The Finance Officer will be overall responsible for: Providing support to the Senior Finance Officer/Programme Manager in recording and retrieving financial details of the company, including maintaining financial records, processing payments, cash handling and reporting.

The principal duties and responsibilities will be as follows:
Project Monitoring & Reporting
• Assist the Senior Finance to ensure project performance monitoring mechanisms provide timely and accurate data, allowing output-based reporting and payment linked to milestones.
• Assist the SFO to ensure good quality donor financial reports that adequately meet their reporting requirements.
• Assist to ensure orders and invoices are within budget before processing payments.
• Assist the SFO with preparation of donor and any other Adhoc reports by 5th of every month
• Assist the SFO with the preparation of WIP schedules/IET invoices by 5th of every month
• Assist the SFO to ensure timely, accurate, and appropriate information is available to the programme management team.
• Carry out any other duties as may be required by the line manager.
Cash Management
• Assist the SFO to ensuring that there are clear controls to mitigate any risks around cash
• Assist the SFO to ensure accuracy of Mobile money transactions, proper accountability/documentation to enable processing.
• Responsible for petty cash management and ensuring regular reconciliation of cash balance for review. Accountable for cash count and reporting on cash count exercise to the management.
• Compile Weekly/monthly cash reports to the SFO/Project manager every Tuesday/7th of the following month for consolidation
• Responsible for accuracy of site returns from both the regions as well as the project office in Kampala.
• Ensure records are available for regular checking and are up to date on a weekly basis by the project manager/SFO.
• Ensure timely payment and disbursement of cash payments e.g., per diems, fuel etc.
• To produce reconciliation of payment and supporting document for appropriate retirement.
• Assist in the preparation of monthly cash flow forecast statements by the 7th of the following month to the project manager/SFO.
Account Payable
• Assist the SFO to produce weekly/monthly expenditure reconciliations of programme expenditure and draft invoices for the clients as well as maintaining up to date billing control sheets to the programme manager/finance manager every Monday/7th of the following month.
• Working closely with the Procurement team, follow procedures to ensure financial probity and value for money in the procurement, use and maintenance of physical assets and the purchase and use of services.
• Checking and ensuring that all payment vouchers meet the minimum audit requirement by checking for approvals and necessary supporting documentations.
• Assist the SFO to prepare accurate, weekly payment lists and send to the finance manager every Monday for consolidation
Audits
• Assist the SFO in the preparation and the subsequent activities for external e.g., client, and internal audits, as and when required
Other
• Operationalise the Mott MacDonald Business Management Systems (BMS) procedures, including health, safety and security as required by Cambridge Education/Mott MacDonald for the project.
• Contribute as required to programme reporting related to the areas above.
• Promote healthy work ethics, good governance and anti-corruption behaviour.
• Other duties as may be assigned from time to time by the Programme Manager/SFO Manager.

Candidate Specification
Essential competencies/skills
• Experience in managing the finances of complex programmes
• Understanding the concepts of due diligence, value for money and ethics and transparency
• Excellent written and spoken English
• A good communicator with strong relationship building skills, reliable and a team player
• Demonstrable ability to deliver to deadlines
• Pro-activity to raise issues with management and resolve identified problems
• Ability to undertake periodic travel to provincial/district offices (if required). Qualifications
• Educated to degree level or equivalent
• Advanced Excel skills
• Experience with an ERP would be beneficial.
• Experience in working with donor funded projects/programmes would be an advantage

Job Profile
Cambridge Education was appointed by the Department for International Development (DFID) as Managing Agent on the Uganda Strengthening Education Systems for Improved Learning (SESIL). SESIL is a 4.5-year programme which seeks to impact on the equity and quality of measurable learning outcomes for girls and boys in Uganda, the programme will focus on three core components:
• Building strong foundations – to increase the numbers of girls and boys reaching grade appropriate learning standards in literacy and numeracy in primary schools.
• Enhancing assessment and exams – to strengthen the assessment system so that it leads to more Ugandan children learning what matters for their future.
• Supporting a mixed economy – to support the Government of Uganda to work more effectively with non-state providers and financiers of education, including through direct support to a network of secondary schools.
The role of Finance Officer will sit within the “Programme Management & Administration Team’ which is will assist the Senior Finance Officer to ensure that all financial, operational and administrative aspects of SESIL run effectively. This Team will be based in the Mott MacDonald Uganda Office in Kampala and may be called upon to support the finance team at the Head office.