Careers

Position: Regional Finance Manager  
Type: Full Time Regular
Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka 
Reports: Senior Finance Director
Travel Required: Up to 25%

The work of the Regional Finance Manager, Colombo, Sri Lanka, will include:

Global Treasury & Cash Management Support

• Manage cash flow planning and oversee daily treasury operations to ensure uninterrupted funding for country office operations.
• Coordinate wire transfers, cash advances, and reimbursements to support both HQ and country offices, including reviewing country office requests for cash in APW and accessing field bank accounts online.
• Monitor country office liquidity, cash balances, and burn rates to ensure compliance with cash handling procedures.
• Support field office cash flow management by tracking expected inflows/outflows and helping ensure sufficient funds are available for planned program activities.
• Advise and support country teams on banking relationships, foreign exchange processes, and treasury-related risk mitigation.
• Collaborate with HQ Treasury to resolve banking delays, foreign exchange challenges, and cash shortfalls.
  
   Financial Systems Administration & Controls
• Serve as a subject-matter expert and system administrator for IFES financial tools (Costpoint, QuickBooks, APW, Power BI, Clockify, etc.).
• Lead troubleshooting on system access, configuration errors, multi-currency setups, and integration issues.
• Act as the primary administrator for the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions for the global timesheet interface, ensuring accurate user access, troubleshooting issues, and coordinating with HQ on system updates.
• Strengthen internal controls by ensuring consistent application of financial policies and workflows.
• Conduct periodic data reviews, reconciliations, and system audits to ensure accuracy and transparency. 
• Review and prepare FERs and related documentation in Costpoint and SharePoint during month-end close, ensuring consistency between country office records and HQ reporting requirements.
• Support country offices in keeping finance/operations procedures and records current and aligned with local legislation as well as IFES and donor requirements, including timely responses to HQ and donor requests.
• Provide financial oversight in the management of regional resources, supporting accurate forecasting, budget monitoring, and variance analysis to maintain expenditures within approved budgets.

• Promote fiscal management and stewardship by supporting clean audit outcomes, timely financial reporting, and continuous improvement of financial controls and practices.

  Capacity Building & Technical Support

• Provide training and technical assistance to field finance teams in the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions on accounting systems, financial policies, reporting requirements, and donor compliance; track participation and improvement in compliance and financial performance metrics.
• Support the development and updating of training materials, SOPs, reference guides, and process documentation for global use.
• Deliver real-time support to country offices on accounting treatment, donor rules, financial reporting, and system troubleshooting.
• Support country office staff in implementing financial controls, documentation standards, and efficient workflows. 
• Provide guidance to country offices on routine finance operations (e.g., payroll processing; consultant and vendor payments) and required approvals/documentation to reduce compliance risk.
• Strengthen country office capacity on operational finance interfaces (procurement, logistics, and travel), reinforcing compliant processes for workshops and program activities.
• Conduct periodic financial reviews of country offices (e.g., quarterly or semi-annually) and track remediation of identified issues to closure.

• Provide financial oversight in the management of regional resources, supporting accurate forecasting, budget monitoring, and variance analysis to maintain expenditures within approved budgets.

  Country Office Support & Cross-Functional Coordination

• Serve as a financial advisor and technical partner to Country Directors, Finance Managers, and Project teams, strengthening country-level financial management, compliance, and operational execution.
• Provide practical oversight and support to country offices across reporting, administration, procurement coordination, and financial management to enable compliant, on-time program delivery.
• Work directly with HQ Finance, Awards Management, Project Administration, Compliance, and Audit teams to support strong financial management at the country office level and to address systemic issues.
• Assist country offices with donor budgeting, financial reporting, and audit preparation.

• Support startup, transitions, and close-out phases of country offices by ensuring proper systems set-up and financial control readiness.

  Risk Management, Data Quality, and Continuous Improvement

• Identify cross-office financial risks in the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions and lead mitigation planning.
• Monitor country office cash management and payment practices for red flags (e.g., liquidity shortfalls, unsupported payments, delayed reconciliations) and drive timely corrective actions.
• Assess and escalate procurement, logistics, and travel-related compliance risks, helping ensure corrective action plans align with IFES and donor policies and procedures.
• Support country teams in identifying and addressing statutory payment risks (e.g., local taxes, severance liabilities, and required filings), coordinating with HR/administration and external providers as needed.
• Review subaward spending trends and support the development of funds disbursement plans to reduce burn-rate and allowability risks.
• Review country-level financial data and documentation trends to surface quality gaps or compliance risks.
• Recommend system enhancements, workflow adjustments, or policy updates—based on country office implementation realities—to strengthen compliance and improve financial operations.
• Promote accountability, data accuracy, and control excellence across diverse financial environments.

Supervisory responsibilities include supporting the recruitment and hiring of finance staff; monitoring and evaluating activities and performance; and providing mentorship and professional development. The role is responsible for establishing clear performance expectations and ensuring adherence to organizational financial policies, procedures, and donor regulations. The Regional Finance Manager also provides technical guidance to country office staff to ensure accurate financial reporting, effective budget management, and strong internal controls across the region. They may provide input to assessments regarding rewards, promotions, disciplinary actions, or termination in accordance with organizational policies.

The successful candidate will bring strong finance and accounting expertise, with extensive experience managing financial operations for multi-country programs in international development. 

This position requires a trusted financial leader capable of providing technical guidance and oversight to country offices in the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions, with a strong focus on supporting operations from the Sri Lanka office. The candidate must ensure consistent application of financial controls, organizational policies, and donor compliance requirements while strengthening systems, treasury management, and internal controls across the portfolio.

The ideal candidate is a confident communicator and relationship builder with the ability to engage effectively with country finance teams, headquarters staff, and external stakeholders, including donors and auditors. They will bring a proactive, solutions-oriented approach to strengthening financial performance, mitigating risk, and improving operational efficiency. 

Education:  Bachelors degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, or a related field is required. A Master’s degree in Finance, Business Administration (MBA), Accounting, or a related discipline is strongly preferred. Professional certifications such as CPA, ACCA, CIMA, or CFA are highly desirable and may be considered in lieu of an advanced degree in some cases.

Experience: The Regional Finance Manager will bring 10+ years of finance and budget experience in international development, managing country programs with diverse funding sources. This role requires an action-oriented, results-driven leader who ensures accurate, timely, and compliant financial management while supporting impactful programs across the region.

Related Skills or Knowledge: The successful candidate will have a proven ability to develop, lead, and manage high-performing finance teams across multiple countries; strong organizational skills and the ability to prioritize and oversee multiple activities in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.  The person will be an experienced and successful finance manager with a track record of working with diverse donors and multi-source funding; highly skilled in program and budget development, financial management, and reporting; a strategic thinker, action-oriented, and capable of providing financial guidance to support programmatic impact.  

 IFES offers competitive wages and generous benefits and wellness programs that include: paid vacation, sick leave, medical, dental, vision, life, short-term, and long-term disability insurance.

Fluency in written and spoken English required; proficiency in other languages is a plus.  IFES has a standard office work environment. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job. This position is subject to a mandatory background check.  

The selected candidate will be based in Colombo, Sri Lanka and work collaboratively with teams in the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions and in the U.S.

To apply, please send a one-page statement of interest and a resume or CV to [email protected]. Please include the position title in the subject line.

 The information in this announcement indicates the general nature and level of work expected of employees assigned to this job, and not an all-inclusive list of responsibilities, qualifications, physical demands, and work environment conditions.