forecast and track donor funding. Advise and make recommendations pertaining to Living Good’s overall funding.
Communication and Reporting. Oversee the preparation and communication of financial information to internal and external stakeholders including the Board, staff, funders, donors, partners, government organizations, the public and other stakeholders.
Risk, Compliance and Governance. Lead organizational risk and compliance management that ensures organizational continuity while upholding Living Goods’ reputation. Research and implement global best practices, create policies and processes that effectively measure, monitor and control the risk environment. Provide guidance to the Board and management on risk management and compliance activities including funding, legal, statutory and overall organizational operations. Ensure that all Global (including country-specific) governance processes are streamlined and function within the parameters of the regulatory and donor requirements, global best practices and Living Goods’ Policies.
Team and Organizational Leadership. Provide hands-on leadership to the global Finance staff and manage change as the department grows and evolves. Hire, onboard and retain top talent. Build resources for the future and inspire and motivate others to be the best they can be. As a member of the senior executive team, communicate a vision, build common understanding, align resources to accomplish key objectives, and work across Living Goods to build collaborative relationships.
ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE & ATTRIBUTES
TO APPLY
Living Goods has retained Schaffer&Combs, a certified B Corporation, to support this high-priority search. In order to apply, please submit an updated resume and thoughtful cover letter that outlines how your skills and experiences meet the qualifications of the position to this link.
Please refrain from contacting Living Goods directly; all inquiries should be directed to Schaffer&Combs at LivingGoods@schaffercombs.com. We will be accepting applications on a rolling basis.
Tagged as: Kenya, Living Goods, Uganda
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