The African Guarantee Fund: Senior Internal Controller
Employment at The African Guarantee Fund as Senior Internal Controller
The African Guarantee Fund (AGF)
The African Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (AGF) is incorporated and licensed in Mauritius as a limited liability company and has its office of operation in Nairobi, Kenya.
Its products and services provide financial institutions with the means which they can leverage in bringing their African SME financing interventions to the required scale.
AGF contributes to the promotion of economic development, vital for prosperity, stability and poverty reduction in Africa through two lines of activity:
a) Provision of a mix of financial guarantees and other products which reduce the risks supported by the financial sector when lending to SMEs that have insufficient collateral. These guarantees contribute to reduce the inability of SMEs to provide acceptable guarantees to financial institutions. Loan Guarantee based on a hybrid approach, Bank’s Fund Raising Guarantee and Equity Guarantees are offered.
b) Support for capacity development of the client financial institutions.
The AGF operates according to market principles and is a commercially viable venture with operations in a number of countries in Africa and its gradually expanding to other countries to cover the whole of Africa.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) together with the governments of Denmark (through DANIDA), Spain (through AECID) and France (through AFD) are the main shareholders of AGF.
The African Guarantee Fund (AGF) is looking for a qualified BILINGUAL candidate FLUENT IN BOTH FRENCH AND ENGLISH to fill in the following position to be based in our operations offices in Nairobi, Kenya:
Position title: Senior Internal Controller
Reporting: The Senior Internal Controller reports directly to the Chief Internal Controller – CIC.
Position Location: AGF offices in Nairobi, Kenya with frequent travels
Position Summary
The Senior Internal Controller (SIC) is responsible for the following
- Support the finance and operations departments and influence the culture of Internal Control throughout the organization
- Evaluate systems and business processes to identify areas of opportunities to enhance efficiencies and improvements, while maintaining the internal control framework
- Develop, implement and monitor and maintain compliance of internal control policies and procedures
- Lead audits in accordance with the audit plan. Follow the action plans in conjunction with the business functions and provide status reporting to senior management. Drive the action plans to improve the level of controls and mitigate risks
- Lead cross functional projects to improve the level of internal control and risk management, support the defining and implementation of policies and procedures across the business
- Complete the annual evaluation of Key Internal Controls and Top Risks within the company and report out to AGF senior management
- Conduct field audits to identify areas of non-compliance with policy and implement remediation processes
- Monitor changes in business, process and systems and provide guidance and recommendations to internal key stakeholders
Major Duties and Responsibilities
Internal Audit-Compliance-Internal Consulting- Reporting
- Perform management testing of the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting, business processes and effectively document conclusions reached;
- Conduct interviews and document processes and controls;
- Identify areas of risk that should be communicated to the CIC;
- evaluate identified control gaps and communicate associated risks and recommendations;
- Consistent exercise of independent judgement and discretion; Collect and analyze data electronically utilizing accounting systems and other software;
- Pro-actively pursues additional industry and business knowledge through training and certifications;
- Be knowledgeable about the business, including policies and standards that impact AGF Five years plan goals.
- The incumbent will also support the Head of Department to resolve critical issues related to above processes.
- Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.
Supervisory Responsibilities
- Supervise a team of Officers in the department
In addition to the above duties, the Senior Internal Controller may be required to perform other related or unrelated duties based on the company’s needs.
Qualifications, knowledge, skills & Experience Required
Desirable skills, knowledge and experiences
Experience
- Master’s degree in Accounting or Finance is required;
- Deep knowledge of region and global trends in the financial markets as well as an understanding of the key macroeconomic drivers;
- Good accounting knowledge including IFRS GAAP;
- At least 7 years of relevant, progressively responsible experience, with a proven track record within the audit/financial sector – ‘Big Four’ internal audit preferred;
- CPA or CIA;
- Experience in a busy financial services and generally banking environments;
- Experience managing and leading teams.
- She/he will be responsible for further developing, implementing, and regularly updating the AGF’s Internal Control and Compliance Policies and Procedures;
- Strong oral and written communication skills
- Desirable knowledge of guarantee system
- Strong knowledge of strategies, approaches and tools in capacity development;
- Have a good understanding of financial institutions’ approaches to SME lending, risk mitigation strategies, loan appraisal criteria etc.;
- Demonstrated ability to compile and report results of management activities
Knowledge
- Good knowledge of risk metrics analysis and reporting, operational and financial risk and controls and governance and oversight frameworks;
- Good knowledge and understanding of the business unit’s key products and services, processes and controls, risk and regulatory requirements;
- Solid knowledge of Bank departmental systems and applications would be considered an asset;
- Good knowledge of process and/or project management would be considered an asset;
- Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office products (i.e. Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint, Vision) and SharePoint.
Skills
- Advanced problem solving, critical thinking, and analytical skills;
- Good operational risk management skills;
- Strong prioritization skills;
- Advanced interpersonal and relationship management skills;
- Advanced presentation and communication skills;
- Ability to manage multiple competing priorities;
- Strong negotiation and conflict resolution skills;
- Demonstrated ability to work in an evolving environment;
- Ability to learn quickly / develop the necessary skills;
- Team player with strong interpersonal and leadership skills
- Must have strong analytical and coaching skills;
- Excellent project management and consulting skills;
- Excellent IT skills;
Apply here: https://goo.gl/cpPxWs