WE ARE HIRING

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION OFFICER Closing date:         31st   January 2016

Date of issuance:                    19th   January 2016

Job Grade:                             Senior Management

Location Duty station:           Nairobi

Organization:                        The Youth Agenda

Accountable to:                      Chief Executive Officer

Status:                                     External

__________________________________________________________________________- Job Summary

Youth Agenda is looking for a Finance and Administration Officer  to provide  strategic leadership and management of a department responsible for  administrative and financial functions.

Overall, the Finance and Administration Duties and Responsibilities will include:

1.   Mobilisation and Management of Youth Agenda Financial Resources including the process  of  budgeting,  fundraising,  monitoring/  tracking,  managing  non  profit business model and reporting.

2.   Provide sound advice on the financial operation and necessary intervention to ensure the successful management of the institutional resources

3.   To be the custodian of the organization assets and to ensure proper employment of these resource for the intended purpose

4.   Follow up donor and   investors commitments to ensure timely disbursement of funding and reports

5.   Ensure that operational procedures and policies are followed and where necessary update the systems, policies and procedures.

6.   Designing  and  ensuring  implementation  and  compliance  with  internal  control systems

7.   Coordinate,  prepare  and  implement  monthly,  quarterly,  bi-  annual  and  annual financial reports

8.   Be  responsible  for  development  and  budget          section  of  YAA  Strategic  and

operational plans

9.   Responsible for managing YAA non profit business model

10. Build the capacity of non financial staff in basic financial management skills

11. Identify and recommend to the Management through the Chief Executive   new opportunities, systems, procedures and processes for Organisation Development

12. Ensure compliance with Laws of Kenya and statutory requirements.

13. Leading the process of preparation for and coordination of the organisations audit and implementing the recommendations

14. Procurement of supplies and services required in the organisation

15. Preparation and processing of payment vouchers, cheques, payroll and statutory returns

16. Maintenance of all financial records and registers

17. Performing any other duties as assigned by the Chief Executive Officer so as to effectively and efficiently manage the organization.

Critical Technical Skills and competencies

·    Experience in management of funds from multiples of donors, preparation of balance

sheets and budgets, also experience in the preparation and accomplishing financial annual audits;

·    Experience in resource mobilisation and organisation development;

·    Good understanding of fundamental financial, Human Resources and administrative

policies and procedures and/or proven record of effective management of people and resources, including planning and organizational skills;

·    Ability to interpret financial procedures and standards and their application;

·    Proven  knowledge  of  computerized  systems  and  demonstrated  experience  of

working with computerized accounting packages and spreadsheets;

·    Ability to work independently and leverage limited resources and staff for maximum

impact and;

·    Business and Entrepreneurial skills

·    Good personal organization skills, accuracy and attention to detail required.

Qualifications

·    Candidates must have in their possession a University degree in any of the following

disciplines: Accounting, Public Administration, Business Administration, Economics, Management, Finance or related field;

·    Postgraduate qualifications is an added advantage;

·    Experience  in  implementing  financial  control  systems  in  a  busy  non-profit

organization is desirable;

·    Candidates must have at least 3 years of relevant working experience in financial

resources and fund management;

·    Candidates must have an excellent command and use of computer software.

Terms of Employment

This is a senior management position and competitive remuneration will be provided commensurate to the qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position will evolve. Responsibilities and job description may be reviewed and refined with changing needs.

Applications

Applicants should send a cover letter expressing their interest and expectations from the position and curriculum vitae with contact details of three professional referees by 31st January 2016 to: E-mail: ceo@youthagenda.org

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

Back in the days when women had no voice and all they could do is be subjected to men, be constrained to household chores and so forth. Due to women empowerment they have been able to stand up for their rights and also run for seats in Parliament and their constituencies. The Law states that; women should be given equal opportunities, as men furthermore they are faced with challenges. I will state a few such; as lack of financial stability; in that they  do not have enough funding to run for a seat.

Secondly lack of support from fellow women ;truly the writer of this quote was not wrong when he stated "women are their own worst enemies". Reason being, women tend to create a certain rivalry amongst each other and forget that they need each other in all aspects of life. If only women could support each other in what they do, then as a Nation we would be so ahead in terms of development. If we look at recent success stories of  Women in Arabic Countries, they are now running for seats and winning because of the massive support given by their fellow women.Statitstics has shown that, approximately 52% of Kenya mainly consists of women population 47.1%being registered voters. Unfortunately they do not vote for their own fellow women.

Thirdly the Culture effect; this basically talks about the patriarchal society. We have been raised to view women as second to men. This perception that men are the only ones who rule, at the same time this has affected our young women who would want to lead our counties they cannot simply because of cultural influences per say.

Fourthly perception that women are fragile; sometime last year there was a joke going round, that if women rule the world there will be world War III. It might seem as a joke but if we keenly look at the negative side of the joke, it is abit sad and absurd to see that women are perceived that way in this time and age more women are trying to prove the society at large wrong. A good example would be Professor Olive Mugenda the Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor, she has proven to be very strong and self driven hence establishing a better foundation for the University. The late Professor Waangari Maathai was another influential and inspiring woman in the society,  she stood her ground and because of that she was able to conserve trees for the future generations. When I look at this two examples they leave me to wonder what about a thousand women what can they do?

Lastly  lack of equal opportunities this is very evident in the African Context whereby women are not recognized. The Kenyan law has highlighted clearly that, women should have 2/3 of representation in all leadership positions which is being acted upon.At the same time it is not equal everywhere when it comes to other jobs, men are given jobs which are perceived to be masculine at the expense of women. This is because they are believed to do the job better, which is not true nowadays women equally perform tasks better than men themselves.

In conclusion we need to support women in their  leadership positions.

Innovative Minds Going The Business Way.

Business in Kenya has become profound and a very good way to earn money.I believe that; in our world today, white collar jobs are not the only way to put food on the table. You can start a small business and within a short period of time you are earning more than you can imagine.Meet Brian, a 21 year old student at St. Paul's University who is passionate about machines, well according to him machines are like "toys"(chuckles).I have been working around the clock to make this innovation come to life.Fee has been a challenge to pay, thanks to our ignited minds we are where we are now. For a few semesters I had to drop out luckily I resuming this semester.
I was amused by how well he and his colleagues sat down and created an application,which can be easily used by so many youth to check what events are happening,movies showing on Cinema and many more.One day we sat down and thought this application can give us money, since we had an innovation club at St.Paul's University we launched it.A few months later we went to Safaricom, after keenly looking at our application they offered to take us in and pay us a good amount. Ever since that magical moment my life changed fully.
I realized that, you can create your own job opportunities you do not have to rely on the white collar jobs.I believe everyone out there has an innovative mind be it entertainment,technology,it all sums up to one thing,the youth are very brilliant and they can do so much if they put effort into it he concluded.
Well we can see that we have so much creativity and knowledge but we do not put them into use.It is how you look at it that matters.Go for it there is nothing too difficult to achieve.

Have a look at KenyaMax Beta On play store.This what Brian and his friends came up with,you can also like their page on Facebook  KenyaMax and look at what they have been doing.YES YOU CAN!!! Always remember you can do wonders by utilizing your ideas.Stop Wishing start doing!!!