Building Tomorrow

Position: Finance Manager-Uganda

Reports to: Director of Operations-Uganda

Location: Kampala Office

OVERVIEW

Building Tomorrow, an international nonprofit organization, working to provide literacy and numeracy for all children, is seeking a proactive, analytical, and detail-driven Finance Manager to oversee and lead the day-to-day operations and advance the financial health of the Uganda Country Office. Reporting to the Director of Operations, the Finance Manager will lead financial planning and reporting, ensure compliance with donor and regulatory requirements, and manage the day-to-day execution of finance systems in close collaboration with the Assistant Finance Manager and broader operations team.

This role demands strategic thinking and hands-on leadership. It requires balancing grant compliance, internal controls, and reporting rigor with the ability to innovate to support a dynamic and growing office. The Finance Manager will also serve as a key liaison with global finance leadership and support Uganda’s role in achieving Building Tomorrow’s mission.

THE ORGANIZATION

Started in 2006, Building Tomorrow supports community-powered learning in rural areas. Through over 500 Building Tomorrow Fellows and over 14,000 Community Education Volunteers, Building Tomorrow has enrolled over 164,000 out-of-school children and reached over 500,000 learners with our signature Roots to Rise (R2R) literacy and numeracy camps. Between offices in the USA and Uganda, Building Tomorrow has a full-time staff of over 240, just eight of whom work outside Uganda. Building Tomorrow has received funding and recognition for its innovative work from Echoing Green, Big Bang Philanthropy, Clinton Global Initiative, and Forbes Magazine. More information can be found online at: www.buildingtomorrow.org.

POSITION HIGHLIGHTS

The Finance Manager leads the development, implementation, and continual improvement of financial systems and policies that align with the BT Uganda Accounting Manual. This includes ownership of financial strategy, oversight of budget development and forecasting, leadership of financial reporting, and supervision of statutory compliance. The role is both strategic and hands-on, ensuring accurate accounting, cash management, procurement alignment, and sound fiscal decision-making. The Finance Manager will work closely with the Uganda Country Director, Director of Operations, Director of Programs, the Global Chief Financial Officer and key Ugandan operational and program staff to support the financial management functions to achieve organizational objectives on time and within budget and to provide financial analysis and forecasting to guide leadership decisions.

This position is full-time and based in Building Tomorrow Uganda’s Country Office in Kampala.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Leads the Country Office’s financial strategy and reporting

    • Presents on a monthly basis a financial report with narrative analysis of the organization’s budget vs. actual performance, trends, significant changes or variance, etc.
    • Designs financial tracking and information systems that link with programmatic impact data to enable the organization to properly value and scale its impact.
    • Evaluates and communicates to the senior leadership team the impact of project dependencies, unit economics, and performance relative to budget target and provides recommendations to the team on the organization’s financial priorities.
    • Advises department leads on budgetary implications of current spending trends and planned activities, and helps identify opportunities to mitigate overspending.
    • Interacts cross functionally to understand office needs, wants, and issues and their implications on underlying accounting treatment.
    • Work with the Director of Operations and department leads to guide financial decisions based on programmatic and operational goals
    • Provide input to BT Global CFO and participate in financial review discussions, including board-level reviews when require

    Oversight of the Country Office’s budget and forecasting

    • Co-lead the annual budgeting process with the Director of Operations and support the Chief of Staff’s budget planning calendar and Uganda budget committee.
    • Mentors department leads on budget management by supervising the department leads’ development of quarterly and annual budgets that coincide with their work plans
    • Provide Uganda Leadership Team with tools and templates for budget creation and support department-level budget planning.
    • Finalize the Uganda annual budget for approval and input into QuickBooks Online (QBO), ensuring alignment with donor constraints and internal policies.
    • Track program spending against budget on a monthly basis, flag variances, and advise on course corrections.

    Manages the finance team’s day-to-day operations

    • Supervise the Assistant Finance Manager and oversee transaction processing, reconciliation, payroll, and statutory filings.
    • Review and approve all financial transactions and payroll reports prior to disbursement.
    • Manage monthly, quarterly, and annual close processes, ensuring accuracy and timely submission to Global Finance.
    • Maintain strong vendor and banking relationships; review and authorize fund transfers and wire requests in collaboration with senior leadership.
    • Monitor accounts payable and receivable functions and cash flow, ensuring availability of funds for operational needs.
    • Prepares monthly funding requests, in line with the budget, to be shared with the Global finance team for detailed review and approval.

    Compliance with BT, legal, and regulatory requirements

    • Ensure all financial activities comply with BT policies, donor requirements, and Ugandan statutory obligations, including PAYE, VAT, NSSF, and LST.
    • Lead internal audits and compliance reviews.
    • Coordinate and lead annual audits, donor-specific reviews, and other external financial reviews, ensuring that corrective actions are implemented in a timely manner.
    • Ensure the completeness, retention, and security of all financial and procurement records, in line with Building Tomorrow’s requirements.
    • Assess and strengthen internal controls, including delegation workflows, documentation standards, and segregation of duties.
    • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of relevant regulatory changes and advise the Uganda Leadership Team accordingly.

    Oversight of Grant and Donor Reporting

    • Oversee financial tracking and reporting for restricted grants, ensuring proper allocation of expenses and timely reporting to donors.
    • Support grant proposal budgeting and reporting in collaboration with the Strategic Partnership and Program teams.
    • Coordinate with BT Global Finance to ensure financial inputs align with donor reporting formats and expectations.

    Qualifications, Education Background, and Required Skills:

    • At least seven years of experience in financial management systems and controls.
    • Strong, comprehensive understanding of non-profit accounting and financial statements
    • A Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting or business administration from an accredited institution.
    • A Professional Qualification, at least ACCA, CPA Level 3 or Full Professional qualification in accounting
    • Proficiency in QuickBooks Online or similar accounting system(s), Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint necessary.
    • Demonstrated success implementing and executing tactics to achieve key strategic initiatives.
    • Exceptional understanding of budget forecasting, analysis and other ad-hoc business related analysis.
    • Ability to present financial information in a concise and strategically clear manner to the global executive team.
    • Excellent writing skills and attention to detail, with the ability to produce quality written products tailored to various audiences.

    WE WANT YOU TO APPLY IF YOU…

    • Have an unshakeable passion for education equality, believing access to an inclusive, quality education is a basic human right.
    • Possess creative ingenuity, being progressive in your thinking and approaching challenges old and new. You are intrapreneurial and unafraid to pilot new ideas.
    • Are relentlessly determined, refusing to accept the status quo, persistently striving to create new opportunities to reach more children, allowing them to reach their maximum potential.
    • Believe in collaborative engagement. You believe more can be achieved together than alone, believe in the power of cultivating relationships, and see everyone as an equal partner.

    Please visit www.buildingtomorrow.org/careers to apply not later than 5:00pm, May 09, 2025.

    The compensation package includes benefits and will be commensurate with experience. This position is full-time and based in Kampala, Uganda.

    Building Tomorrow maintains a dedication to promoting gender equity, diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion, and recruits, employs, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of protected characteristics. Building Tomorrow will not tolerate illegal discrimination or harassment under any applicable law in any jurisdiction where it operates.

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