Senior Associate, Finance at Babban Gona

About the job

• This is a builder role. The right person does not wait for a perfect system to exist - they create it. Senior Associate, Finance will lead financial reporting that satisfies local compliance and international standards without compromise, build the internal controls that make that reporting trustworthy under audit, and become the person leadership turns to when they need to understand what the numbers actually mean for the next decision they have to make.

In 18 Months, You Will Have

• Built a single reporting framework that satisfies Nigerian regulatory requirements and international donor/investor standards — without duplicate work or last-minute scrambling.
• Cut the time between month-end close and leadership having usable financial insight — from a lagging report to a decision-making tool.
• Designed and embedded internal controls that pass external audits cleanly and give investors real confidence in Babban Gona’s financial discipline.
• Built and developed a small reporting team capable of running this function with rigour, even when you are not in the room.
• Become the person leadership calls first when a financial question needs a real answer, not just a number.

What You Will Own
Financial Reporting

• Lead the preparation of accurate, timely financial reports that meet both Nigerian regulatory standards and the reporting expectations of international donors and investors.
• Own the month-end and year-end close process — driving it toward speed and accuracy, not just eventual completion.

Strategic Financial Partnership

• Partner directly with the Head of Finance and senior leadership to translate financial data into insight that informs real decisions — on capital deployment, operational priorities, and growth strategy.
• Proactively flag financial trends, risks, and opportunities before leadership has to ask.

Internal Controls & Compliance

• Design and strengthen internal controls that reduce error, prevent compliance breaches, and hold up under external audit scrutiny.
• Build and document processes that make financial reporting repeatable and resilient — not dependent on institutional memory.

Requirements
Who We're Looking For:

• 7–10 years of experience in financial reporting, accounting, or audit — including time in a senior or managerial capacity.
• Professional accounting qualification (ACA, ACCA, CPA, or equivalent).
• Demonstrated experience reporting under both Nigerian GAAP/local standards and IFRS or donor-aligned international standards.
• Strong track record designing or strengthening internal controls.
• Experience managing or mentoring a team.
• Excellent communication skills — able to translate technical financial detail into insight leadership can use.
• Familiarity with financial systems and reporting tools beyond Excel.
• Experience operating in a fast-scaling or decentralised, multi-site organisation.

The Right Mindset

• Treat accuracy as non-negotiable, but never let perfectionism slow down a decision leadership needs to make today.
• See process and controls as protection, not paperwork — the thing that lets the organisation move fast without breaking trust.
• Take ownership of a problem the moment they see it, rather than waiting to be asked.
• Build for the team that comes after them — documenting, training, and creating systems that outlast any one person.
• Want their financial judgment to directly shape decisions that affect smallholder farmers, not just satisfy an audit checklist.