Deputy Finance & Operations Manager

Who We Are! 🌍 Africa has the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. By 2035, the continent is poised to contribute more young people to the global workforce each year than the rest of the world combined. At Educate! we're obsessed with impact. We leverage iterative learning to build highly scalable youth employment solutions aimed at unlocking the potential of the world’s youngest continent. Educate! prepares youth in Africa to learn, earn and thrive in today’s economy by: • Introducing an employment-focused school subject into secondary and • Delivering livelihood boot camps for out-of-school youth, with a focus on marginalized rural girls and young women. To date, more than 500,000 youth have been meaningfully impacted across Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania, and along the way, Educate! has become the largest youth employment and skills provider in East Africa. Educate! is a team of over 300 largely African staff and 300 volunteer youth mentors. We prioritize building an engaging, fulfilling and growth oriented work environment. 50% of our top 30 leaders have been with us for over 5 years, 10+ alumni have started their own organizations, and 6 current or former team members were Acumen Fund East Africa fellows. We have been backed by top foundations such as Imaginable Futures , Livelihood Impact Fund , Jack Dorsey’s #startsmall , CIFF and Echidna Giving . Educate! won a 2018 Klaus J. Jacobs Prize and a 2015 WISE Award , and has been highlighted by the World Bank’s S4YE's Impact Portfolio , an Al Jazeera documentary , BBC , The Brookings Institution as one of 14 case studies on scaling education, and the Gates Foundation as a Goalkeepers Accelerator . In 2022, we received a catalytic investment from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott to scale our systems change work. Educate!'s long-term vision is to design solutions that measurably impact millions of youth across Africa each year. Good to note: To Our Awesome Applicants! 🚀💫 We know that incredible candidates sometimes hesitate to apply if they don’t meet every requirement. If this role excites you, we encourage you to apply! We’re looking for passionate individuals who believe in our mission and can bring unique perspectives to our team—not just those who check every box. We value diversity and strongly encourage women and individuals from all backgrounds to apply. Position Overview Educate! the largest youth skills service provider in East Africa, is seeking a Deputy Finance & Operations Manager to join our Rwanda team. We are looking for a finance and operations professional who is excited about using strong financial management, thoughtful processes, and effective operations to help a growing organisation deliver on its mission. This is a unique opportunity to take ownership of both the financial health and day-to-day operations of the Rwanda office, while working closely with the Managing Director and Regional Finance team. In this role, you will oversee financial management, accounting, reporting and budgeting, while also ensuring that the country office runs smoothly—from procurement and payments to office services, assets, logistics, and events. You will supervise and support members of the finance and operations team, provide leaders with clear financial information for decision-making, and identify opportunities to strengthen processes and controls. The ideal hire is someone who enjoys taking ownership, solving problems, and making things work better. You’ll join a motivated, collaborative team working to create greater opportunities for young people across Africa, with the chance to grow your scope and contribute beyond traditional finance responsibilities. You are the right fit for this role if you: • Are organised, detail-oriented, and confident managing financial processes and reporting • Have experience supporting budgets, accounting, financial analysis, and compliance • Are a proactive problem-solver who takes ownership and knows when to seek guidance • Have experience supervising, coordinating, or supporting a team • Are a collaborative and engaging communicator who is open to coaching and feedback • Are passionate about Educate!’s mission and excited to contribute to work that creates opportunities for young people. What You’ll Do🌟 Financial Management & Oversight - 20% • Support the day-to-day running of the finance and accounting function, and flag process improvements to the Managing Director for decision. • Supervise and support the Senior Finance Coordinator: track day-to-day performance, give regular feedback, and raise development needs with the Managing Director. • Prepare and share routine financial information that helps managers make informed decisions; escalate anything requiring interpretation or judgement. • Maintain accurate records across the following areas: general ledger, accounts payable, expense reports, and payroll. • Pull together straightforward financial scenarios and data requests as directed. • Track finance compliance requirements with Rwanda Revenue Authority and other relevant regulatory bodies in Rwanda, and submit returns on time under the supervision of the Managing Director and Regional Finance. • Ensure financial reporting is accurate and submitted on schedule. • Apply and monitor established internal control procedures, and report any gaps or breaches promptly. • Work with Educate! budget owners and managers to answer routine finance queries and provide day-to-day support. • Provide finance support to the operations team. • Serve as the day-to-day contact with bank support personnel, and support the Managing Director in engagements with Tax Advisors and auditors. • Participate in periodic meetings with the Regional Finance team, preparing the schedules and deliverables required. • Coordinate with contracted finance support teams on routine matters Financial Controls & Accounting - 25% • Apply all Educate! accounting systems, payment, bookkeeping and statutory filing procedures as documented. • Process all financial transactions accurately, in a timely manner, and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles through the QuickBooks system; identify and correct variances, escalating unusual items. • Follow and maintain established processes and controls related to transaction processing; propose refinements to the Managing Director rather than changing them independently. • Process and review the following transactions: payroll, accounts payable, revenue and expense, fixed assets, cash, bank reconciliations, and allocations. • Complete month-end closing procedures, including account reconciliations and updating schedules, for review by the Managing Director and Regional Finance. • Maintain an orderly accounting filing system. • Support revenue management and flag opportunities to improve payment systems. Financial Reporting & Budget Management - 25% • Keep the monthly budget balances report up to date and share it with budget holders. • Confirm expense codes on all requests as they are received and correct where necessary, checking with the budget manager. • Reduce reporting errors through careful self-review and by acting on feedback received. • Prepare accurate monthly financial and management reports, including income statement, balance sheet, budget and variance, projections and forecast, and cash flow, for review before circulation. • Submit accurate, complete and timely management reports. • Compile and submit the schedules and documentation required for the audited financial statements and all tax returns, with the Managing Director leading the process. • Provide the regional finance team with the reporting they request on Educate! financials. • Support the preparation of periodic budgets and updates. • Share budgets with budget managers, answer day-to-day queries, and escalate anything unclear. • Enter approved budgets into the accounting system. • Prepare BVA reports at month-end with clear explanations. • Share monthly BVA reports with budget holders for ease of planning. • Share quarterly BVA reports with clear explanations with Educate! • Monitor the budget memos and update the approved budgets and QuickBooks with the Budget Memos where needed. • Deliver refresher sessions to teams on finance processes, using materials agreed with the Managing Director Country Operations Oversight - 30% • Process and support all country office related payments, ensuring supporting documentation is complete and correctly coded. • Manage all country office procurement and materials management, from requisition through to delivery and record-keeping, in line with the procurement policy. • Coordinate all HQ non-program meetings and retreats: venue sourcing, logistics facilitation, guest hosting, and post-event reconciliation. • Run day-to-day country office operations and management. Ensure that the office is functional and that all amenities like internet, water, electricity etc are working, with service providers managed and contracts renewed on time. • In conjunction with HR, organise All-staff office and off-site meetings such as MMMs, team-buildings and the End of Year party. • Collaborate closely with the field operations team on joint planning for meetings and logistics whenever necessary. • Be the custodian of all country office assets: maintain an up-to-date asset register and carry out periodic asset verification. • Ensure and facilitate all necessary office renovations, either directly with the Landlord or through contracted service providers. • Maintain the schedule of office service contracts, leases and utilities, and flag upcoming renewals and cost changes to the Managing Director. • Track office operating costs against budget and report on variances monthly. • Ensure country office health, safety and security basics are in place, and escalate risks promptly. Who You Are 🦸‍♀️🦸‍♂️ • Bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance. • CPA, ACCA or equivalent qualification – part-qualified or actively in progress • Finance & Accounting experience working in a non-profit environment • Minimum of 3 years of finance and accounting experience, including accounting, analysis and reporting (gathering, organising, and presenting financial information to management). • Minimum of 1 year of supervisory, team-lead or coordination experience. • Experience supporting the management of annual budgets; exposure to budgets of $500K or more is an asset • Working experience in reporting, budget development and analysis, accounts payable and receivable, general ledger, payroll, and accounting; exposure to audit processes. • Proficiency with QuickBooks Online and strong Excel skills. • Drive and a willingness to take ownership of a growing scope of responsibility. • Collaborative, data-oriented approach to problem-solving • Demonstrated ability to work in a self-directed manner, seeking out areas that need attention, while knowing when to escalate. • Consistently asks for help and seeks advice from colleagues to let the best idea or process win. • Engaging and interactive communicator who is open to coaching and feedback • Passion for Educate! Mission is a must, but past work in education or youth development is not required. We value diverse perspectives and encourage applications from people with a variety of backgrounds. Background working with and promoting youth agenda in a non-profit set-up is an asset. • Fits our Five Culture Tenets (see What is Educate! About? below); Learn more by looking at Educate!’s culture deck here What We Offer • A vibrant, mission-driven environment with a supportive and fun team. • Competitive salary based on experience. • Learning & growth opportunities Application Process : Rolling basis, interviews happening soon! Terms • Location is Kigali, Rwanda. Our Culture & Tenets(Values) 🌱 We’re ambitious. Are you? Educate! is growing fast, so new opportunities are opening up and expanding all the time. We’re inspired by people with drive, and we love to help them reach their full potential. We expect everyone at Educate! to contribute above and beyond their job description, grow their skills, and advance their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey of their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey. • We put Youth First, Impact-Obsessed - We are purpose-driven, focused on impact, and prioritize what truly matters. We listen to youth, design our efforts around their needs, and ensure every dollar creates transformative experiences they value. • We Exceed Expectations - We take pride in going above and beyond to achieve the best results—proactively identifying problems and seeking solutions without waiting or stopping at what's requested. • We Are Always Learning - We are committed to seeking and applying new knowledge and ideas. We stay open-minded and continuously try new things, experiment, grow, and improve. We invest in learning for ourselves and our teams. • We are One Team, Many Views - We value all individuals, believe diverse ideas and open dialogue drive excellence, foster a supportive and respectful environment where everyone can freely express themselves. We work as one team and prioritize the organization's mission over personal or team interests. • We have the Startup Mindset - We innovate relentlessly to grow our impact, we never think “we have arrived” or “we’re done.”We constantly challenge the status quo, embrace change, and move quickly toward our vision. Unafraid of failure, we question anything that hinders progress. Every person at Educate! — from interns to the executive director — is evaluated by how they live up to these five cultural tenets. They are at the core of how we achieve our mission and why we work as well as we do. Educate is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all who interact in our community. In creating this environment, we encourage people from a variety of cultures, backgrounds and life experiences to join our diverse team. We’re committed to ensuring all candidates are screened for child and youth safety . As part of the process, candidates must successfully complete our standard background verification and safeguarding review in accordance with local legal standards . Educate! reserves the right to withdraw an offer of employment if any screening results indicate potential risks to youth.