Controller, Acumen Ventures Debt Partners Limited

About Acumen
Acumen is working to solve problems of poverty and build a world based on dignity. They invest patient capital in businesses whose products and services help people living in poverty to transform their lives. To date, Acumen has positively impacted over 500 million lives by investing $154 million in 167 innovative, early-stage companies in Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the United States. Acumen also invests in relationships - connecting with emerging leaders in their own countries and engaging them in extended collective dialogue, moral inquiry, and skill building.

About Hardest to Reach
Hardest to Reach (H2R) is an initiative by Acumen focused on expanding clean energy access in some of Africa’s most remote and underserved regions. Of the 789 million people globally without electricity, around 215 million are projected to remain unserved by 2030 due to their location in risky or hard-to-reach areas. H2R addresses this gap through two vehicles: the Market Support Facility, a philanthropic fund, and the Market Expansion Facility, an impact debt fund - both designed to support off-grid energy companies and bolster clean energy markets where traditional investors are absent.

About the role

Responsibility for financial operation for the following legal entities in the Hardest-to-Reach Amplify debt fund structure:

• Acumen H2R Expansion Fund LP domiciled in Guernsey (“the Fund”)
• Acumen H2R Expansion 2 Limited domiciled in Guernsey (“the LendCo”)
• Acumen H2R Expansion Investments Limited domiciled in Guernsey (“the GP”)
• Acumen Ventures Debt Partners Limited domiciled in the UK (“AVDPL”)
• Hardest to Reach Debt Ltd domiciled in Kenya (“H2R Kenya”)

Main responsibilities, in collaboration with Vistra as administrator for the Guernsey entities and local book-keepers for the UK and Kenyan entities:

• Accounting and book-keeping
  • Review and approval of Purchase Orders
  • Raising invoices for advisory fees, reallocation of costs etc
• Banking and cash management
  • Review and approval of payments, initiation of payments for approval ensuring segregation of duties with the Head of Finance
• Payroll
  • Review and approval of monthly payroll for employees of AVDPL in the UK and H2R Kenya including applicable deductions
• Financial reporting including reporting to various stakeholders
  • Preparation and review of quarterly and year end reporting
• Budgeting, forecasting and cash-flow planning
  • Preparation of quarterly cashflows for the Fund
  • Preparation of annual administrative expenses budget for the Fund
  • Preparation of annual and rolling budgets for AVDPL, H2R Kenya and the GP
• Financial analysis
  • Preparation of monthly budget to actual analysis for AVDPL and H2R Kenya
  • Preparation of quarterly budget to actual analysis for the Fund/LendCo and GP
  • Timely flagging of variances to enable corrective action
• Cost control
  • Regular review of costs to ensure these are being charged to the correct legal entity (eg fund expenses vs. management fee)
• Internal controls
  • Build and enact controls to ensure compliance with policies and procedures including obtaining necessary approvals for expenditure
  • Develop robust documentation of polices, procedures and processes
• Taxation
  • Transfer pricing – ensuring compliance with regulations and accounting for charges between AVDPL and its Kenyan subsidiary
  • VAT – ensure compliance with regulations and that VAT is being correctly recorded on invoices (including reverse charge where applicable) and work with book-keeper to ensure returns are accurate and filed on time to facilitate reimbursement of input VAT
  • Corporate tax – work with external tax advisors to ensure tax returns for AVDPL and H2R Kenya are accurate and filed on time
  • Payroll taxes – review and approval of monthly payroll deductions for employees of AVDPL in the UK and H2R Kenya and ensuring these are remitted to the relevant authorities (eg HMRC, KRA etc)
• External audits
  • Leading and/or supporting the annual external financial statement audits of the Fund, GP, AVDPL and H2R Kenya in collaboration with Vistra and the book-keepers
• Compliance matters including regulatory filing where required
  • Work with company secretaries to ensure filing of financial statements, tax returns, confirmation statements, changes in Directors etc
• Financial systems and processes
  • Ensure accounting systems and processes are fit for purpose (eg software, approval processes etc)
• Support with Fund operations such as:
  • Preparing recommendations for drawdowns and review of drawdown notices
  • Loan operations eg reconciliation of interest income, principal repayments
  • Payment/recording of invoices and
  • Review of management accounts
  • Review of capital account statements
  • Review of ratio calculations
  • Review of excess cash calculations
  • Review of Loss Trigger Ratio calculations
• Managing relationships with third parties such as Vistra, KPMG, HSBC, Armstrong Watson, Jampo Group, etc
• Support with preparation and coordination for Board Meetings, where required

Skills and experience 

• Minimum of 6 years of experience
• Qualified Accoutant (Eg ICAS, ICAEW etc)
• Experience with Fund Accounting
• Experience in partnering with an executive team. 
• Experience in leading and motivating a team. 
• High integrity, strong ethical principles and ability to command respect at all levels.  
• Preparedness to assert one’s views, including where ethical or legal requirements are being challenged.  
• Well-developed diplomatic, interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong stakeholder management skills.
• Based in UK, Permanantly authorized to work in the United Kingdom. 

Deadline 
Apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed through November 25 and interviews scheduled on a rolling basis. 

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