Administrative, Financial, and Operations Director - Rabat

Company :

The African Capitals of Culture program is a pan-African initiative that designates an African city as a reference cultural capital, in order to make culture a lever for territorial development, cooperation between African cities, international influence, and the structuring of cultural and creative industries.

After a first edition held in Rabat in 2022-2023, the city of Praia, capital of Cabo Verde, has been officially designated African Capital of Culture 2028. This edition marks an important step for the program, asserting an island, Atlantic, and Lusophone dimension within African cultural dynamics.

Based in Rabat, the Secretariat of the African Capitals of Culture ensures the general coordination of the program, support for designated cities, strategic monitoring, structuring of partnerships, and preparation of future editions. As part of Praia 2028, it will work closely with the Cape Verdean authorities, the city of Praia, institutional partners, African and international cultural stakeholders, as well as professionals from the cultural and creative industries.

Job :

Under the authority of the Executive Director, the Administrative, Financial, and Operations Director is responsible for the administrative, financial, accounting, and legal management of the Permanent Secretariat of the African Capitals of Culture.

They ensure the proper management of the organization's resources, the reliability of administrative and financial procedures, and the compliance of operations with the requirements of institutional and financial partners.

In a context of developing a pan-African cultural cooperation organization, they support the structuring of the Secretariat and ensure the financial management of all the institution's activities, whether it be the functioning of the Secretariat, cooperation programs, the editions of the African Capitals of Culture, or events organized by the Secretariat.

• the accounting and financial management of the Secretariat;
• the preparation and monitoring of the annual operating budget;
• the preparation, monitoring, and control of budgets for programs, projects, and editions;
• the administrative and financial management of grants, funding agreements, sponsorships, partnerships, and institutional funding;
• the financial monitoring of projects funded by national and international donors;
• the preparation of budgets for responses to calls for proposals;
• the financial management of events organized by the Secretariat;
• the production of financial reports for partners and donors;
• the implementation of management control, budget monitoring, and steering tools;
• the structuring of administrative and financial procedures for a rapidly growing institution.

Financial, Accounting, and Administrative Management of the Secretariat

The Administrative, Financial, and Operations Director is responsible for the overall financial management of the Permanent Secretariat.

They are notably responsible for:

• the preparation and monitoring of the annual operating budget;
• the supervision of general and analytical accounting;
• treasury management;
• the preparation of accounting closings;
• the production of financial statements;
• the implementation of management control tools;
• the monitoring of financial indicators;
• the preparation of decision-making dashboards;
• the preparation of financial audits.

Management of Funding, Grants, and Relations with Donors

The Administrative, Financial, and Operations Director ensures the proper administrative and financial management of the funding obtained by the Secretariat.

They are notably responsible for:

• ensuring the financial management of grant agreements;
• monitoring financing agreements;
• ensuring the administrative monitoring of sponsorships, partnerships, and institutional funding;
• controlling the eligibility of expenses according to the specific rules of each donor;
• preparing financial reports for partners;
• ensuring the monitoring of contractual deadlines and reporting obligations;
• preparing audits of funded projects;
• managing administrative and financial relations with funders.

Financial Management of Programs and Projects

In collaboration with the Executive Director, the Project Manager, and the Program Coordination Manager, they ensure the financial management of the various programs supported by the Secretariat.

In this capacity, they are notably responsible for:

• preparing provisional budgets for projects;
• developing financing plans;
• participating in the financial structuring of responses to calls for proposals;
• monitoring the financial execution of projects;
• controlling expenditure commitments;
• ensuring the financial monitoring of the African Capitals of Culture editions;
• producing financial statements for programs;
• proposing tools for budget optimization.

Financial Management of Events and Missions

The Administrative, Financial, and Operations Director ensures the budgetary management of events, conferences, institutional meetings, missions, and activities organized by the Secretariat.

They are notably responsible for:

• preparing provisional budgets for events;
• ensuring financial monitoring of their preparation and implementation;
• controlling expenses and their compliance with approved budgets;
• monitoring quotes, markets, contracts, and orders;
• supervising supplier payments;
• producing financial statements for events;
• contributing to cost optimization.

Administration, Human Resources, and Legal Affairs

The Administrative, Financial, and Operations Director oversees all administrative functions of the Secretariat.

They are notably responsible for:

Administration

• supervision of general administration;
• implementation and improvement of internal procedures;
• insurance management;
• monitoring of contracts and agreements;
• document management and administrative archiving.

Human Resources

• preparation and monitoring of employment contracts;
• administrative management of staff;
• monitoring of consultants and service providers;
• participation in recruitment;
• implementation of HR procedures.

Legal

• monitoring of partnership agreements;
• control of regulatory compliance;
• monitoring of administrative and tax obligations;
• relations with legal counsel.

Office Operations

They also oversee the support functions of the Secretariat:

• petty cash for the office;
• premises maintenance;
• purchases and supplies;
• supplier monitoring;
• premises upkeep;
• general logistics.

Structuring and Development of the Organization

The Administrative, Financial, and Operations Director actively contributes to the structuring of the Permanent Secretariat.

In this capacity, they participate in:

• the implementation of administrative and financial procedures;
• the formalization of validation processes;
• the creation of steering tools;
• the development of internal control;
• risk management;
• the continuous improvement of administrative and financial processes;
• the structuring of an organization intended to develop on a pan-African scale.

Required profile :

• Master's degree (Bac +5) in finance, accounting, management, administration, or equivalent.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in administrative and financial management positions.
• Experience desired in an international organization, an NGO, a foundation, a public or semi-public institution, or a cultural organization.
• Proven experience in managing projects funded by national and international donors.
• Experience in structuring or developing a growing organization is appreciated.

Technical Skills

• Financial and accounting management
• Management control
• Budget preparation and monitoring
• Treasury management
• Grant and funding agreement management
• Project financial monitoring
• Market and contract management
• General administration
• Human resources
• Legal management and compliance
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and financial management tools
• Proficiency in office software

Expected Skills

• Excellent organizational skills
• High level of rigor
• Analytical and synthetic thinking skills
• Sense of responsibility
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment
• Interpersonal skills
• Initiative
• Ability to propose solutions

Languages

• French: fluent
• English: fluent (spoken and written) essential

Proficiency in a third working language of the African Union (Arabic, Portuguese, or Spanish) is an asset.

Head office address :

Desired personality traits :

Conventional Respect of the rules Need for objectivity Rationalism Organization