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Seraphia K. Interim Regional Finance Controller
Last update: Apr 16, 2024
Details
Citizenships:
Kenya
Languages:
English, French, Swahili
Highest Degree:
Bachelors
Experience:
17 years
Salary:
Countries:
Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen
E-mail(s):
Attachments• 1
Associated Awards • 0
About
Finance & accounting, risk & compliance professional with 14 years’ work experience in diverse contexts in the NGO industry.
Possess extensive knowledge & experience in; Financial grants management, Contracts management, Financial proposal development, Financial analysis & reporting, Internal/ external audits, Compliance-safeguarding-risk assessment & anti-corruption, Strategic planning & internal controls, Capacity building/ On-job staff training & development, Consortium Coordination & Management, Partner assessment & management, Commercial contracting and Procurement & logistics support.
Key Achievements
1. Effective training, motivation, leadership and capacity building of staff, finance & non-finance.
2. Success in audit management within regional (>about USd100M per annum) & country programs (> about USd25M per annum). As well as consortium composed of eight (8) Member organizations at an average of USd22M per annum.
3. Inspired by technical working groups, brought together a network of senior finance colleagues (finance working group) to harmonize related functions.
4. Successful set up of new program start-ups within the region. Kakuma area office in Kenya in 2012; Adjumani, Arua & Yumbe area offices in 2015-6 and Kyangwali sub-office in 2017 all in Uganda; Kibondo & Kasulu Area offices in Tanzania in 2017-8.
5. Activated emergency financial & procurement systems in Yumbe, Uganda. To ensure that services and supplies for planning of prompt delivery at the onset of the influx of SS refugees.
6. Ongoing: As the finance manager of the single largest consortium at my current organization with an annual budget of about Nok229M/USd22M across 7-8 organizations, I have negotiated for resources (Regional strategic management support, Pursue specialist/ developer at global level (HQ), Inclusion as a regional strategic action plan,...) to,
i) enhance systematic financial performance of consortium in future. This is being approached by working towards creating an offline tool within the organization's budgeting system, that can capture data from all the Member oganizations. This is expected to enhance confidence in prompt accuracy of the numerous data across the eight Member organzations. As well improve timeliness in data consolidation, ease in identiying errors and minimize the risk of human error.
ii) In order to create above tool, I am working on harmonization & standardization of data across the 8 Member organizations for new/ upcoming proposals. I expect that the initial set of harmonized data will be finalized by end of January 2023. Followed by critical user & developer consultations and testing against new proposals in FY2023 for synching with various donor formats.
Skills/ strengths
1. Strong computer skills, proficient in Microsoft Office, excellent working knowledge of accounting software and highly adaptable to new software.
2. Working independently and a good team player. Networking with finance and non-finance staff.
3. Efficient written & verbal communication skills. Having worked with staff from different countries,
4. Ability to prioritize, multitask with a keen attention to detail and effectively delegate.
5. Analytical problem-solving skills based on derived systematic data for the respective business units, cost center’s, etc.
6. Excellent written and oral English communication skills. Trained in French, willing to take up refresher training.
7. Good interpersonal and negotiation skills.
8. Perform financial analysis, financial planning & projections and manage cashflow.
9. Knowledgeable & experienced in managing grants and commercial contracts funded by various donors: FCDO/ DFID, EU, UN, World bank, USAID, OCHA, BPRM, OFDA, ECHO, NMFA, Norad, SIDA.
