Assistant Manager, across Horn of Africa projects

Vacancy type: Fixed term (with the possibility of extension)

Background

Adam Smith International is a global advisory company that works locally to transform lives by making economies stronger, societies more stable, and governments more effective. We work on behalf of governments, foundations and companies that share our ambition to take on the big challenges facing the world.

Our core team of managers and technical experts, in offices around the world, ensures the quality of delivery and high ethical standards that we and our clients require. We bring together a global network of specialist experts, who contribute their experience and know-how, where and when it is needed. ASI is owned and operated by its employees, and we are all dedicated to making a meaningful difference in complex, challenging situations. We are committed to corporate integrity and a triple bottom line of social, environmental and financial performance.

Company-wide, both our pipeline of business opportunities and portfolio of programmes are growing. We want to recruit high calibre candidates to support the continued growth and delivery of our global portfolio against the quality and high ethical standards that we and our clients require. This is an exciting time to join Adam Smith International and become part of a team of bright, dynamic and committed people, determined to transform lives for the better.

About the Role

The Assistant Manager is responsible for providing comprehensive operational, financial, and contractual support across multiple projects to ensure seamless execution and alignment with ASI’s objectives. This role serves as a critical link between operations, finance, and project teams, overseeing the onboarding of associates and consortium members, managing financial processes, programme support, issuing contracts, and coordinating asset management and IT support.

By facilitating payments, maintaining accurate records, and resolving cross-functional challenges, the Assistant Manager key tasks will be to ensure efficient project delivery, compliance with financial and contractual standards, and effective collaboration across stakeholders.

Working dynamically across two particular projects in Somalia, namely the Civic Engagement Support Facility funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Borderlands Programme funded by the FCDO and Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Assistant Manager will be responsible for driving operational excellence, supporting team integration, and contributing to the timely achievement of project milestones. This position requires strong financial and compliance management skills, organisational skills, attention to detail, and effective collaboration with both internal teams and external stakeholders to ensure project success.

Key Responsibilities

Financial processing and management

• Review and approve purchase orders (POs) ensuring compliance with budget and project guidelines.

• Process expenses and invoices submitted by suppliers, verifying accuracy and timeliness.

• Follow up and facilitate payments to suppliers, associates, participants, and one-off selected enumerators.

• Prepare monthly invoices to the client, ensuring completeness and accuracy of supporting documentation.

• In support of the Project Manager, conduct monthly financial reporting and budget reconciliations that track actual expenditure recorded against the approved budget and work plan, escalating issues where necessary.

• Support the finance team with requests from the auditor, providing documentation and clarifications as needed.

• Maintain asset registers to track project equipment and resources.

Team Management

• Facilitate the onboarding of associates and consortium members onto the Operating System (OS), including training and access setup.

• Coordinate the ASI OS setup and review of the team profile to ensure accurate configurations.

• Address team information technology (IT) issues, such as password resets and team IT error messages, to maintain system access.

• Follow up on timesheet completion to ensure compliance and accurate tracking of hours.

• Support the Project Manager in coordinating the financial interface with consortium partners by preparing and issuing monthly profit/input share reports based on budget allocations and expenditure tracking, guiding partners through the invoice process, and liaising with the finance team to process payments promptly.

• Contribute to the organisation of quarterly Consortium Management Group meetings

Contract Management

• Issue supplier contracts, incorporating project terms, deliverables, and payment schedules.

• Issue associate contracts, ensuring clarity on roles, responsibilities, and compensation.

• Formulate, design, and negotiate addendum procedures for supplier and associate contracts to address changes or extensions.

• Issue asset transfer agreements to formalise the handover of resources to grantees.

Procurement Support

• Support procurement activities related to grants facilities by assisting project leadership in drafting and reviewing procurement documentation.

• Support the coordination of procurement planning and timelines, ensuring procurement activities are tracked and aligned with project deliverables, funding windows, and delivery modalities (as appropriate).

• Ensure procurement processes are compliant with internal procedures and client requirements.

• Support due diligence processes of grantees and downstream partners.

Cross-Functional Support and Coordination

• Act as a liaison between the operations and finance teams to address overlapping needs (e.g., database updates, audit preparation).

• Ensure timely communication and resolution of issues related to onboarding, financial processing, or contract execution.

• Dispatch assets to grantees, coordinating logistics and verifying receipt.

• Support the coordination of payments, asset distribution, and IT troubleshooting to maintain project momentum.

• Support the Operations team with project database maintenance, ensuring data integrity and accessibility.

• Participate in the quality assurance process of project deliverables, particularly from a proof reading and formatting point of view.

Others

• Any other tasks assigned or requested by line manager or other senior team members within the projects.

What we Offer You

Our people are at the heart of our strategy and our decisions. We offer a competitive salary and benefits package, a dynamic and friendly team environment, the opportunity to support a highly successful portfolio of programmes, and support to develop your skills and progress in your career.

The diversity of our workforce makes ASI a great place to work, more creative and resourceful, and underpins strong partnerships. We keep a sharp focus on diversity and inclusion, including through our Equality Action Plan and our Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and through leadership from our Executive Team and oversight by our Board.

We recognise the importance of your life outside of work. We are proud to support flexible working arrangements and commit to make a success of flexible working arrangements wherever possible. We’ve built a culture to reflect our values, full of likeminded professionals who are smart, passionate and great at what they do.

ASI is committed to continually improving the diversity of our workforce through the attraction, retention and development of a diverse range of talented people. We want people to be comfortable bringing their whole self to work and recognise that inclusion brings further opportunities for innovation and creativity.

About You

Our work requires people with a ‘can do’ attitude tempered with insight and pragmatism. The successful candidates will not just be evaluated on their technical knowledge and skills, but also their alignment with our values and culture.

You should have demonstrated ability to think creatively about complex problems; build productive relationships with people from a wide range of professional and cultural backgrounds and work effectively in politically sensitive and challenging environments. You should be energetic, positive, a team player and committed to achieving lasting positive change. It is this combination that ensures we deliver real societal impact and measurable results with high integrity.

Candidates must have the right to work in Kenya.

Key Qualifications

• An undergraduate degree in economics, political science, international development, business management, finance and administration, or other relevant field from an internationally recognised university;

• Professional qualifications and experience in financial and contract management will be an added advantage;

• A minimum of six months work experience in project management roles within a consultancy or development-focussed organisation;

• Demonstrated experience of using initiative, client-orientation, risk taking, and working in complex and time-pressured contexts;

• Enthusiasm, flexibility and a strong attention to detail;

• Excellent communication, inter-personal, and team-working skills;

• Strong grasp of Microsoft Word, Excel & PowerPoint;

• Must have a ‘hands-on’, practical mentality, be self-driven and be very motivated;

• Outstanding written and spoken English. An additional language (e.g. Somali, French, Spanish, Arabic) would be a major asset;

• Familiarity with grant facilities or civil society development programmes would be considered an asset;

• Previous exposure and knowledge of the Somali operating environment/context would also be an asset.

Deadline for applications is 31st May 2025.