Background information about the job or company (e.g., role context, company overview)

Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) is a non-profit organization based in Nairobi, Kenya and New York, NY that combats urban poverty and gender inequity in the slums of Nairobi. Kennedy Odede, who grew up in the Kibera slum, founded SHOFCO in 2004 with a focus on youth and gender empowerment. SHOFCO has four initiative areas: education, health, economic an...

Job Purpose

The Head of Financial Planning and Analysis is a senior finance leader responsible for driving embedding data-driven decision-making across the organization, helping SHOFCO achieve its goals of social impact across Kenya.

This FP&A role combines strong forward-looking planning, financial modelling, and management of treasury resources allotted to the organization. The Head of FP&A will act as a strategic business partner to the Finance Director and senior leadership, ensuring financial sustainability, accurate and reliable budgets and sustainability models, and maximizing the resources entrusted to the organization through effective treasury placements. This is a key finance role, responsible for delivering financial insights that drive strategic decision-making, operational effectiveness, and organizational sustainability. You will lead budgeting, forecasting, financial performance analysis, and strategic financial planning across SHOFCO’s operation, working closely with executive leadership and departmental heads to ensure strong financial stewardship and data-driven decision-making.

We are looking for an analytically strong finance professional who has led social enterprise organizations through significant growth phases, ensuring the budgeting planning and analysis can meet the needs of a growing company.

Responsibilities or duties

Key Responsibilities / Duties/ Tasks

Financial Planning & Analysis (Primary Focus)

• Lead annual budgeting and rolling forecasts across departments, aligned with business and impact objectives.
• Build robust financial models to support strategic planning and scenario analysis.
• Develop multi-year financial projections aligned to organizational strategy.
• Drive variance analysis and performance reporting with clear commentary and recommendations.
• Design and track KPIs, cost-efficiency metrics, and unit economics.
• Work with the fundraising team to prepare proposal budgets for donors
• Develop models for financial sustainability of various program elements and the organization
• Support business case development for new programs, grants, and investments.

Financial Systems, Data & Automation

• Drive automation of financial processes to improve efficiency, accuracy, and security of financial processes.
• Optimize use of accounting systems and related digital tools, ensuring tools are fit for purpose with the team to use across Kenya, including potential ERP upgrade with the IT team
• Design dashboards and reporting templates that reduce manual reporting.
• Work with the Data Protections team for ensuring security of all financial data, including payroll, client data from our SACCO, etc.
• Strengthen data integrity, financial controls, and system documentation.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives in finance processes.

Financial Reporting

• Deliver timely, high-quality monthly management accounts with actionable insights.
• Design dashboards and reporting templates that reduce manual reporting.
• Support Board and Committee reporting budget analysis, particularly with respect to cash flow projections.
• Analyze key financial trends, KPIs, and operational drivers across programs, countries, and funding streams identifying opportunities and risks.
• Prepare high-quality donor financial reports aligned with grant requirements and budgets.

Treasury Management

• Support investment and capital allocation decisions through robust financial modeling and scenario planning.
• Recommend investment strategies for SHOFCO’s capital, with a focus on low-risk vehicles, ensuring funds are secure for SHOFCO’s social mission.
• Implement investment strategies to ensure on-time liquidity for use in operations and other company needs.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives in finance processes.

Business Partnering & Team Development

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, providing financial planning guidance on new initiatives, partnerships, and business models.
• Support grant proposal development and donor reporting with accurate financial projections and narratives.
• Collaborate with program teams to assess financial sustainability and efficiency of interventions.
• Drive continuous improvements to budgeting tools, dashboards, and financial models.
• Supervise and mentor finance team members on budgeting and projections.
• Build analytical capability within the finance team.

Key Deliverables

• Annual organizational budget and rolling forecasts
• Liquidity and secure investments
• Monthly management accounts with variance commentary
• Board-level financial dashboards
• Financial models and scenario analyses
• Donor financial reports

Qualifications or requirements (e.g., education, skills)

Job Competencies (Knowledge, Experience and Attributes / Skills).

Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field

Professional Qualifications

• CPA/ACCA preferred

Other requirements (unique/job specific)

• 10 years of progressive finance experience in financial modeling and
• Strong FP&A experience including budgeting, forecasting, and modelling for a fast-growing organization with at least $10M USD budgets
• Experience in grants-funded or donor-funded environments required
• Experience presenting to senior leadership or boards is required

Technical & Functional Skills:

• Advanced financial modelling skills (Excel required; Power BI / similar tools an advantage)
• Experience in treasury management of donor resources
• High analytical capability with attention to detail
• Ability to synthesize complex data into clear insights

Behavioural Competencies/Attributes:

• Strategic thinker with commercial acumen
• High ownership and execution orientation
• Strong communicator able to influence non-finance stakeholders
• Comfortable challenging assumptions and driving change
• Collaborative and team-oriented
• High integrity and discretion

• Lead annual budgeting and rolling forecasts across departments, aligned with business and impact objectives.
• Build robust financial models to support strategic planning and scenario analysis.
• Develop multi-year financial projections aligned to organizational strategy.
• Drive variance analysis and performance reporting with clear commentary and recommendations.
• Design and track KPIs, cost-efficiency metrics, and unit economics.
• Work with the fundraising team to prepare proposal budgets for donors
• Develop models for financial sustainability of various program elements and the organization
• Support business case development for new programs, grants, and investments.
• Drive automation of financial processes to improve efficiency, accuracy, and security of financial processes.
• Optimize use of accounting systems and related digital tools, ensuring tools are fit for purpose with the team to use across Kenya, including potential ERP upgrade with the IT team
• Design dashboards and reporting templates that reduce manual reporting.
• Work with the Data Protections team for ensuring security of all financial data, including payroll, client data from our SACCO, etc.
• Strengthen data integrity, financial controls, and system documentation.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives in finance processes.
• Deliver timely, high-quality monthly management accounts with actionable insights.
• Design dashboards and reporting templates that reduce manual reporting.
• Support Board and Committee reporting budget analysis, particularly with respect to cash flow projections.
• Analyze key financial trends, KPIs, and operational drivers across programs, countries, and funding streams identifying opportunities and risks.
• Prepare high-quality donor financial reports aligned with grant requirements and budgets.
• Support investment and capital allocation decisions through robust financial modeling and scenario planning.
• Recommend investment strategies for SHOFCO’s capital, with a focus on low-risk vehicles, ensuring funds are secure for SHOFCO’s social mission.
• Implement investment strategies to ensure on-time liquidity for use in operations and other company needs.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives in finance processes.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, providing financial planning guidance on new initiatives, partnerships, and business models.
• Support grant proposal development and donor reporting with accurate financial projections and narratives.
• Collaborate with program teams to assess financial sustainability and efficiency of interventions.
• Drive continuous improvements to budgeting tools, dashboards, and financial models.
• Supervise and mentor finance team members on budgeting and projections.
• Build analytical capability within the finance team.

• Advanced financial modelling skills (Excel required; Power BI / similar tools an advantage)
• Experience in treasury management of donor resources
• High analytical capability with attention to detail
• Ability to synthesize complex data into clear insights
• Strategic thinker with commercial acumen
• High ownership and execution orientation
• Strong communicator able to influence non-finance stakeholders
• Comfortable challenging assumptions and driving change
• Collaborative and team-oriented
• High integrity and discretion

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field
• CPA/ACCA preferred
• 10 years of progressive finance experience in financial modeling and
• Strong FP&A experience including budgeting, forecasting, and modelling for a fast-growing organization with at least $10M USD budgets
• Experience in grants-funded or donor-funded environments required
• Experience presenting to senior leadership or boards is required