Finance Manager

Location: MozParks-Beluluane, Maputo, Mozambique.

About Us:

Community Carbon, a member company of UpEnergy (www.upenergygroup.com), delivers high-impact, emission-reducing projects that accelerate decarbonization and create long-term benefits in local communities. We make life-improving clean technologies available to local communities and environments across Africa. Whether protecting the local environment, delivering health benefits, or reducing poverty through financial savings and employment, our projects sustainably benefit and enable people to live better lives within climate-resilient communities.

UpEnergy has delivered over 95 emission reduction projects, impacted over 4 million lives, and reduced over 4 million tons of CO2 Emissions across seven countries. UpEnergy prides itself on deep local knowledge and established teams on the ground to ensure the highest impact and results. The UpEnergy team continues to grow, across multiple countries and continents and seeks diligent, entrepreneurial, fun, and motivated talent excited to join us in delivering even more impact. Learn more here:
www.upenergygroup.com.

About the role:

Community Carbon is at a time of exciting growth, expanding both in terms of product and geographic portfolio. In the context of our Expansion in the Mozambique market, we are looking for an experienced Finance Manager who is passionate about our mission and motivated by the challenge to help Community Carbon set up operations in a new key market. The Finance Manager will be responsible for setting up and managing financial reporting and accounting systems. The candidate will compile and manage financial statements, ensure timely payments of invoices and bills, and lead relevant audit processes. They will also provide support in inventory management and reconciliation.

This role will not only require someone who is both very organized and capable of managing financial statements, but also excited to provide leadership on strategic questions regarding the balance sheet, budget and cost saving opportunities. The Finance Manager will also have the opportunity to actively participate in and take ownership over key operational projects to advance UpEnergy’s business in Mozambique including, but not limited to, manufacturing, supply chain management, distribution, sales and marketing, retail partnerships, as well as the piloting and launch of new products.

This role will report to the Country Manager. The role is based at MozParks-Beluluane, Maputo, Mozambique.

Key Responsibilities:

General

• Set up and roll out of financial systems, reporting, banking, external payroll providers, external audit teams and tax consultants, as necessary.
• Work closely with the country team to make sure incorporation and capitalization is complete.
• Compile and manage financial statements and provide comments with regards to operational/financial efficiency opportunities
• Set up and manage budgeting process, ensuring adequate funding and resource availability for Mozambique business operations and provide strategic thinking to identify cost savings across the entity

Operations

• Work with supply chain management team to track inventory and COGS as products flow across the organization – from the manufacturer to the end-customer
• Strategic project management across functions to establish UpEnergy as a business and help lead the company to operational excellence
• Participate in and/or lead projects across manufacturing, supply chain management, distribution, sales and marketing, retail partnerships, grants, as well as the piloting and launch of new products.
• Serve as the key connector between Mozambique country operations (inventory management, field operations, distribution, etc.) and finance.

Financial Accounting and Reporting

• Lead the monthly closing and reporting process for the Mozambique entity
• Manage all Mozambique accounting operations including billing, payroll, A/R, A/P, inventory, general ledger, etc.
• Coordinate the preparation of regulatory reporting in compliance with local, state, and federal government reporting requirements.
• Oversee the monthly closing and reporting process for all country operations, including monthly reconciliations and intercompany transactions.
• Manage the risk of issues in financial reporting across auditors and government entities.

Tax & Audit

• Coordinate local tax filings/audits and work with internal and external stakeholders to ensure tax compliance
• Work with Financial Operations Director on external audits for Mozambique
• Manage risk of tax payments and external audits

Payments & Banking

• Ensure that all invoices and bills are paid on time.
• Establish robust systems for efficiently paying bills
• Ensure that cash is managed efficiently and is available for normal business operations.
• Manage country banking relationships and monitor bank balances, mitigating the risk of collusion/fraud.

Does this sound like you?

Must Have

• Fully Qualified Chartered Accountant (CPA/ACCA/CIMA or equivalent)
• Full member of OCAM (Mozambique)
• Relevant Bachelor’s degree and/or MBA
• Must be Fluent in both Portuguese and English Languages
• 5+ years of accounting and/or controller experience
• Experience working within the accounting or operational finance department of a global entity
• Experience managing financial statements and GL (preferably with QuickBooks)
• Experience with tax filings, working with tax authorities and internal and external audit
• Advanced MS Excel skills
• Strong leadership and team building abilities
• Excellent communication skills and interpersonal skills
• Strong organizational skills
• Experience as a trusted resource as a member of – or providing support to – a leadership team

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with project finance and/or the development of energy or carbon projects. Experience in carbon project development is a huge plus.
• Strong financial management experience, including internal controls and accountability: the ideal candidate will have managed budgets and a P&L.
• An understanding of customers and business culture in Southern Africa.

Why Join Us?

A Unique Culture

UpEnergy encourages teamwork, creativity, and experimentation. We are not afraid to develop new project types, or to roll up our sleeves and tackle challenging operating environments. We stay close to our market, understand our customers, and have a lot of fun while doing our work!

Opportunity to do things in a new way

As a leader in a fast moving industry, our team is constantly evolving, iterating and learning how to improve our business. This means endless opportunities for a self-starter to initiate new ways of doing things or experimenting ways to help us improve.

Personal and Career Growth

At UpEnergy we value both personal and professional growth. We have built a culture of mutual learning and encourage our team to take on projects that expand their knowledge, expose them to parts of the business where they are most interested.

Create Lasting Impact

Our clean energy products bring a positive impact to both our planet and the low-income communities we work in. We pledge to recycle revenue into the communities we serve and we work alongside our customers to make sure they benefit from our products.