Full-Time Finance and Operations Director
Job Description
Yunus Social Business is recruiting for the following position, starting as soon as possible.
Yunus Social Business (YSB) is social business accelerator, focusing on incubating and financing social businesses globally. A social business is a new kind of company that combines the strengths of both the social development and the business world. It is created with the sole purpose to solve a social problem – like NGOs – but to do so in a financially sustainable way – like businesses.
YSB was co-founded by Saskia Bruysten, Sophie Eisenmann, and Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus, founder of the microfinance organization Grameen Bank, as well as a variety of social businesses in Bangladesh and worldwide. A social business ourselves, we report directly to Professor Yunus, and we are part of the Grameen network of over 40 social businesses and more than 50,000 employees.
We at YSB are currently a global team of 40 people with experience in entrepreneurship, consulting, venture capital, business incubation, finance and international development. YSB further has a large pool of expert volunteer consultants that contribute to its global and local operations.
Our main office is in Frankfurt, Germany and we have an on-the-ground presence through our local country teams in Albania, Haiti, Brazil, Colombia, Tunisia, India, and Uganda.
Our core business is the incubation and financing of social businesses in the following manner:
• We design and implement incubation and/or accelerator programmes in our local countries to search for, coach and mentor entrepreneurs to create strong, investment-ready social businesses
• We also serve as a financing vehicle for the most promising social businesses in a defined geographic area (country, region or city), using a methodology similar to those used in the venture capital space
• We further provide on-going advice and support post-investment, including a peer-to-peer exchange with other social business entrepreneurs
Main responsibilities of the Finance and Operations Director of YSB Group:
Yunus Social Business is looking for a dynamic individual to coordinate YSB Global Initiative’s operations worldwide to join its entrepreneurial team.
The Finance and Operations Director will be based in Frankfurt, Germany and will report to the Management Team. The Finance and Operations Director will further supervise the Accounting and Finance Position based in Frankfurt, as well as Global Group Controller based in Albania.
The responsibilities include, but are not limited to, coordinating YSB Global Initiative’s operations worldwide:
• General Management and Human Resources
o Develop the HR policies of YSB
o Coordinate the recruitment of employees and volunteers
o Coaching, counselling, and disciplining employees; planning, monitoring, and appraising job results.
o Supervise the Finance Manager
o Practically and morally support all employees linked to the Frankfurt office
• Finances and Accounting
o Coordinate the budgeting process with all YSB entities, in Germany and abroad, and report to management on variances from the established budget, and the reasons for those variances
o Hold financial overview over German-based companies, and manage cash levels
o Improve cash management system
o Analyse global tax implications and identify strategies for tax optimal cash management
o In close coordination with CFO guide and supervise production annual accounts for gGmbH and GmbH (in coordination with external accountant)
o Coordinate with external advisors on tax, accounting, insurances, Etc.
o Coordinate the submission of reports to external parties (donors, investors)
• Fund administration
o In close coordination with the Director of Funds & Investments and the Program Directors, conduct global fund management, including allocation of free investment capital to local country funds and investee companies according to their capital requirements
o Prepare fund projections including investment capital as well as management fees and modelling of those
o Work closely with the Director of Funds & Investments on structuring and managing the investment funds (legal set up, contracts)
o Analyse, identify and propose suitable structures for financial instruments
o Coordinate the consolidation of repayment and investor portfolio positions in close coordination with the Group Controller, based in Albania
o Coordinate the consolidation of information, including on financial and social impact indicators, for our Global investor reporting
• Legal and governance
o Plan meetings of the Board and the Shareholder Assembly of the different legal entities and manage the documentation for these meetings, including resolutions requiring Board approval
o Shape internal rules, policies and procedures and ensure adherence to governance, process and reporting standards of all global companies
o Establish processes and supervise the conclusion of legal agreements, including HR contracts, NDA’s, investment contracts, service contracts, etc.
• Any other activities serving the purpose of advancing the Yunus Social Business Group
o Make sure we maintain excellence on our core competencies, such as social business sourcing, incubation, funding and monitoring and evaluation, by promoting the sharing of best practices across countries and benchmarking
o Link with other Yunus/Grameen organisations (Yunus Center, Etc.)
Qualifications of the candidate:
Candidates should display the following qualities, skill, and experience:
• At least 6-8 years work experience in one or several of the following:
o CFO or financial manager of a small to mid size company
o Manager/senior professional with operational experience and a business/corporate background
o Preferred with experience in an investment fund
o Preferred with experience of socially orientated work
• A university degree in economics, business administration, financial management or related fields
• Entrepreneurial mind-set, self-driven and can-do mentality
o Used to working in dynamic environments: we are a fast growing organisation and we need to continuously adapt to new situations
o Comfortable working under ambiguity
o Independent work style
o Ability to manage several projects at the same time under time pressure
o Extremely structured
• Strong leadership abilities; demonstrated excellent communication and presentation skills and team work spirit
• Demonstrated passion for serving society’s needs, a high level of personal integrity and a deep understanding of social business
• Fluent written and oral German and English is a must; willingness to relocate to Germany
• Excellent Microsoft office knowledge. Knowledge of SAP a plus.