Futurelect
Full Job Description
We are seeking a dynamic and highly driven Finance and Fundraising Manager who is also an innovator and executor to oversee the development of funds for Futurelect, as well as to manage and build on our organisation’s financial, operational, and compliance systems and processes as we rapidly expand our programme offering throughout the African continent.
The Finance and Fundraising Manager role is a key management and leadership position in our fast-paced and growing organisation. Reporting directly to Futurelect’s Co-founder and CEO, you will also work with Futurelect’s Board of Directors and a range of team members, service providers and stakeholders to build both funding pipelines and an institutional and operational backbone to support Futurelect’s programme design and delivery in the Southern Africa (SADC), East Africa (EAC) and West Africa (ECOWAS) regions.
You will have both internal and external facing responsibilities, gaining insights into a breadth of activities across the organisation, while also gaining insights into the day-to-day principles of running a growing, pan-African non-profit organisation. Working with a variety of teams – including Communications, Special Projects and Programmes – the Finance & Fundraising Manager’s principal responsibilities will be to develop strategies that will bring in revenue, and to strengthen and deploy the financial management systems and processes necessary to support the expansion of Futurelect’s growing public leadership and civic education programme offering.
The Finance & Fundraising Manager will manage a small operational team as Futurelect grows, and provide support to the operational teams covering East Africa and West Africa as Futurelect expands its programme footprint on the continent.
About Futurelect
Futurelect is an independent, non-profit organisation established in 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Our mission is to make the public service work better for more people throughout the African continent by supporting a new generation of ethical civic, political and government leaders.
To achieve this, Futurelect designs and delivers a series of non-partisan, intensive and interdisciplinary leadership development, and training programmes to diverse groups of ethical and innovative leaders annually – particularly young people and women – in order to prepare them for leadership in the public service.
Women and young people are often limited to participating in political life as voters rather than as elected representatives. We seek to stimulate the creation of a new generation of political insiders from typically marginalised groups in African societies.
Futurelect also supports those who will elect our leaders in the future. We want to empower vibrant and engaged electorates with the knowledge necessary to participate energetically in civic and democratic processes and hold their elected leaders to account both at the ballot and in-between elections.
Role & Responsibilities
Finance & Accounting:
Design, review and implement the organisational finance policy and standard operating procedures and support senior managers and the company accountant in their consistent and successful implementation;
Manage the annual budget and financial planning process in partnership with the CEO and senior management team and regularly produce accurate and relevant financial forecasts;
Monitor and manage spending, budget and cashflow to ensure the success of all operations and mitigate financial risk;
Manage and oversee all processes related to payroll, invoicing, payments, and expense management;
Manage strong information flows and productive relationships with all external financial services providers, including the company accountant, business banking team, company secretarial and audit review teams.
Fundraising:
Support the CEO in designing, developing and executing a multi-year fundraising strategy for Futurelect;
Raise awareness about Futurelect’s mission, programmes, and activities by identifying speaking engagements, conferences and other major events in which the CEO and Director of Programmes should participate;
Conduct research on potential donors with an emphasis on identifying new prospects and cultivating existing donors; support the CEO and Director of Programmes in executing an engagement strategy with both new and existing funders;
Conduct information interviews with potential donors to assess their interest in funding Futurelect’s mission and to determine how best they may be engaged as a funder;
Arrange, attend and participate in all fundraising meetings, programme and operational benchmarking sessions and review processes with funders and grantors;
Manage and support the Communications team in the arrangement of major fundraising events, including planning thematic areas, selecting venues, engaging event and logistics staff, and developing a marketing plan for attendance and participation;
Coordinate the implementation and monitoring of regular funding drives in partnership with the Communications team;
Oversee the development of in-depth donor research and manage and oversee the drafting of funding requests, proposals, grant applications and funder reporting processes in partnership with the Programmes and Communications teams;
Coordinate with Futurelect’s executive leadership and fundraising team to develop annual goals for the organisation’s fundraising efforts;
Analyse data from past fundraising campaigns to identify trends and opportunities to improve performance in future efforts.
Grant Management:
Maintain a database of new, existing and prospective funders; monitor and update funder communications, meetings and engagements and keep up-to-date records of donor and funder reporting and deadlines;
Oversee the preparation of progress reports for donors, tracking and reporting on outputs and outcomes for existing and new programmes, where required;
Identify, and oversee the use of appropriate software for funder relations management, including funder tracking, donor reporting and grant management;
Develop systems and processes for managing restrictions and programme specific allocations associated with Futurelect grants and funding.
Financial Governance, Legal and Compliance:
Support the CEO and Board Chairperson in maintaining optimal organisational governance and administration, implementing Board financial and fundraising decisions;
Provide operational support to the CEO before and during board meetings in reporting on organisational objectives and operational functions;
Coordinate with all directorates in compiling and delivering board packs, reports and financial documentation in a timely manner ahead of every board meeting and board sub-committee meeting;
Attend all board meetings and relevant board sub-committee meetings and minute key actions and decisions taken by the Board of Directors;
Manage financial governance and company secretarial matters in partnership with the relevant external service providers;
Oversee and ensure adherence to legal guidelines and in-house policies to maintain the company’s legal status and business ethic in all the regions where Futurelect operates;
Manage and track key tax, legal and administrative compliance deadlines, and coordinate board and senior leadership contributions to ensure timely submissions to the relevant authorities.
Organisational Development:
Provide advice and support on all organisational matters so as to balance Futurelect’s strategic and operational needs with adequate staffing human capital resources;
Manage employee development processes and ensure alignment to support organisational objectives;
Provide support and guidance to the CEO and the Senior Management Team to improve organisational efficiency and effectiveness;
Work with the CEO and Special Projects & Community Manager, to review and update the monitoring and evaluation process and compile impact studies after every 5 years to measure organisational impact, programme delivery, successes, challenges, and other applicable metrics.
General:
Assist the CEO in the management of all finance and funding stakeholder relationships;
Manage documents and filing effectively and with attention to detail, and ensure documents are properly shared and stored in the company cloud storage service;
Ensure thoroughness and accuracy in all tasks – including monitoring and checking work and information, planning, and organising time and resources efficiently.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
Qualifications:
Minimum qualification: Bachelor’s Degree from a leading University, preferably in Finance, Accounting or Commerce.
Experience:
A minimum of 7 years’ professional experience in finance, fundraising, sales, marketing, or related field;
5 or more years’ management experience in a non-profit / political organisation, media company, government agency or public institution;
Experience in restricted grant management and donor reporting is desirable (especially for international and institutional donor funding);
Experience developing financial systems or procedures, as well as developing and embedding finance and procurement policies;
Experience using financial accounting packages and IT systems; and proven knowledge of key accounting principles, practices and reporting frameworks;
Strong and solid ability to analyse and prepare high quality reports on financial information and data, especially for non-financial managers;
Demonstrated ability to cultivate and solicit major gifts;
Proven track record of meeting or exceeding fundraising goals;
Digitally competent – able to adopt and use new software for operational and project management purposes and troubleshoot IT issues.
Attributes:
Excellent and proven organisational skills; paying close attention to detail;
A track record of delivering superior results, commanding respect, and assuming leadership roles;
Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
Outstanding interpersonal skills are essential;
Success in roles requiring the execution of varied tasks while responding to multiple priorities;
Operates with excellence in mind in all matters, with the confidence to defend and debate ideas without the interference of ego;
A creative and imaginative self-starter, who possesses the self-discipline to meet outcomes in a nimble, entrepreneurial working environment;
Remains focused when faced with pressure, delivers against timelines, is not intimidated by major tasks / time limitations;
Proven ability to work with efficiency, flexibility, empathy and good humour;
Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with a wide array of stakeholders – junior and senior, for-profit and nonprofit, from a diversity of backgrounds;
Enthusiastic about building an organisation that runs smoothly, and building the right systems to support this objective;
Passionate about Futurelect’s mission; committed to reforming and diversifying public sector leadership and civic engagement in Africa.
BENEFICIAL / ADVANTAGEOUS:
Additional qualifications or background in Finance or Accounting;
Professionally qualified Accountant and/or member of an internationally recognised accounting Body such as ACCA, CIMA, ACA, CPA or South African equivalent;
Fluency in Pan-African languages other than English (French, Kiswahili, Portuguese, Arabic);
Experience in political campaigns, government or public leadership;
Experience creating or contributing to websites, newsletters, audio and visual content;
Some social media management experience.
Our Work Style
Futurelect values hard and smart work, encouraging creativity and innovation whilst having fun along the way. We respect and support people’s lives outside of work. We are an agile, high-performing team in a flexible and supportive workplace — from location to hours and holidays — asking all members to consider the needs and deadlines of the team. We are committed to building an organisation that is great for Africa and the world, and great for the people who work with us.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy
Futurelect was founded on the principle of diversity and inclusion in the public sector in Africa, where politics and government remain dominated by one gender and age demographic. We believe deeply in the importance of diversity and inclusion, and have these values embedded in our programme selection processes, as well as in our hiring practises. We operate on the principle that a candidate recruitment or selection process can never be considered meritorious unless it is also rooted in diversity.
Futurelect does not and shall not discriminate based on race, colour, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring and firing of staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, sub-contractors, vendors, and clients.
Futurelect is an equal opportunity employer. We will not discriminate, and will take affirmative action measures to prevent discrimination against any employee or job applicant on the basis of race, colour, gender, national origin (ancestry), age, religion, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression in recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment.
Candidates should submit the following by Friday 11 August 2023:
1) A comprehensive Resumé / CV
2) Motivation letter
3) Availability and
4) Salary Expectations
