Lincoln Community School is one of the leading American International Schools in Africa and currently serves a population of 760 students from over 66 different nationalities.

• Title: Director of Finance and Business Services
• Reports to: Head of School

Position Summary/Job Goal

The Director of Finance and Business Services has primary responsibility working with the Head of School for all financial and business services and programs. The Director will assist the Head of School in fiscal matters regarding the school’s operation. The Director will develop and maintain financial operations of the school in a manner that will provide for the optimum education of students and logical future planning, will develop and monitor the annual budget and the long term financial plan of the school, will administer the fiscal affairs and budget control of the school deriving maximum benefit from the school’s financial and physical assets, will ensure that all assets are controlled and safeguarded; will manage the school security program facilities maintenance projects and staff, will negotiate and maintain all contracts entered into by the school for services, rentals, and other operational matters.

The Director of Finance and Business Services will work directly with support staff to operate optimally; will work successfully as a member of the Administrative team, to promote an atmosphere of friendliness, efficiency and competency; will contribute to establishing and maintaining a pleasant environment for staff members, parents, students and others; will work towards the common purpose of communicating with, and providing needed services to teachers, students, parents and the community and will serve as a representative of the school.

Specific Responsibilities
Finance and Accounting

• Manage the school’s accounting and financial services, including the areas of budget, revenue, expenditure, reporting, banking, investment, currency matters, long term planning and audit.
• Ensure that appropriate business systems are put in place to facilitate the efficient running of the business office including effective business/administrative computer systems.
• Work with Head of School to develop and execute budgets and carry out programs that will accomplish schools goals.
• Ensure that the school complies with all legal and regulatory requirements in its operations.
• Supervise the preparation of appropriately detailed financial reports for the Head of School and Board of Directors.
• Manage School’s investments within the guidelines of Board Policy.
• Have oversight responsibility for payroll procedures including payments and preparation/ maintenance of all earnings, deductions and other personnel salary records, including payment of social security and taxes, as required by policies and statutes.
• Ensure the effective financial control of procurement, supply inventory and property/ equipment systems.
• Supervise school accounts payable process and related procedures.
• Be fully responsible for the issuing of tuition bills and the maintenance of accurate records regarding payment of student fees and the effective management of payment plans (where necessary) to eliminate defaults in payments.
• Review and administer school contracts and commitments including but not limited to insurances, building or land leases, vehicles and licensing, services and construction contracts, acting with utmost fidelity with a view to protecting the school’s interests.
• Arrange for the annual audit of school financial records by an independent auditing body selected by the Board.

Administration

• Serves as a member of the Administrative Team.
• Oversee and supervise the work of all facilities supervisors and contractors.
• Investigate and evaluate new projects for Board approval.
• Maintain liaison with government/private utility departments (water, electric, phone, etc) negotiating for maximum efficiency, minimum cost, and swift attention to problems.
• Liaison with local government ministries and officials; keep Head of School and Board of Directors abreast of any new Host Government regulations that may impact the school
• Keep the Head of School and Board of Directors fully informed of actions taken that may be of a controversial nature and assist in research and/or development of reports.
• Coordinate special projects as assigned by the Head of School.
• Promote cooperation and pleasant working atmosphere in the school.
• Establish and maintain a pleasant and aesthetic environment conducive to an educational setting.
• Serves as the staff support person for the board finance committee.

Business operations

• Ensure the leasing of appropriate housing for the overseas contracted staff.
• Supervise the maintenance, custodial, and gardening programs in cooperation with facility supervisors to insure that the school facilities and grounds are cleaned and maintained in an attractive efficient manner.
• Approve routine maintenance repair requests of school buildings, equipment, and houses, and assign duties to supervisors; approve purchase requests for maintenance supplies; arrange for outside assistance when necessary.
• Coordinate and Supervise new construction projects.

Supervises:

• Facilities and security coordinator, finance manager, procurement officer and service contractors

LCS BELIEVES:

• That each employee makes a significant contribution to our success,
• That contribution is not limited to the assigned responsibilities.
• Therefore this position description is designed to outline primary duties, qualifications and job scope, but not limit the employee or LCS to only the work identified. It is the expectation of the School that each employee will offer his/her services wherever and whenever necessary to ensure the success of our organization.

Qualification Required & Experience

• Minimum of 7 years finance and senior management experience level.
• Proven experience of successfully creating, operating and managing strategic financial plans in an organizational setting.
• Proven experience of successfully developing and managing budgets in an organization of similar size.
• Experience in managing contracts.
• Proven experience in developing electronic financial data management systems.
• Demonstrated experience of project management.
• Experience working with external auditors.
• Proven extensive knowledge on financial regulations in Ghana including International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and knowledge of operational accounting guidelines.
• Proven ability of developing and managing financial systems to support accuracy of financial reporting and easy accessibility of financial data.
• Demonstrated high level interpersonal skills; ability to lead collaboratively; flexible, creative thinker.
• Demonstrated proficiency in written and oral communications.

Qualifications:

• Should be a certified accountant (C.A. Ghana, ACCA, CIMA)
• A relevant Master’s degree in either Finance or Business

Location: Accra

How to Apply for the Job

The compensation package for the position is competitive; salary will depend on relevant experience and qualifications. Interested applicants should submit the following:

• Submit a resume/dossier
• Cover letter stating how your experience qualifies you for the position
• Submit a list of references that includes name, office address, phone (office and cell) and current email address. These should be individuals who have supervised your work including your most recent employer.

Send these documents, preferably as one PDF file to:

recruitment@lincoln.edu.gh

Closing Date: 27 October, 2017