Justus Mutahi

Executive Finance Oversight (50%):

• Prepared and coordinated the preparation of financial statements, summaries, and other cost‑benefit analyses and financial management reports.
• Coordinated the financial planning and budget process, and analyzed and correct estimates.
• Supervised the development and implementation of financial simulation models.
• Evaluated financial reporting systems, accounting procedures and investment activities and made recommendations for changes to procedures, operating systems, budgets and other
  financial control functions to senior managers and other department
• Notified and reported to senior management concerning any trends that were critical to the organization's financial performance.

Human Resources Oversight (50%)

• Planned, lead, directed, developed, and coordinated the policies, activities, and staff of the Human Resource (HR) department, ensuring legal compliance and implementation of the organizations mission and talent strategy.
• Developed and strengthened all processes related to the employee experience, including recruitment, onboarding, leadership coaching, professional development, annual review process, offboarding, HR policies, compensation, benefits, organizational culture, and learning initiatives.
• Coordinated annual benefit renewal discussions and participated in decision‑making regarding benefits offered.
• Oversaw the implementation of human resources policies and procedures including employee relations, benefits administration, compliance with all federal and state employment laws and regulatory agencies.
• Prepared reports, including, but not limited to HR IPEDS, OSHA, equity and other salary surveys and benchmarking, health insurance data and other related mandated reporting.

IMPACT

• Developed a financial control environment which enabled developing of cashflow forecasts, budget analysis and budget monitoring. This has been significant when reporting to the Executive Director and the Board of Directors.
• Designed proper payment procedures which included payment and approval processes, accounting process which included redrafting the chart of accounts to enable classification of payments to different donor budgets which has inherently increased accuracy in donor reporting and also improves on budget monitoring.

Financial oversight [35%]

• Oversaw the financial management of six BRACED projects in Sahel countries. Specific tasks included; (1) monitored financial reporting for the projects (2) assessed financial forecasts (3) processed disbursement requests (4) analyzed and described budget variances (5) identified irregularities (6) engage with implementing partners to resolve finance, procurement, contracting, risk, compliance and budget related issues and (7) provided clear and concise briefing of financial issues to management.

Project performance management [15%]

• Worked closely with the Results Lead to understand and respond to issues affecting the delivery of BRACED and Saving Lives and Livelihoods (SLL) project portfolios. Specific tasks included (1) responded to queries from partners in a timely and accurate fashion (2) worked to help partners meet our requirements while still holding them to account for delivery (3) identified risks that can impact on project delivery and developed solutions with project leads and project partners and (4) met with project partners – either at headquarters or project sites on a regular basis.

Portfolio-wide financial management tasks. [30%]

• Led the team’s engagement with cross-cutting portfolio tasks related to financial management. Tasks included (1) portfolio financial consolidation and reconciliations; (2) ensured the disbursements were completed in a timely and accurate way (2) prepared portfolio forecasts and ensured timely submission to donor partners on time with a high degree of accuracy (3) ensured that expenditure verification exercises were completed and were robust (4) ensured that implementing partner audits were completed on an annual basis (5) mobilized practical support to projects on financial issues and (6) ensured that contracts between projects and FM were up-to-date and appropriate.

Portfolio-wide compliance and risk tasks [20%].

• Provided support on program level compliance and risk activities involving FCDO, MasterCard foundation and Global Affairs. This included (1) input into revisions to the Grant Management Guidelines to ensure that they captured current and best practice for management of BRACED, MasterCard Foundation and Global Affairs funds (2) helped to prepare fee notes and quarterly milestones with donor partners (3) supported efforts to ensure that programs fully complied with KPMG procedures and legal requirements including the Quality Performance Review (5) led inputs into the KPMG risk management system to ensure that all risk processes were complied with.

IMPACT

• I spearheaded in the development of Partner Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manuals for the Saving Lives and Livelihoods program and aligned the manual to the requirements of MasterCard Foundation.
• I Reviewed the Detailed budget template for partner reporting provided by MasterCard Foundation for adoption by the partners. My reviews and suggestions were adopted and made for a more elaborate budgeting and reporting template.
• I developed a Partner Onboarding schedule that was adopted by MasterCard Foundation to introduce Implementing Partners to the Saving Lives and Livelihoods (SLL) Program.

Financial (40%)

• Oversaw the timely review, approval and submission of all internal financial reporting requirements, including monthly Somali Stability Funds (SSF) field reports, donor Quarterly Strategic Reviews (QSR) reports and annual report
• Reviewed the finance policies and procedures to ensure efficiency and effectiveness
• Directed the timely and accurate preparation and approval of all donor financial reports in respect to accounting, legal and contractual requirements
• Established and maintained professional banking relations; planned and monitored cash needs ensuring cash flow requirements of the project were met for smooth implementation of project activities.
• Provided the project management team with monthly financial reports including overall project budget status (budget tracker), work plan budgets status and ensured potential issues were identified and addressed
• Worked closely with senior management to develop and monitor annual work plan budgets, operating budgets and budget updates
• Performed final financial reviews of budgets prior to approval and submission.
• Performed internal audits and reviews, as required, to ensure compliance with organization standards, donor requirements, and internationally accepted accounting practices.
• Worked with project management to develop and implement strong systems of internal controls and ensured general management of risk and control environment.

Sub-award Management Oversight (30%)

• Ensured adequate sub-award development processes, monitoring and management systems were in place to ensure effective and timely issuance, reporting and oversight of all sub-awards.
• Monitored the effective oversight and support to recipients of sub-awards by the project to ensure consistent compliance with the terms of their agreements including financial management and compliance with donor regulations.
• Monitored the timely submission of accurate financial and activity reporting by sub-award recipients.
• Provided capacity building support to sub-grantees in sub-award management to be compliant with donor rules and regulations

Operations Systems Quality Oversight (30%)

• Assessed and monitored compliance with organization and donor operational policies and procedures through field visits and reports reviews.
• Reviewed performance of operations functions to identify strengths and weaknesses
• Ensured that regular and comprehensive risk and cost-efficiency analyses were conducted.
• Monitored and reviewed operational budgets to support financial stability, ongoing program viability, efficient cost structures, and appropriate spending.

IMPACT

• I developed a “Request for Funds” control sheet that tracked all fund requests from all investments in Somalia. This control sheet reduced lead time between fund requests and payments from 10 days to 3 days.
• Formulated a comprehensive burn‑rate tool that showed all active investments (projects) with their respective contract values, disbursements and payments made to‑date. With this information, I was able to accurately show percentage project consumptions. This
  information aided the finance, risk and programs teams to make early decisions as to which projects needed contract amendments. This tool was very instrumental when it came to program close‑out.

Audit Implementation (60%)

• Prepared for, and performed or supervised preparation and conducted of internal audits of clients, sub-grantees and/or audits of specified functions, programs, or processes to identify risks and exposures.
• Conducted entry meeting to review purpose, scope of work, methodology, and to set expectations for communications during the audit fieldwork.
• Documented, evaluated and tested systems, controls, and administrative procedures to determine their adequacy and effectiveness to ensure (i) compliance with policies and procedures, (ii) accomplishment of project’s objectives, (iii) reliability and integrity of information, (iv) economic use of resources, and (v) safeguarding of assets.
• Worked closely with Senior management to present results in a clear and effective manner and worked with teams to develop corrective action plans to solve any deviations from donor policies and procedures.
• Conducted meetings as needed, pertaining to the conduct of audits and investigations throughout the field work, as time permitted.
• Conducted exit meetings to review findings and discuss additional training needs.
• Drafted or reviewed thorough and timely internal audit reports and communications on the results of work performed, including potential recommendations for improvements and training.
• Ensured supervisor, and others as necessary, were alerted in regard to any organizational conflicts of interest or other significant internal control weaknesses or compliance risks.
• Prepared or reviewed corrective action plans resulting from audit/ review findings in coordination with regional and country office management.
• Validated and followed-up implementation of plans.

Risk Assessment; Audit Planning; and Management (30%)

• Contributed to the annual audit risk assessment of clients operations and partnered with client's finance team to develop a flexible audit plans.
• Recommended changes and/or additions to the audit plan throughout the year in response to matters arising and new award requirements for our donor funded clients.
• Kept abreast of new organizational programs, policies, and priorities as well as trends and new developments in audit international sites.
• Ensured accountability to beneficiaries, partners, colleagues, and donors by providing ongoing feedback in a context of mutual respect.

Special Reviews (10%)

• Reviewed country offices financial statements audit and other external reviews/ audits
• Conducted desk reviews of country offices or sub-grantees
• Investigated information related to whistleblower complaints
• Implemented sub-grantee risk mitigation plan

IMPACT

• Restructured the project audit working paper tools for UNOCHA project audits carried out in Somalia and Nigeria. The tools were adopted by Baker Tilly International (Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Malawi) and continue to be implemented to date. This led to increased quality reporting and enhanced time report delivery by 10% compared to previous assignments.
• Developed a robust debt restructuring model for Trademark East Africa, this led to costs savings of US$ 150,000 in the 2019‑2020 fiscal year.

• Senior auditor of key audit engagements with extensive involvement and monitoring of the overall audit process including planning, fieldwork, report preparation, and client correspondence. (Public Sector, NGOs and Private Sector).
• Monitored efficiency of the completion of audit engagements by adhering to each engagement's planned budget. and interpreting management reports to assist in forming of audit approach.
• Evaluated risk assessments and performed audit work through careful review and testing of significant financial statement accounts, compliance requirements, internal controls, and accounting systems.
• Responsible for inspecting systems to determining their efficiency and protective value in recording and management of organization resources.
• Prepared of Financial Statements and audit reports adhering to reporting standards, quality control, and critical timelines.
• Involvement in Internal Audits for corporate companies in the telecommunication sector and a leading retail franchise store as the engagement senior in charge.
• Senior in charge of conducting financial, tax and operational due diligences assignments for various companies.
• Communicated audit findings and recommendations to client management.
• Conducted audit trainings on auditing concepts and procedures.
• Provided direct supervision to associates by training and assisting with audit work and reviewing of assigned duties.

IMPACT

• Worked closely with The East African Community in Arusha, Tanzania, I assisted in the preparation of multi‑currency budget templates that would capture exchange differences arising from the project implementation. This led to mitigated project losses in the next budget cycle by 2%.
• Received invitation from Rwanda RedCross to facilitate in the training of program officers on best practices to mitigate advents of ineligible expenditure. From follow‑ups of prior year audit recommendations, ineligible expenditures had dropped by 15%.
• Streamlined the proposal writing template used in RUMA CPA to better represent areas of firm's expertise. As a result, tenders won increased by 20% in 2017.

• Reviewed the organization’s financial statements to know about the financial position of the organization and also review the journals entries.
• Reviewed the Fund Accountability Statements of donor funded programs to know about the financial position of the program and also review the compliance with the funding agreements.
• Responsible for analyzing data obtained for evidence of deficiencies in internal controls, duplication of effort, extravagances, fraud, and non compliance with country laws, government regulations, and management policies and/or procedures.
• Responsible for finding out the weaknesses in the accounting records and systems during auditing.
• Responsible for giving statistical analysis on the effectiveness of accounting policies.
• Responsible for giving advice to the management through recommendation in their audit discussions.
• Responsible for designing and operating the information, reporting system, procedures and controls to meet external financial statements.
• Developed strategies for the efficient and effective completion of multiple engagements via a well-defined scope, risk assessments, tailored audit programs, and available audit tools.
• Managed 6 audit associates and provided supervisory role through regular evaluation, coaching, training, and reviewing of associates' work.
• Responsible for evaluating and testing systems and controls to determine their adequacy and effectiveness and recommending remedial action wherein gaps have been identified.

IMPACT

• Developed an internal audit department for Energy Resources Petroleum (ERP), along with complete internal control documentation for all financial and general/ cost accounting
  systems. The new department occasioned a reduced fuel allowable losses by 2%, translating to cost savings of about US$ 200,000 in 2015.
• Championed for the application of an Investment Registration Certificate for Izuba Developers Limited in November 2015 through an elaborate proposal to Rwanda Development Board (RDB). Consultative effort with RDB led to the client getting the registration certificate by January 2016.