Financial Management Consultant

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The USAID/Jordan Business Growth Activity (USAID BGA) is enabling Jordan’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups to improve their productivity and competitiveness, create new jobs and innovations within various sectors, and advance Jordan towards a more prosperous, resilient, and inclusive future. Through a series of evidence-based interventions, the USAID BGA supports these enterprises with direct firm-level assistance and broad-based capacity building programs to mobilize millions in capital and address constraints through advocacy and public-private dialogue that complements USAID’s policy reform initiatives. The activity strives to allow growth-oriented SMEs to reach new markets and buyers, increase collaboration along value chains, and improve efficiency and quality to meet demand. The activity is empowering these enterprises to access tailored and competitively priced debt, equity, and new hybrid financial products to operate within a more responsive business environment better informed by public-private dialogue and advocacy. This will allow SMEs to engage women, youth, and persons with disabilities and increase sales, exports, and broad-based job creation.

USAID BGA Technical Team

USAID BGA aims to improve the financial management practice of SMEs and startups to improve their financial health, readiness for investment and bankability. The USAID BGA technical team will work with the help of consultants to maximize companies’ cash flow, improve their cost accounting, analyze debt-to-equity structures, and help the companies examine their financial management practices to identify means by which to improve the financial health of the companies.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting directly to the Financial Transactions Unit Director, the Financial Management Consultant will work directly with startups and SMEs that have already been identified by and engaged through USAID BGA’s Financial Transaction Unit and Competitiveness Unit and that are seeking technical assistance with understanding or improving their financial performance. Based on analysis of company information and discussions with its ownership and/or management, the Financial Management Consultant will be responsible for providing aspects of this technical assistance directly to the startups and SMEs.

Potential Specific Responsibilities:

1. Conduct kick-off meetings with SMEs and the USAID BGA team to present and agree upon the best model for project implementation.

2. Identify needed records, documents, and related stakeholder information to be used for recommending appropriate courses of actions throughout the assignment.

3. Review historical financial recordkeeping and operational performance, recommending changes to cost accounting methods.

4. Refine revenue and expense data capture to include details relevant to advanced budgeting and/or customer and vendor/supplier management.

5. Review existing capital structure and recommend changes.

6. Conduct operational efficiency analysis and assessments and provide recommendations of refined workflow measures to be adopted and deployed that would result in cost savings, optimized resource allocation, and/or enhancements to revenue streams.

7. Assist with budgeting realistic operational expenses and capital expenditures in a replicable manner that allows for the creation of financial projections that identify future funding gaps.

8. Assess current state of, and provide recommendations for improvements in, financial management – more specifically, managerial accounting, working capital management, and cash flow optimization – including review of existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and manuals for receivables and payables management and inventory management.

9. Closely analyze the cash conversion cycle in relation to deployed policies, production capacity, and profitability of top line composition.

10. Conduct sum of the parts valuation (SOTP).

11. Utilize scatter analysis for collected data and provide relational plot narrative.

12. Make recommendations and/or facilitate implementation of financial management software solutions, which may include accounting and related recordkeeping (e.g., QuickBooks) and e-Commerce payment systems.

Potential Specific Deliverables

1. Action plan, after kick-off meeting, with activities description, objectives, and dates needed to implement the consultancy.
2. Data collected, analyzed, and tabulated in excel format.
3. Operational efficiency exercise checklist comprised of set of questions targeting sales, operations, production, storage, pricing, purchases, etc. as applicable to the specific industry. The checklist would need to be approved by USAID BGA before being used in meetings.
4. Analysis reports including but not limited to narrative, ratio and financial analysis, risk analyses and profiles, findings, recommendations, with supporting figures and charts.
5. Monthly and/or ad-hoc reports on the progress on assignments.

Skills

Preferred Qualifications

1. Proven technical skills in business, operational and financial analysis.
2. Ability to construct financial models and conduct cash flow analysis and projections.
3. Ability to perform workflow analysis as tied to operational analysis and efficiency.
4. Demonstrated advanced computer literacy skills; Word and PowerPoint skills are essential.
5. Strong fluency in Excel functions.
6. Excellent communication and reporting skills and ability draft reports.
7. Proven ability to work in a multicultural context as a flexible and respectful team player with a positive attitude.
8. Excellent organizational skills, with ability to determine priorities and work independently.
9. Capable of working under pressure to meet deadlines.
10. Fluency in written and oral Arabic and English skills.
11. Academic credentials in the fields of finance, economics, or accounting.
12. Professional certifications such as CMA, CPA, and CFA are considered a plus.
13. Demonstrated experience of at least 12 years.

Application:

Only the most qualified and suitable candidates will be invited to interviews. Interested qualified individuals may submit their application by 19 September, 2022. No phone calls will be accepted to inquire about the consultancy.

Disclaimer

FMI is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer whereby we do not engage in practices that discriminate against any person employed or seeking employment based on race, color, religion, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law.

FMI will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws.

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