Assistant Financial Controller

Our mission We're making Africa the first cashless continent. In 2017, over half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa had no bank account. That's for good reason—the fees are too high, the closest branch can be miles away, and nobody takes cards. Without access to financial institutions, people are forced to keep their savings under the mattress. Small business owners rely on lenders who charge extortionate rates. Parents spend hours waiting in line to pay school fees in cash. We're solving this by building financial services that just work: no account fees, instantly available, and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads don't always work, you can still send money with Wave. In 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments. Now, we have millions of users across 9 countries and are growing fast. Our goal is to make Africa the first cashless continent and that's where you come in... How you'll help us achieve it Wave is now the largest financial institution in Senegal, with over 7 million users. And we're still in the early days of our product roadmap and potential impact on people's everyday lives. We’re looking for a finance professional who’s resourceful, organised, and proactive about getting things done. You'll be responsible for helping develop and maintain an effective financial and accounting unit as we rapidly scale our business in Malawi. In this role, you'll; Represent the Finance unit towards external stakeholders: Review and monitor company financial transactions Represent the Finance unit towards external stakeholders Comply with financial, legal and regulatory requirements by studying existing and new legislation, enforcing adherence to requirements, and advising on needed actions. Maintain accounting controls by preparing and recommending policies and procedures. Manage the external auditor relationship and ensure the organisation is compliant with accounting standards Oversee the Finance team: Recruit, train, mentor and develop staff. Interact with Product Managers to ensure new products are correctly designed from both accounting and tax perspectives Lead by living Wave's values, and ensure they're deeply ingrained within your team. Key details Location: You'll work from our office in Lilongwe and may travel to field locations. Work authorisation in Malawi is required. This is a permanent position. Our salaries are competitive and calculated using a transparent formula. We run performance reviews twice a year and award bonuses to strong performers who have been with the company for more than 6 months. We offer generous health insurance for yourself and your dependents. We support working parents - we offer 26 weeks of parental leave for mothers and 4 weeks for fathers, in addition to subsidised child care when they return to work. Airtime reimbursement. Free food and a beautiful office space. Requirements Master’s degree in Accounting or Finance. Minimum of 8 years of experience in Auditing/Accounting/Finance. Experience with financial reporting requirements in Malawi. Experience managing tax audits. Exceptional time management, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Great interpersonal communication and leadership skills, with the ability to communicate and manage staff. Ability to lead by example and demonstrate a strong sense of integrity, ethics and dependability. Professional written and oral communication skills. Good computer skills, especially in Word and Google Sheets/Excel. Experience in an audit firm will be an added advantage. You might be a good fit if you Possesses strong accounting and reporting skills. Are excessively detail-oriented and seek to achieve excellence in everything you do. Are a critical thinker who likes to challenge the status quo. Are deadline-orientated. Are intellectually curious, creative in the way you go about tackling problems, and embrace failure as a means to spark innovati…