Head of Finance at a Prestigious International Boarding School

A prestigious international boarding school in Lagos is urgently recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Head of Finance

Location: Lagos
Employment Type: Full-time

Job Summary
The Head of Finance will be a strategic and operational leader providing counsel to the Principal and the Board of Trustees. The HOF will ensure:

• The efficient and effective stewardship of the School’s physical and financial resources,
• Efficient operation of support services,
• Oversight of risk management for the School, and serves as a member of the senior administrative leadership team.
• He/she will serve as the primary School liaison for the Board’s Finance, Audit & Risk Committees.

Detailed Duties and Responsibilities
Banking and Treasury Function:

• Profitable investment of excess funds
• Ensuring the school’s compliance with all banking requirements to facilitate smooth operation of its accounts
• Monitoring the appropriateness of bank charges of all categories across all accounts
• Preparing loan proposals when required.

Advisory and Reporting - Board and Board Committees:

• Preparing periodic management reports as prescribed by management for review by the board and its finance committee
• Advising the board periodically in a timely and structured manner of the status of the school’s finances – including banking positions, creditors and receivables and other assets.
• Preparing annual final accounts for presentation to the school’s external auditors
• Acting in an advisory role to the Trustees, board and the finance committee, by providing on a predetermined periodic basis and on an ad-hoc basis as occasion demands, necessary financial information that will aid decision-making by the board.
• Ensuring the implementation of Board and Finance Committee directives regarding financial and other related matters.
• Advising and supporting other Board committees (Audit and Risk; Project) as required.

Budget:

• Preparation of the school’s annual budget and financial statements for approval by the board
• Responsibility for effective implementation of the financial budget
• Carrying out periodic budget performance evaluation
• Escalating appropriately any adverse or unforeseen budget performance.

Financial Management:

• Put in place strategies to ensure the proper management of working capital (including credit control by keeping receivables to a minimum), and also ensure that the school maintains acceptable operating capital ratios.
• Monitoring and advising on the school’s cash flow position and trend
• Advising on and instituting cost reduction strategies
• Reporting on the school’s business and financial performance
• Ensuring that the school has value for money in purchasing and procurement, and in concert with other relevant functions, ensure that physical assets are maintained in a state to serve the school effectively for their projected lifetimes

Accounting:

• The Head of Finance is responsible for all accounting functions including journal postings, maintaining the general ledger, preparation of management and final accounts, billing and invoicing, among other sundry accounts functions.
• Ensure that there is a proper structure in place to record and account for all tangible assets owned by the school.

Compliance:

• Ensuring that the school complies with processes, controls and procedures specified in the Financial Manual and the Administration, Catering and Procurement Operating Manual especially in key capital and operational expenditure areas such as Capital purchases and Procurement.
• Providing training, support and guidance to staff as required to ensure the capacity is built that will enable adherence to prescribed compliance requirements
• Ensuring that both the Financial Manual Catering, Procurement and the Administration Operating Manual are updated as required and that they reflect the school’s current needs and operating realities.

External Relationships:

• Maintaining relationships with appropriate external contacts including the school’s bankers, external auditors, and tax authorities.

Regulatory Matters:

• Ensure that the school is compliant with all financial laws and regulations including but not limited to tax regulatory requirements at Federal and State levels including (Corporate, Staff PAYE, With-holding taxes, VAT and any other relevant taxes and levies), and any payments due are paid over
• Ensure the school makes all required statutory deductions (including Pension) at the appropriate time and that such deductions are immediately paid over to the relevant authorities.

Leadership:

• Providing strategic direction, technical guidance and leadership for members of the finance team.
• Provide leadership and direction to the leadership of the departments under the HOF’s oversight:
  • Administration
  • Catering
  • Procurement /delivery of goods and services
  • Catering Cost Control.
• Business development:

Collaboration:

• Effectively collaborating at a high level with CLT members led by the Principal, and other Heads of department in the running of the school and the execution of the Board’s strategic agenda.

Minimum Qualifications
The HOF must satisfy the following minimum qualifications:

• Strong academic credentials, including an MBA or related graduate degree required
• Membership of a recognised professional body of Accountants e.g. ICAN
• 10-15 years’ total experience in financial leadership roles
• Strong analytical skills and a deep knowledge of Accounting and Finance, Cost Control, Payroll, Risk Management and relevant Regulatory matters. The HOF should also have demonstrable working knowledge of Administration and Facilities management.
• Excellent IT skills and knowledge of updated accounting software
• Experience leading and managing a team including hiring, performance management, training and professional development
• A strong business orientation; including setting short- and long-term priorities and charting an informed, sustainable and ambitious future, matched with the ability to effectively communicate the short- and long-term financial implications of decisions to stakeholders
• Experience working in, or exposure to, a school setting and/or non-profit organization is desirable but not required
• Strong technological capability, including expertise with enterprise-wide financial systems

Critical Leadership Capabilities:
Strategic Financial Management:

• Adopts a long-term perspective about the School’s finances while also cognizant of short-term needs; brings a sophisticated understanding of the financial levers and risks.
• Provides accurate, comprehensive and transparent financial information to the senior administrative team and Board members to inform priority setting and helps guide multi-year decision-making and long-term implications of capital investments.
• Seeks innovative approaches to support the School’s strategic objectives.

Operational Leadership:

• Provides discipline and focus on efficiency, effectiveness, and continuous improvement of operational processes.
• Manages and builds good rapport with staff across all levels within the organization.

Collaborative Partner:

• Demonstrates a consultative demeanour to build rapport and establish credibility with all stakeholders.
• Possesses a deftness of style that solicits input, listens well and incorporates feedback, yet can make decisions.
• Provides counsel and maintains close relationships within the institution and community.
• Engages faculty and staff in discussion around the financial objectives and challenges of the School, conveying a strong appreciation of the School’s mission and the need to make informed decisions around competing priorities.
• Enjoys working with diverse teams and takes initiative to build and deepen partnerships with a broad range of constituents at the School.
• Appropriately delegates projects to his/her team members and with a clear set of agreed-upon objectives.

Application Closing Date
13th December, 2024.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should submit their Applications and Curriculum Vitae (CV) to: [email protected] using the Job Title as the subject of the mail.