Director, Finance Project Implementation

Overview

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work in conjunction with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.

At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skill sets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with the majority of our staff based in program countries. Learn more about our exciting work: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org

CHAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. CHAI values diversity and inclusion, and recognizes that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people with diverse experience, backgrounds, and culture.

About the Role

CHAI is embarking on a new financial ERP application to support its growth and efficiency in the implementation of transformational public health programs supported by diverse donors. The new financial ERP application will be rolled out across the organization globally in accordance with the local regulations and compliance.  Implementing the new financial ERP system, integrating the other peripheral application, and transitioning the data from the current to the new system is a multi-year multi-million-dollar project that carries strategic importance and visibility organizationally. Reporting to the CFO, the Director of Finance Progect Implementation, will be responsible for successfully delivering the project.

The Director will be responsible for developing sound efficient financial workflows that follow best practices for internal controls and mirror workflows identified in the current policies and procedures. This person will be a central facilitator in defining functional requirements, refining solution choices, and supporting and coordinating across internal teams and external solution providers to ensure a smooth implementation and transition to the new financial ERP.

The Director will collaborate internally with finance functional leads, country finance heads, and stakeholders (at the country and global level) and externally with the solution providers (the ERP Vendor) during the project initiating in 2022 and continuing through 2024-25.

Responsibilities

The individual would be required to:

• Have overall responsibility for the planning, quality, delivery, and management across all aspects of the implementation project including future state architecture and organizational change management.
• Lead the transformation opportunities within the scope of the project
• Keep the project on schedule, to cost, within scope, and to the expected quality
• Ensure integration of other peripheral finance applications
• Create a cohesive team environment for all internal and external resources engaged in the project
• Champion the avoidance/removal of heavy customization and pushes all teams to deliver and adopt standard solutions
• Partner with the finance and IT team to define project strategy and roadmap for the financial ERP system and supporting systems. Execute the strategy, track against milestones, and drive results in collaboration with partner teams
• Effectively manage internal and external team collaboration and communication. The external team includes vendors and consultants as applicable.
• Translate complex ideas into easy-to-understand concepts and articulate technical solutions
• Assess current financial policies and procedures and, from that, develop the ideal workflow to be used with the new ERP system.
• Ensure that workflows incorporate key financial controls as identified in policies and procedures.
• Research problems/issues as they arise and propose solutions
• Document, communicate, and manage changes that surface during design and implementation
• Develop a training curriculum for finance and operational staff, as well as program staff on finance-related activities. Training materials should include user guides and job aids
• Work with key finance leads to identify all types of reporting that will be needed from the new system. Then, working with the vendor, develop these reports as required.
• Run change management to ensure effective adoption of new financial system solutions
• Effectively manage internal and external team collaboration and communication. The external team includes vendors and consultants as applicable.
• Act as a point of escalation for project delivery issues from all partners and stakeholders
• Owns the plan to handover project to the operations (business systems) team and follow-on legacy system decommissioning

This individual will be expected to drive performance improvement at the individual, team, and organizational levels, fostering a culture of adaptability, standardization, and continuous growth. Success in this role requires strong negotiation skills to achieve fair outcomes and advance shared goals, as well as the ability to communicate a compelling vision and demonstrate unwavering commitment to achieving results.

Qualifications

Qualifications and Skills - Required

• BS in Business Management, Technology Management, Accounting, Finance or related field or 15+ years equivalent working experience
• Minimum of 10 years of professional experience with at least seven years’ experience in accounting and three years’ experience in non-profit accounting
• A minimum of 10 years of experience in Financial ERP systems with emphasis in Procure to Pay, Record to Report, and financial accounting domain
• 10+ years of related experience in Financial ERP systems implementation as a finance functional expert
• Well-versed in finance business processes in sourcing, procurement, receivables, payables, travel expenses, and Accounting, as well as their interdependencies and how system solutions fit into the processes. Strong understanding of financial processes and US GAAP requirements
• Driven and self-motivated. Multi-tasking ability is essential to handle multiple priorities with minimal direction from management.
• Proven skills as a project manager on multiple full life cycle implementations
• Excellent project management and communication skills
• Experience working with stakeholders/partners at all levels, globally, across the organization
• Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills with the ability to exercise mature judgment
• Strong ability to collaborate, influence, and build consensus - addresses conflict and resolves issues
• Ability to build and foster strong working relationships inter- and cross-departmentally while continuing to influence change.

Qualifications and Skills - Preferred

In addition to the requirements outlined above, preferred qualifications include:

• International experience strongly preferred, particularly in Africa or Southeast Asia
• High degree of diplomacy & prior experience working with teams globally/cross culturally
• Prior experience managing & mentoring fellow team members
• Prior experience implementing a new financial management system across an organization

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