The Pharo foundation Careers

• At Pharo School Nairobi, we are always on the lookout for passionate and dedicated teachers to join our team. Our ongoing recruitment efforts aim to continuously attract and engage teachers for our different grade levels. We are committed to delivering exceptional, Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC)-aligned education for our learners from Pre-school, Lower and Upper Primary to Junior Secondary levels. We invite you to submit your application for consideration for future opportunities and be among the first to be considered for positions that match your skills and qualifications.

Duties and Responsibilities

Teaching and Learning:

• Develop and deliver engaging lessons tailored to the diverse needs of learners.
• Actively participate in the school\'s co-curricular and social support programs.
• Demonstrate a strong command of subject matter and continuously seek professional growth.
• Provide timely and constructive feedback through assessments, tests, and exercises.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date learner records and progress reports.
• Collaborate with the Head of Department and Senior Teacher to address learner challenges and implement improvement strategies.

General:

• Engage in ongoing professional development opportunities.
• Foster a stimulating and inclusive classroom environment.
• Share best practices with colleagues to enhance teaching effectiveness.
• Contribute to the planning and implementation of extracurricular activities.
• Adhering to child safeguarding guidelines.
• Perform additional duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Minimum Requirements

We are seeking teachers for our various categories with the following education qualifications:

• Pre-school teachers - Must have a Diploma/Degree in ECDE or equivalent.
• Primary school teachers - Must have a Diploma/Degree in Education or equivalent.
• Junior secondary teachers - Must have a Diploma/Degree in Education or equivalent.

Other Qualifications include:

• MUST have a TSC certificate.
• At least 3 years’ experience working as a teacher in the specific level applied for.
• Proficiency in computer applications / digital skills
• Strong understanding of the CBC curriculum.
• Being active in extra-curricular activities is an added advantage.
• STEM experience is an added advantage.

• We are currently in search of an Accountant who will be responsible for the smooth running of the Accounts Payables function, ensuring accurate and timely payments to different providers and entities. The role holder will verify invoices, manage statutory obligations, follow up on outstanding payments, and maintain accurate records. Additionally, the role holder will assist with reconciliations, prepare reports, and contribute to team efforts. Strong attention to detail, excellent communication skills, and proficiency in accounting software are essential for this role.

Duties and responsibilities

Managing Accounts Payables:

• Manage accounts payables function by ensuring proper verification of invoices against purchase orders and obtaining authorization before payments.
• Ensure timely payment of taxes and any other statutory obligations (NHIF, SHIF, NSSF, NITA, HOUSING LEVY, HELB) in compliance with the law.
• Follow up on outstanding payments and communicate with customers regarding overdue accounts.
• Prepare monthly suppliers\' reconciliations to ensure accuracy and resolve discrepancies.
• Treasury/bank reconciliations.
• Maintain proper documentation of payables and update records regularly.
• Ensure timely payment of suppliers
• Proper recording and reconciliation of petty cash payments.
• Prepare aging reports and provide insights on the status of pending bills.
• Update prepayment schedules

General Duties:

• Coordinate with internal departments for accurate financial data exchange.
• Assist in the development and implementation of accounting policies and procedures.
• Provide support during audits by preparing necessary documentation and reports.
• Ensure confidentiality and compliance with financial regulations.
• Prepare and maintain departmental reports such as dashboards.
• Contribute to team efforts and perform any other duties as required.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field. If no degree, one should hold a CPA-K or ACCA certification.
• CPA Part II qualification or ACCA certification.
• At least 3 years of experience in accounts payable, accounting, or finance-related roles.
• Proficiency in accounting software such as QuickBooks, SAP, or ERP systems. Experience in Microsoft Dynamics 365 is an added advantage.
• Strong skills in Microsoft Excel for financial analysis and reporting.
• Knowledge of Kenyan financial regulations and compliance requirements relevant to accounts payable, including tax deduction and withholding requirements.
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail for managing invoices, reconciliations, and payments.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to resolve discrepancies and identify payment issues.
• Excellent organizational and time-management skills to handle multiple invoices, payment deadlines, and month-end closing tasks.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills for interacting with vendors, internal departments, and external auditors.
• Ability to build and maintain positive relationships with suppliers and other stakeholders.
• High ethical standards and the ability to handle sensitive financial information with confidentiality.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Financial Operations and Reporting:

• Review and process supplier invoices, prepare and process payments.
• Review and process monthly funds requests for all operating countries.
• Review and reconcile on monthly basis bank accounts of parent entity and credit card transactions
• Review, process, and reconcile General Ledger & Journal Entries.
• Prepare month end reconciliations for parent company and review monthly reconciliations for all operating countries.
• Reconcile intercompany accounts with all operating countries and venture entities.
• Manage student scholarship payments, ensuring timely and accurate disbursement.
• Prepare documents and liaise with auditors for all operating countries.
• Assist in the preparation of financial statements and reports as required.
• Ensure compliance with relevant financial regulations, internal policies and procedures.

General Financial and Accounting Duties:

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records.
• Support the Global Finance Team in ad-hoc financial tasks and projects.
• Provide financial data and analysis as required.

Qualifications and Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a related field.
• Professional accounting qualification (e.g., ACCA, CPA) is preferred.
• Minimum of five years of experience in a busy financial or accounting role.
• Strong technical accounting background ad comfortable articulating accounting standards and practises (IFRS, IFRS for SMEs).
• Proficiency in accounting software and Microsoft Excel.
• Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills with ability to be flexible in work environment.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Duties and responsibilities

Investment analysis and financial modelling.

• With guidance from supervisor, build financial and project models to analyse investment requirements and investments returns from new business proposals under consideration.
• Support the financial analysis and forecasting of growth projections for existing enterprises.
• Through quantitative and qualitative impact data and financial analysis, identify the strengths and opportunities to improve overall performance of the companies.
• Perform extensive analytics on historical performance and develop forecasts on the short and long-term performance of the portfolio companies.
• Provide analytical data and input in the development of country strategies and investment plans.

Due diligence support and input into enterprise business plans.

• Contribute to the drafting of business plans, investment analysis documents and other material for review.
• Support the development of enterprise specific business plans prior to launch of the company operations and as required for company growth and expansion.
• Assist in the management of data, trends, insights and metrics for the business portfolio across the region.
• Carry out site visits to potential and existing business.
• Maintain a rolling database of potential business ventures for screening and analysis.

Financial and impact forecasting and reporting.

• Support all aspects of investment portfolio management, monitoring the social and financial performance of existing investments, reviewing management information and compliance with organization policy.
• Undertake social performance assessments of existing and prospective enterprises in the portfolio.
• Support the financial and social impact metrics reporting, for the portfolio.

Research

• Support in-depth and extensive market research and analysis for target countries and sectors of interest to Pharo Foundation.
• As needed, provide market research and analysis for existing businesses as they roll out growth strategies.
• Undertake targeted research and marketing efforts in order to support the development of a pipeline of new social investment business opportunities.

Qualifications and requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Engineering, Law, Business Management or related fields is mandatory.
• At least 4 years’ experience in the private sector, working in investment analysis, accounting, corporate finance or project finance, with exposure to multiple sectors and countries in the larger east Africa region.
• Full finance professional qualification (CIMA, ACA, ACCA, CPA, CFA or equivalent).
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (VLOOKUP, INDEX&MATCH, SUMIFS, PivotTables are daily bread formulas to you).
• Demonstrable experience in financial modelling and conducting complex financial analysis.
• Experience supporting the development and roll out of business plans is preferred.
• Solid ability and experience to conduct research and due diligence is required.
• Extensive experience with budget development, financial forecasting and analysis of impact metrics is required.
• Preferred candidate will be highly analytical, organised and a pragmatic professional who pays attention to details.
• Enthusiasm and commitment to working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.
• Willingness to travel and visit business locations across the region.
• Ability to organise, prioritise, and manage tasks and projects to complete work efficiently.
• Substantial experience in successfully delivering results in multi-country and multi-culture organisations, preferably in an international development and impact investing setting.
• Strong written and verbal communication and presentation skills across a range of audiences in a culturally and linguistically diverse environment where English is the working language.

Job Description
This is an exciting opportunity to join a highly successful company as an Africa Analyst. Based in Nairobi, this dual role will involve, firstly, assisting the economics research team in their coverage of the region, and, secondly, performing some groundwork on structured credit analysis. The successful candidate will:

• Be the eyes and ears on the ground for the economists based in London
• Cover the news flow for the region to support the research team
• Gather market intelligence on local market trading
• Provide support in the quantitative efforts, including assisting with credit analysis and with the gathering and preparation of data
• Collaborate with portfolio managers in creating investment strategies
• Foster productive partnerships with colleagues both locally and internationally

Required Qualities And Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Economics, Statistics, or a related field
• Up to three years’ work experience at a top tier financial services institution, ideally gained within structured finance or in the macroeconomic space
• Strong in quantitative analysis
• Very good level of proficiency in Python or R
• Experienced user of Microsoft Excel
• Excellent communication skills so that you can share and explain your work to others
• Ability to communicate fluently in English
• Self-motivated with the ability to work autonomously
• Keen interest in economics and financial markets

Opportunity

• As the Foundation expands its work across Africa, there is an exciting, growing opportunity to employ the latest research and evaluation tools to design programs, measure impact and guide future strategies. Working alongside the Foundation’s Chief Research and Evaluation Officer (CREO), the Associate RE will play a critical role in building and operating an efficient, rigorous, and impactful RE department that will influence the selection and design of development programs in multiple countries.

Key relationships

• Reporting to: Chief Research and Evaluation Officer
• Functional relationships: Mission Directors
• Country Program Officers
• Research and Evaluation team members

Duties and Responsibilities:

Research and Evaluation

• Contributing to the design of new Foundation programs in education, water, and productivity.
• Identifying the best econometric approaches to measuring the causal impact of the Foundation’s programs, considering local constraints.
• Designing creative evaluation, monitoring, and data products to shed light on program access, implementation, and usage, as well as shape the narrative on the problems we are aiming to solve.
• Managing day-to-day research, monitoring, and evaluation activities across the Foundation portfolio: Supervising, training, and collaborating with country staff.
• Regularly assessing progress in the field.
• Ensuring that basic quality standards are met.
• Cleaning and analysing data.
• Contributing to the production of research reports.
• Regularly traveling to project locations in Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Somaliland, as needed.

Institutional / Administrative

• Assisting the Chief Research and Evaluation Officer (CREO) in building an integrated, highly functioning research, monitoring, and evaluation operation across the Foundation, including: Creating/updating institutional documents laying out our approach to research, monitoring, and evaluation, including guidelines for the new program proposals, field data collection activities, cleaning and documentation standards, pre-analysis plans, and end-products.
• Establishing a library of STATA and/or R codes for use across the organisation.
• Supporting the CREO in all other critical RE tasks and projects, including developing and engaging with a network of international development researchers and practitioners across the continent.

Technical Competencies

• Creative and entrepreneurial self-starter, with a focus on execution and results.
• Superior attention to detail.
• Ability to articulate complex ideas, summarize problems, and identify key lessons, clearly and effectively.
• Ability to multitask and balance multiple work assignments.
• Highly proficient in STATA and R, with experience in writing statistical code for data management, cleaning, and analysis.
• Highly proficient with survey platforms, like KoboCollect or SurveyCTO.
• Basic understanding of economics, econometrics, and statistics.
• Excellent writing and presentation (e.g., PowerPoint) skills.
• Ability to manage field surveys, focus groups, and randomized evaluations.
• Most importantly, excellent interpersonal and collaborative team-building skills.

Required Qualifications and Experiences

• Bachelor or Master's degree in Economics, International Development, Political Science, Statistics, Public Policy or a related field.
• Minimum of three (3) years of fieldwork management experience, and preferably experience running a research project at an academically-oriented, development economics research organisation.
• Strong track record of success in academic studies, as well as the professional workplace.

• We are looking to hire a highly motivated Senior Financial & Planning Analyst to join our Group Finance team. As a pivotal role within our Group Finance team, you will be a lead on our financial planning & analysis (FP&A) front, spanning board and management reporting, budgeting, financial systems implementation and business and programme-specific analytics.
• The Senior Financial & Planning Analyst will be at the forefront of ensuring that we leverage our financial resources most effectively to maximise impact in a cost-effective manner as the Foundation grows its footprint in existing and new geographies. A crucial part of your role will be to develop financial models, dashboards and visualisations that provide actionable insights to the Senior Leadership Team at Head Office and in Country Offices to drive organisational performance.

This is a full-time position based in Nairobi.

Duties and responsibilities

Financial Reporting and Analysis

• Global responsibility for developing, preparing, and presenting monthly, quarterly, and annual financial information ensures that critical stakeholders (board, senior leadership team) receive insightful reports on a timely basis.
• Maintain the organisational level financial reporting consolidation model and make innovative changes to improve the timeliness and accuracy of the management and reporting of financial information.
• Identify opportunities to streamline financial planning and analysis processes.
• Develop dashboards to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and financial metrics and report on them to the SLT and the board.
• Lead the development of advanced metrics that provide insight and analysis into the organisation's strategic direction around areas such as cost-effectiveness and efficiency.
• Develop and innovate the organisation's financial analysis and tools to inform strategic decision-making, leveraging techniques such as cost-benefit analysis, DCF, and cash flow projection to provide insights and recommendations to optimise financial performance and mitigate risks.

Budgeting and Business Partnering

• Support the CFO and Global Finance on the annual budgeting and multi-year financial planning processes integrating organisational objectives with financial metrics. Your role is owning, updating and maintaining budget consolidation and ancillary budget models for country offices.
• Develop accurate and realistic budget forecasts aligned with programmatic goals.
• Assist budget holders in developing budgets and monitoring project budgets and cost allocations.
• Act as finance business partner to Research & Evaluation, Missions and Country Offices in budgetary control.
• Serve as a financial mentor and resource to the organisation at large, conducting FP&A literacy workshops and training sessions for staff.

Systems Development for Financial Information

• Contribute to the successful implementation and uptake of new financial systems (ERP and data platforms) that enhance data integrity and reporting capabilities.
• Evaluate existing financial systems and tools based on their ability to deliver information to stakeholders and identify areas for improvement or replacement. Implement best practices and technology solutions to enhance efficiency and accuracy.
• Work with IT and other relevant departments to ensure seamless integration of financial systems with other organisational software.
• Train finance and non-finance teams on how to use new systems and tools effectively.
• Develop user guides and offer ongoing support to encourage the organisational adoption of new systems.

Qualifications and requirements

• Minimum 5 years experience in finance and accounting, with at least 2 years experience in FP&A and business partnering.
• Full finance professional qualification (CIMA, ACA, ACCA, CPA, CFA or equivalent).
• Accounting or Finance degree.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (VLOOKUP, INDEX&MATCH, SUMIFS, PivotTables are daily bread formulas to you).
• Experience with accounting packages, ERPs, PowerBI is essential.
• Detail oriented and a passion for data with the ability to accurately summarise and share relevant insights.
• Demonstrable experience in financial modelling and conducting complex financial analysis.
• Ability to work with large data sets, identify relationships, drawing logical conclusions and interpreting results for use in decision making.
• Ability to organise, prioritise, and manage tasks and projects to complete work efficiently.
• Demonstrated to work collaboratively in cross-functional projects and tasks as both a team leader and team player.
• Substantial experience in successfully delivering results in multi-country and multi-culture organisations, preferably in an international development setting.
• Strong written and verbal communication and presentation skills across a range of audiences in a culturally and linguistically diverse environment where English is the working language.
• Demonstrable strong bias for action and comfort with the uncertain; you are motivated to move forward and finalise details quickly once information is available.
• Critical thinker who also puts a high value on offering and receiving constructive feedback.
• Experience in SQL/Python, financial transformation initiatives and programmes is an added advantage.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Work with the Global Director of Communications and Partnerships to develop an annual corporate partnerships plan, with a pipeline of partners and a process for partnership deepening.
• Work with the leadership of ESG-aligned global (including African) corporates to understand their ESG compliance need and the unique expertise that Pharo Foundation can leverage from them and translate these into a corporate partnerships strategy.
• Work closely with Country Director and Programme Heads to align the global partnership priorities with in-country needs to develop tailored and aligned partnerships.
• Support the Global Director of Communications and Partnerships in the maintenance of academic partnerships. While the Partnerships Manager will not be fully in charge of these partnerships, they will have to have a working relationship with academic partners, to be able to deal with partnership maintenance and everyday issues arising therefrom. They will also be in charge of keeping partnership documentation up-to-date.
• Given the Partnerships Manager’s in-depth knowledge of corporate partners, they will also be encouraged to identify any synergies between corporate and academic partners, which could lend themselves to a tri-partner structure of cooperation. In each case, the Global Director of Communications and Partnerships would then decide whether it would be the best vehicle to achieve Pharo Foundation missions.
• Stay abreast of all events and conferences that are relevant for Pharo Foundation’s programmes and missions and develop engagement strategies to increase visibility.
• Liaise with our global social media officer to publicise our partnerships in line with our partners’ individual media policies.
• Manage the administration of critical MoUs, contracts and contact database.

Qualification Requirements

• Master’s degree
• 3 years’ experience in partnership management.
• 5 years of work experience in non- or for-profit impact organisations, social entrepreneurship, or similar organisations.

Behavioural Competencies

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Tech savvy with excellent presentation skills.
• Positive, enthusiastic, and willing to learn.
• High level of commitment and self-motivation.
• High professional and ethical standards.
• Excellent attention to detail and flexible approach to work.
• A strong team player possessing a 'can-do’ attitude.
• Excellent decision-making, as well as interpersonal and cross-cultural skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively under pressure in a fast-paced, changing environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with individuals from all kinds of backgrounds.

Opportunity

• We are seeking an Education Mission Director to drive the strategic development of the education mission and lead the Foundation’s network of Pharo Schools,  ensure all schools are centers of academic excellence and achieve their financial KPIs. This is a critical position in our organisation, which requires a high calibre individual with a strategic mindset, experience in Eastern Africa and a proven track record to lead schools to academic excellence and financial sustainability.
• As a member of the global senior leadership team, reporting directly to the CEO, the Education Mission Director will spearhead the multi-country and multi-year strategy for the Education Mission. Pharo’s diverse and vibrant education portfolio consists of a network of schools (K-12 / day and boarding schools), transformational education projects and PPPs in some of the most challenging regions within eastern Africa and a tertiary scholarship programme aiming to educate Africa’s future leaders.
• The Mission Director will oversee the Pharo Schools and is the custodian of the Pharo Hallmark, the operating manual for all schools. As such, the Education Mission Director will drive advancement of academics in all schools, implement effective operations and financial sustainability and focus on holistic child development in a safe environment.
• The Mission Director is the direct supervisor to the Education Programme Lead, works closely with the School Principals and has a functional relationship with the Education Mission Heads based in our Country Offices across four countries.
• In this exciting role, the ideal candidate will have an opportunity to leverage their experience, leadership, and strategic outlook to influence the path of an ambitious and expanding organisation that is committed to making a positive impact in the lives of millions of people across Africa.

Duties and responsibilities

Strategy

• Set the strategic vision for the education mission, develop a strategic framework and cascade the goals and objectives down to measurable and relevant metrics for country and school teams.
• Expand the network of Pharo schools in the region and develop the multi-year expansion strategy into new geographical areas.
• Ensure new programmes are impactful and fully mission aligned.
• Assess impact of the existing programme portfolio lead strategic decision making about programme growth or exit.
• Lead the design and development of new education programmes in collaboration with the Chief Research and Evaluation Officer, Country Directors and the education team. Ensure that all programmes are aligned in strategy with the education mission.
• Partner with the CEO and other senior leaders to represent the Foundation to external stakeholders, including community, governmental, and private organisations.

Pharo Schools

• Oversee the project management for launches of new Pharo schools, including construction and acquisition projects.
• Provide leadership to school principals with the goal, to drive efficiency in workforce planning for teaching and non-teaching staff.
• Review, update and maintain the Pharo School Hallmark and define necessary standards and requirements to achieve high level of academic performance in all schools.
• Develop continuous personal development strategies for all teaching staff and school leadership.
• Evaluate and assess the curriculum in local and global context and make improvements where necessary through blended learning and extracurricular activities.
• Set policies and frameworks for the School Leadership to ensure child protection and safeguarding and an overall conducive and safe school environment.
• Follow and evaluate emerging trends in pedagogy and coordinate implementation where necessary to ensure that Pharo Schools stay ahead of the curve.
• Align the school system with other international curricula and form partnerships with exam centers and certification bodies (SAT, IELTS, etc.) to enhance the value proposition for the community and important stakeholders.
• Provide leadership during the budgeting process to drive the Pharo School portfolio towards financial sustainability.
• Collaborate with the Director of Communications and Partnerships to develop a strong network of partners that support school operations, student experience and professional development for the teachers and school leadership.
• Integration of a school management system across all schools.

Education programme portfolio

• Oversee the foundations programme portfolio in all countries and work with the education teams in country to monitor;
  • Compliance of programme implementation with approved programme design.
  • Budget compliance.
  • Adherence to timeline and milestones.
  • Validate programme beneficiaries against target group.
• Foster cross-learning across different country offices and programme team with regards to programme design and implementation.
• Provide frequent updates to the Monitoring and Evaluation team about programme KPIs and quarterly updates to the board of trustees.

Compliance

• Ensure all programme activities operate consistently, legally, and ethically, within the mission and values of the Foundation. 
• Collaborate with country-level leadership to ensure compliance of Pharo Schools with the operating standards of the Foundation and requirements of national and international regulators.

Management and Leadership

• Provide leadership to direct reports, dedicate time to coach and mentor leaders to perform to their full potential and act as a role model for culture and values.
• Provide visionary leadership to all members of the education department and Pharo Schools to align the programme and school operations with the Vision, Mission and Values of Pharo Foundation.
• Reporting of programme progress and programme KPIs to the board of trustees.
• Regular reporting on school performance, headcount and academic data.

Qualifications and requirements

• Minimum eight years of professional experience, with a minimum of four years in senior leadership
• Experience in for-profit schools or group of schools is strongly preferred.
• A solid academic background and a minimum of a relevant professional master’s degree.
• Strong familiarity with Africa and its diverse needs and cultures, with an emphasis on East Africa.
• Strong relationship builder and communicator with experience leading diverse work teams, developing an organisation-wide strategy for programme excellence.
• Demonstrates integrity, strives for excellence in her/his work, and has experience of leading others to new levels of effectiveness and programmatic impact.
• Passionate about the Foundation’s vision and mission with the ability to promote and communicate the philosophy, mission, and values of the Foundation to external and internal stakeholders.
• Ability to travel 25 percent of the time to provide on-site leadership.

Personal attributes

• Great attention to detail and a flexible approach to work. 
• Hands on problem solver with a can-do attitude and willingness to roll up her/his sleeves.
• High professional and ethical standards.
• Structured and data-savvy. 
• Excellent time and project management skills with the ability to balance multiple priorities.
• Motivated to learn and perform and not be afraid to ask questions.
• Willing to challenge the status quo and add value by introducing positive change.
• Excellent communicator and comfortable to work in a team environment.
• Positive and outgoing personality with solid leadership, interpersonal and diplomatic skills.