Associate Director, Finance

Job Description

Are you ready to use your finance and accounting acumen to restore vision for millions of people in frontier and emerging markets? Would you like to work for an organization combining the best business and social impact practices?

VisionSpring, an international social enterprise, seeks a highly motivated Associate Director of Finance with international experience to support our growing Finance team. The incumbent is responsible for leading and managing the tactical and strategic aspects of the financial operations at the regional level. 

The incumbent will have a dual reporting relationship to the Global VP of Finance and the Africa Region Director. The Associate Director provides expertise, guidance, and timely and accurate stakeholder support while working with internal partners. The Associate Director independently performs highly complex work, such as pre-and post- award grants and contracts activities; supervising and participating in the preparation of various budgets, financial statements, and reports; directing the maintenance of general and subsidiary ledgers, accounts receivable, revenue distribution, and operating expenses; establishing system controls for new financial systems and developing procedures to improve existing systems; collaborating with other functions (Programs, Resource Mobilization, Supply Chain, HR, IT ). 

Additional tactical responsibilities include personnel management and building the function as needed, day-to-day local bookkeeping, and maintaining accurate and timely financial records by entering, processing, and reconciling transactions per established procedures and formats for business units in Africa. S/he will prepare reports and schedules to facilitate budget preparation, tax filing, monthly and annual financial reporting, and successful year-end audits. The incumbent will serve as the primary finance liaison to the sales and operations teams, managing accounts receivable, accounts payable, and expenses for field teams, and ensuring financial compliance for restricted grants. 

The position will support African countries' operations and may be located in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, or Uganda. VisionSpring currently operates in a hybrid model.

About You 

• You are a proficient and experienced finance and accounting leader. You excel at making sure debits and credits are recorded correctly. It’s more important for you to do it right the first time.  If you are unsure how to record an entry, find out how it should be done before recording it quickly.
• You value precision and easily keep track of the most minor details. Numbers are prepared on time, and you strive for accuracy. You create clarity for external parties - investors/donors, auditors, and vendors. 
• You are analytical. You can read and understand budgets and financial statements and quickly notice when line items don’t add up. 
• Your world needs to be predictable, so you make it so. Instinctively, you adhere to routines and timelines and help others appreciate the need for structure and repeatable processes. You are always looking for a better way to get recording and reporting done more efficiently.
• You have a critical eye and are not afraid to be the first person to speak up if anything looks amiss. For you, organizational accountability is personal.
• Friends would describe you as trustworthy and structured, wise with low ego, resilient, and highly ethical.

 About Us

• We are creating access to eyeglasses for low-income people. Clear vision creates opportunities for increased learning, work, safety, civic participation, and quality of life.
• As a social organization, social change motivates us first. Our focus is on advancing our mission objectives - to increase functioning, productivity, and income earning potential for our low-income people by correcting impaired vision with eyeglasses.
• We serve low-income people who are more than beneficiaries for us. Our customers expect high-quality eye screening and eyeglasses and will spend limited discretionary income on the immediate and tangible benefits of vision correction
• We run our operations on metrics and social impact measures. We leverage a range of organizational forms and practices to get the work done.
• We believe in scaling our impact, not our organization. We are a lean team of doers
• We sell and deliver radically affordable optical products and services and develop markets for eyeglasses. This 700-year-old technology has failed to reach 1 billion people needing vision correction, most of whom live on less than $4 daily.
• As a social enterprise, we are purpose first. We blend philanthropic and earned revenue, draw on non-profit and business practices, and use sales and efficiency metrics and social impact measures to bring vision correction to even more people. 
• We catalyze collaborative action in an expansive, multisector partner network and use our evidence and experience to influence systems change and close the global clear vision gap.
• We believe in scaling our impact, not our organization. We are a lean team of doers.
• Our big goal: Everyone who needs eyeglasses will have them by 2050.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required in accounting, finance, or another relevant field. Chartered Accountant (CA) / Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or related field.
• A minimum of 10 years directly related experience, including senior or managerial-level work experience as a financial leader. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
• Strong understanding of the practices and procedures of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) applied to financial accounting and reporting.
• Must have high proficiency in accounting experience using computerized accounting systems, such as SAP, or others. Working knowledge of SAP will be an added advantage. 
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.
• Strong command of financial principles, regulatory compliance, and advanced financial systems.
• Ability to work with large financial data sets, prepare and analyze financial statements and reports.
• Capacity to work effectively within timelines in a dynamic, multi-jurisdictional environment.
• Demonstrated proficiency with MS Office, and excellent Excel skills.
• Demonstrated management and interpersonal skills, including planning, negotiation, supervisory, and communication skills.
• Ability to interact with diverse constituent groups.
• Fluency in spoken and written English with high verbal/written communication skills. 
• Preferred experience: (1) Working with organizations that have multi-country operations in Africa; and/or (2) Working with an organization having both product and service offerings.
• Must be highly organized and detail oriented. 
• Must meet the highest standards of ethics and personal integrity. 
  

Job Responsibilities
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Financial Planning and Budget Preparation

• Collaborate with senior leadership to define and execute the organization’s long-term financial strategy for African operations.
• Drive financial scenario planning, risk assessment, and decision-making processes to position the organization for sustainable growth.
• Lead annual budgeting, forecasting, and cash flow planning while monitoring expenditures against approved budgets across Africa region.

Financial Reporting and Analysis

• Prepare and review financial reports, including budget variance analysis and program expenditure reports.
• Oversee the implementation of financial software, analytical tools, and process improvements to enhance analytics, with speed, accuracy and completeness.
• Act as a key financial advisor to executive leadership, providing insights that drive data-based decision-making.
• Analyze financial data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities and timely monitoring of progress/performance, financial outlook, and forecasting.
• Drive SKU-wise / category-wise profitability analysis and monitoring.
• Monitor cash flows and fund requirements.
• Prepare monthly, quarterly, and year-end financial reports for review – internal, external, and Board as per schedule. 
• Provide timely 

Grant Management and Compliance

• Coordinate with internal and external audit teams to ensure timely and accurate compliance with statutory and donor-specific reporting requirements.
• Support grant management and donor reporting for both direct donor-funded programs and internal grants, ensuring alignment with financial best practices
• Drive the project budgeting, reporting and review process for every project in the region in collaboration with all stakeholders for the process. 
• Manage grant finances, ensuring compliance with donor restrictions and requirements.

Audit, Compliance and Risk Management

• Complete responsibility for the timely completion of required legal entity audits and compliance across all countries in the region.
• Ensure compliance with organizational financial policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements. 
• Identify and mitigate financial risks, ensuring adequate internal controls.
• Collaborate with the Global Finance Leadership to provide reports and schedules for annual audit and tax filings, and all related requirements.
• Monitor changes in financial and accounting protocol/laws in countries in the region to maintain compliance.
• Engage with external partners, regulatory bodies, and stakeholders as required.

 
Bookkeeping

• Oversee all finance and accounting activities ensuring compliance with local accounting requirements, local regulatory frameworks, US GAAP, and internal policies.
• Overall responsibility and accountability for the day-to-day financial operations across the region and entities.
• Ensure effective internal controls and robust financial practices across multiple jurisdictions.
• Approve/support timely payment processing across all countries in compliance with local regulatory requirements and internal policies.
• Ensure daily, monthly and quarterly accounts reconciliation process for Balance Sheet accounts
• Lead initiatives to optimize financial systems and processes, including automation and technology integration, to improve bookkeeping and reporting efficiency and data accuracy.
• Serve as the primary finance liaison to the Sales teams, managing customer invoicing, accounts receivable, and field team expenses.

 
Global Finance Support

• Support global initiatives both within Finance function and at an organizational level to support the mission
• Drive standard and consistent global financial accounting, reporting and review processes and practices across the region.
• Provide robust and timely support for all informational requirements for global consolidation, reporting and review.
• Manage the financial recording of all restricted grants and ensure the accurate coding of expenses assigned to such grants.
• As VisionSpring expands in key market countries, support and oversee local bookkeeping and accounting, financial review, planning, analysis and support.

 
Job Benefits

Compensation

• Based on experience, education, and location.
• We offer comprehensive benefits, including health insurance. 

To Apply

• We want to know more than just what you have done. We want to know who you are. What are the passions and talents that draw you to this role?
• Please submit your application, including a thoughtful cover letter and your CV/résumé.
• Please briefly describe each company or organization on your CV/résumé. Include your last name and "Associate Director, Finance" in the subject line.
• Please note, only candidates to be interviewed will be contacted.           

 
At VisionSpring, diversity, equity, and inclusion align with our core values to advance equity. Our mission is predicated on removing a fundamental barrier to full economic and social participation—uncorrected blurry vision. The values that underpin our mission energize our commitment to a diverse and inclusive team. A diverse team also allows VisionSpring to approach problems with nuance and develop unique insights that drive an outsized positive impact globally. We actively recruit, develop, and retain talented people from diverse backgrounds and support everyone in being exactly who they are. VisionSpring is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes people from all experiences, abilities, and perspectives to apply.
 










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