About this role
As an organization where cash is at the heart of what we do, our finance systems are critical to getting cash into recipients’ hands, and making better decisions about how to deliver our programs efficiently and effectively.
This role is an opportunity to become the technical owner of critical finance systems. Success in this role looks like us having high trust in our accounting system, easy to use tools for employees to log timesheets and expenses, and trusted, reliable financial data that enables us to make data-driven decisions to ultimately drive more dollars to recipients. For example, in your first year, projects will include evaluating and implementing a new expense reporting software, automating and streamlining employee onboarding and offboarding from finance systems access, and setting up monitoring to identify and prevent data quality issues. You are a systems thinker who can balance urgent requests with investments that improve the way we work over the long term. You are obsessed with improving data quality, recognizing that it is the foundation to being data-driven. You design systems that minimize the risk of errors in data entry, set up tools to monitor data quality, and effectively work with stakeholders to fix errors as they arise. You like being the front-line interface between tech and users across the org – and are good at explaining technical processes to non-technical users.

Reports to: SM, Information Security and IT
Level: Manager
Travel Requirement: Must be able to travel ~1-2 times per year to one of our countries of operation for team retreats or field visits. If based outside of Nairobi, must be able to travel an additional 1-2 times per year to Nairobi for colocation with the finance team.
Contract: This role is a 12-month fixed-term contract with the possibility of extension, though the extension is not guaranteed.

What you’ll do:
Own finance tech systems
• Own the administration, configuration, and integration of finance tech systems (including accounting, expenses, timesheets, and payments)
• Lead development of finance tech systems strategy to ensure the finance team has the right software tools to operate productively and securely, and lead initiatives to implement that strategy
• Build a deep understanding of finance needs, and use that to anticipate and remove obstacles and leverage tech to drive improvements

Provide user support to org-wide users
• Respond to user requests through our ticketing system, such as adding new vendors or troubleshooting access
• Ensure effective user access and permissions management, and timely onboarding and offboarding of users
• Provide training and support to users across the organization

Ensure trusted, reliable financial data
• Create and uphold data quality contracts for core finance data
• Interface with engineers and data architects on integrations and ensure that finance data is available and usable for reporting org-wide

What you’ll bring:
• Exceptional alignment with GiveDirectly Values and active demonstration of our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity. We welcome and strongly encourage applications from candidates who have personal or professional experience in the low-income and/or historically marginalized communities that we serve.
• Language Requirement: English
• 4+ years of relevant professional experience in financial systems management, accounting/finance, or IT systems with a focus on financial applications
• Knowledge of IT security best practices and secure configuration of cloud-based software tools
• Deep expertise with accounting software (Sage Intacct a bonus)
• Knowledge of accounting principles and financial reporting standards
• Experience with budgeting, forecasting, and financial modeling
• Deep expertise with Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets; strong ability to extract, clean, and manipulate large data sets
• Strong initiative and ability to drive process improvements that impact multiple teams
• High attention to detail and to high quality customer service
• Systematic approach to troubleshooting technical problems and finding the root cause
• Strong project management experience; comfortable managing complex timelines and multiple stakeholders
• Ability to communicate technical concepts to a variety of technical and non-technical stakeholders, including finance, programs, and fundraising teams
• Bonus but not required: accounting experience
• Bonus but not required: experience working with relational databases (e.g. SQL)