Supervisor - Accounting

Role Purpose

The Supervisor - Accounting is an opportunity for an experienced or professionally qualified accountant to move into a front-line finance operations leadership role acting as an extension of the client’s US finance team. Based in ADEC’s central Nairobi operation, the role combines technical accounting expertise with direct people leadership, operational ownership, client engagement and continuous improvement. The postholder will directly lead Accounting Administrators, own day-to-day accounting delivery and work directly with the clint’s US finance colleagues to ensure that routine, intermediate and complex accounting activities are completed accurately, securely, on time and in accordance with agreed procedures and controls.

The role is particularly suited to accountants with experience in recognised public accounting firms who want to transition from audit, assurance or accounting advisory into front-line accounting operations leadership. It offers the opportunity to move beyond reviewing financial processes and controls to leading the team responsible for their execution, quality and improvement. Reporting to the Senior Supervisor, the Accounting Supervisor will allocate work, supervise daily performance, monitor quality and productivity, resolve operational issues and review higher-risk outputs. The Supervisor will independently resolve accounting and operational issues within agreed authority, working directly with US finance process owners on technical judgments and approvals. Escalation to the Senior Supervisor will be reserved for matters beyond delegated authority, significant unresolved risks or wider-service decisions; the Senior Supervisor retains overall accountability for the wider service. Tax and treasury operations sit outside the primary scope, except where accounting entries, reconciliations or dependencies require coordination.

Why This Role

· Move from reviewing accounting processes to supervising their day-to-day execution, quality and control within an operational accounting team.

· Build direct people-leadership experience by managing and developing Accounting Administrators and taking ownership of technical accounting guidance and issue resolution.

· Broaden experience beyond audit or advisory into general ledger, accounts receivable, reconciliations, journals, close and operational reporting.

· Work as an extension of a US finance team, collaborating directly on accounting priorities, close activities, reporting and issue resolution.

· Develop finance-transformation experience through transition, standardisation, control improvement and continuous improvement.

· Remain technically close to accounting while building a progression path toward Senior Supervisor and broader finance, shared-services or operations leadership roles.

Key Outcomes

· Consistent delivery of accounting services against agreed service levels, close calendars, quality standards and control requirements.

· Effective direct leadership, coaching and development of Accounting Administrators within the Accounting Team.

· Accurate review and completion of reconciliations, journal entries, accounts-receivable activities, close support and financial reporting tasks.

· Effective ownership of complex or judgment-based accounting issues, with evidence-based recommendations and direct engagement with US finance process owners where client approval is required.

· Clear ownership of accounting controls, evidence, exception management, escalation and continuous improvement.

· A responsive Accounting Team that operates as an integrated extension of the US finance team, with shared priorities, clear ownership and direct day-to-day collaboration.

· Successful transfer of public-accounting discipline into front-line supervision of accounting operations, controls and team performance.

Reporting and Working Relationships

· Reports directly to the Senior Supervisor responsible for the wider finance and accounting service.

· Works directly with designated US finance colleagues and accounting process owners to agree daily priorities, coordinate close activities and resolve accounting issues within established governance and approval requirements.

· Direct people-management responsibility for Accounting Administrators assigned to the Accounting Team.

· Serves as the Accounting Team’s first point of technical guidance, resolving issues within delegated authority and engaging US finance process owners directly on policy interpretations and approvals.

· Collaboration with ADEC operations, quality, training, workforce management, information security and enabling teams.

Core Responsibilities

1. Accounting Team Leadership and Service Delivery

· Lead daily accounting operations, balancing workload, deadlines, task complexity and available capability across the Accounting Team.

· Translate client priorities, accounting close calendars and control requirements into clear daily and weekly team plans.

· Allocate work to Accounting Administrators according to skill level, access and segregation-of-duties requirements.

· Take ownership of complex or judgment-based accounting work, investigate issues, document conclusions and agree required decisions or approvals directly with US finance process owners.

· Run team huddles, workload reviews, quality discussions and structured follow-up on aged, blocked or rejected items.

· Monitor productivity, timeliness, accuracy, rework, backlog and service risks, taking corrective action and escalating material issues promptly.

· Maintain effective hand-offs and direct communication between Accounting Administrators and the US finance team, ensuring continuity of ownership across locations.

· Create a disciplined, accountable and inclusive working environment focused on quality, ownership and continuous learning.

2. Technical Accounting Leadership

· Provide senior-level guidance across general ledger, accounts receivable, cash accounting, bank reconciliation, journal entry, accrual, intercompany and month-end activities.

· Review balance-sheet and profit-and-loss reconciliations, investigate variances and ensure conclusions are supported by clear evidence.

· Oversee AR aging reviews, payment application, manual invoicing, credit memos, adjustments, write-offs, cash receipts and invoice or cash-posting uploads.

· Review journal entries and supporting schedules for completeness, accuracy, coding, debit and credit logic, approval and traceability.

· Lead accounting support for month-end and period-end close, including accruals, reclasses, reversing entries, intercompany activity and reporting preparation.

· Ensure financial data is complete and reliable across assigned entities, accounts and accounting processes.

· Lead technical analysis of exceptions, trends and root causes, providing clear conclusions and recommended actions and consulting US finance process owners where accounting-policy decisions or approvals are required.

3. Accounting Operations and Work Management

· Oversee routine accounting administration and ensure standard tasks are completed consistently and in the correct sequence.

· Manage workload across reconciliations, data preparation, system uploads, transaction research, journal support, accounts receivable and reporting activities.

· Ensure source documents, transaction references, account codes, periods, debit and credit indicators and amounts are validated before processing.

· Coordinate deadlines and dependencies across source systems, subledgers, bank data and the general ledger.

· Ensure unresolved differences, missing information and system issues are logged, assigned and followed through to closure.

· Maintain adequate coverage for critical accounting activities, close periods and planned absence.

4. Quality, Controls and Governance

· Apply maker-checker and quality-control requirements to reconciliations, journal entries, uploads, reports and supporting schedules.

· Maintain current standard operating procedures, process maps, control evidence, review checklists and accounting issue logs.

· Confirm that work is review-ready, traceable and supported by disciplined spreadsheet design and retained source documentation.

· Ensure access, approval, segregation-of-duties and evidence-retention requirements are followed across the team.

· Support internal and external audit requests, control testing and evidence production.

· Identify control gaps, recurring defects and root causes and implement practical corrective and preventive actions.

· Protect confidential financial, banking, payroll, employee and client information in accordance with ADEC and client requirements.

5. People Management and Capability Development

· Set clear objectives and expectations for Accounting Administrators, providing regular coaching, feedback and recognition.

· Conduct structured one-to-one discussions, probation support, performance conversations and development planning in line with ADEC policy.

· Assess proficiency by accounting process and task complexity, maintain skills matrices and build cross-training and succession coverage.

· Lead technical coaching and partner with training, quality and US finance colleagues to close knowledge gaps and improve first-time-right performance.

· Support recruitment, onboarding, nesting and readiness assessment for new Accounting Team members.

· Manage day-to-day attendance, conduct, performance and team wellbeing within ADEC policy and delegated authority, involving HR and the Senior Supervisor where formal action or higher-risk decisions require approval. Promote professional conduct, ethical accounting practice and accountability for client outcomes.

6. Client Partnership and Stakeholder Management

· Act as the day-to-day accounting counterpart to the US finance team, owning assigned deliverables and resolving service, accounting and control issues directly within agreed authority.

· Provide US finance stakeholders and the Senior Supervisor with concise status reporting covering delivery, quality, close readiness, backlog, risks, dependencies and actions, maintaining direct communication without routing routine updates through the Senior Supervisor.

· Lead issue resolution with the relevant US finance process owner or ADEC support function, presenting analysis, recommendations and clear ownership through to closure.

· Manage expectations transparently and escalate risks before they affect agreed deadlines or financial reporting.

· Embed the Accounting Team in the client’s US finance ways of working, aligning with its close calendar, accounting policies, reporting expectations and communication routines while maintaining agreed controls and delegated authority.

7. Continuous Improvement and Transition

· Identify opportunities to simplify accounting workflows, reduce manual effort, strengthen controls and improve reporting effectiveness.

· Use defect, rework and exception trends to prioritise process improvements and targeted coaching.

· Support transition, knowledge transfer, documentation, stabilisation and controlled migration of additional accounting activities into the Nairobi team.

· Ensure new work is introduced only with appropriate procedures, training, access, controls, quality checks and acceptance criteria.

· Track agreed improvements and confirm that changes produce sustainable operational benefits.

Required Qualifications and Experience

· Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance or a related discipline.

· CPA, ACCA, ACA or an equivalent recognised professional accounting qualification is strongly preferred; substantially qualified candidates with relevant public-accounting experience may also be considered.

· Professional experience gained within a Big 4 firm or another recognised public accounting, audit, assurance or accounting-advisory practice is highly desirable.

· Demonstrated hands-on experience in general accounting, reconciliations, journal entries, month-end close, accounts receivable, variance analysis and financial controls.

· Experience reviewing the work of junior accounting or audit colleagues, coordinating assignments, coaching team members and delivering against demanding deadlines.

· Evidence of readiness to directly supervise Accounting Administrators in an operational environment; experience as an audit senior, senior accountant, in-charge or acting team lead is particularly relevant, while previous formal line-management experience is advantageous but not essential.

· Experience identifying accounting errors, control weaknesses and financial-reporting risks and communicating findings clearly to client or senior stakeholders.

· Confidence working with structured accounting data, including dates, transaction references, account codes, debit and credit indicators and amounts.

· Ability to review underlying data and produce or validate clear balance-sheet and P&L-style summaries.

· Strong Excel capability, including advanced formulas, pivot tables, reconciliations, structured analysis and review-ready workbook design.

· Strong written and verbal English communication, with the ability to explain accounting issues clearly to remote stakeholders.

· Demonstrated ownership, sound judgment, ethical conduct and the ability to manage competing deadlines.

Preferred Experience

· Experience with Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG or another established public accounting firm, including audit, assurance, accounting advisory or outsourced-accounting work.

· Familiarity with IFRS and awareness of US GAAP differences.

· Exposure to multi-entity, multi-bank and multi-currency accounting environments.

· Experience with ERP, general-ledger, accounts-receivable, banking, payroll, ticketing and reporting platforms.

· Exposure to engagement management, audit-quality disciplines, control testing, root-cause analysis or remediation planning that can be transferred into an operational service environment.

· BPO, shared-services or outsourced-finance experience is advantageous but not essential; candidates able to translate public-accounting discipline into operational leadership are encouraged to apply.

Leadership and Behavioural Competencies

· Technical credibility: applies strong accounting logic and gives practical, evidence-based direction.

· People leadership: sets expectations, manages performance, coaches effectively and builds capability across different experience levels.

· Operational discipline: plans work, controls deadlines, maintains evidence and follows through on commitments.

· Risk awareness: recognises financial, access and control risks and escalates appropriately.

· Client partnership: operates as an extension of the client’s US finance team, takes ownership of shared accounting priorities, communicates proactively and delivers reliable outcomes.

· Continuous improvement: addresses root causes and improves process efficiency without weakening controls.

· Integrity and confidentiality: demonstrates sound judgment when handling sensitive financial and client information.

Measures of Success

· Accurate and timely completion of assigned accounting deliverables and close activities.

· Quality-review results, first-time-right performance and reduction in repeat defects or rework.

· Controlled backlog, timely exception resolution and effective escalation of risks and dependencies.

· Compliance with procedures, approvals, segregation of duties, documentation and evidence requirements.

· Accounting Administrator proficiency, cross-training coverage, attendance, engagement and readiness for additional scope.

· Timely resolution of technical accounting issues, well-supported judgments and effective direct coordination with US finance process owners, with escalation limited to matters requiring higher authority.

· Confidence from the client’s US finance team and the Senior Supervisor in the Accounting Team’s ownership, integration, reliability, responsiveness, technical quality and communication.

· Delivery of sustainable accounting process and control improvements.

Working Requirements

· Based on-site in central Nairobi, Kenya, subject to ADEC workplace arrangements.

· Ability to maintain sufficient working-hour overlap with US stakeholders and support critical close and reporting deadlines when required.

· Role-dependent access to financial, banking, payroll and accounting systems will be granted only in accordance with approved controls and segregation-of-duties requirements.

· The duties listed are representative. Accounting scope may evolve as services transition and mature, subject to appropriate training, documentation, controls and client approval.