Senior Manager - Program Finance

About Evidence Action

At Evidence Action, we deliver data-driven interventions that transform lives at an unprecedented scale. We identify neglected global health issues and deploy proven solutions, forging healthier futures for generations.

Our model operationalizes leading academic research (including from Nobel-winning economists). We measure progress and outcomes at every stage to ensure we’re making a real impact for people living in poverty and suffering from preventable or treatable health issues. Operating across 11 countries, our team of 900+ has reached over 500 million people, working closely with governments to scale these interventions.

• Our Deworm the World program has delivered over 2 billion treatments, significantly reducing worm prevalence and generating more than $23 billion in lifetime productivity gains. 
• Through Safe Water Now, we’ve saved the lives of over 15,000 children. 
• Our Accelerator explores untapped opportunities in global health, testing low-cost interventions with the greatest potential to save and improve lives. 

At Evidence Action, your colleagues are your greatest asset. You'll partner with high-caliber colleagues in an environment blending innovation, autonomy, and teamwork. Our team excels in disruptive thinking and believes in rolling up our sleeves to get things done. If you're looking to work flexibly and with purpose, join a team that delivers measurable change for millions.

About the Role

The Senior Manager, Program Finance, will be the lead financial partner for Syphilis-Free Start (SFS) as the program prepares for multi-country expansion while managing its current portfolio. Through our Syphilis-Free Start (SFS) program, our aim is to close syphilis screening gaps via the introduction of HIV/syphilis dual testing and to close treatment gaps by implementing strategies to address context-specific treatment barriers for women who test positive for syphilis. The role will build the financial models and processes that help leaders compare operating models, understand costs and funding needs, and adjust plans when financial or operational constraints emerge.

As a member of the Program Finance team, the Senior Manager reports to the Associate Director, Program Finance and works closely with SFS global and country leadership and colleagues across regional finance, Accounting, Grants and Compliance, Growth, Operations, Legal, Procurement, People and Culture, and Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation. The role leads SFS planning, budgeting, country-entry finance, grant financial management, and decision support.

Success in this role means SFS leaders can compare country and partner models, understand their full cost and funding exposure, and make timely decisions using a reliable financial view. We are looking for a finance professional who can connect sound analysis to program decisions and work effectively across functions, countries, and cultures. Relevant experience can be gained in different ways. If you meet most of the qualifications and believe you can succeed in the role, we encourage you to apply.

This role is expected to start in January 2027.

Key Responsibilities

• Shape Financial Strategy and Plans
• Build and maintain multi-year financial models that connect program design, country sequencing, staffing, implementation timing, delivery models, and funding.
• Compare country and partner models, including direct delivery, technical assistance, co-implementation, local partners, fiscal agents, and subcontracting.
• Analyze delivery costs, one-time entry costs, shared and indirect costs, cost recovery, affordability, funding runway, and multi-year commitments. Present options when plans exceed available funding or create material obligations.
• Lead annual budgets, forecasts, revisions, and scenarios that show the trade-offs created by changes in geography, timing, staffing, or scope.
  
• Develop Proposals and Funding Strategies
• Lead financial development of multi-country proposals and partner budgets. Translate program assumptions into credible cost structures and models that can be adapted to donor formats.
• Advise SFS leadership, Program Finance, Growth, and Grants and Compliance on donor restrictions, cost recovery, flexible-funding needs, and the commitments created by proposed terms. Prepare financial narratives, analyses, and due diligence responses.
• Establish consistent SFS standards for proposal budgets, cost drivers, documentation, and review in alignment with Program Finance approaches.
  
• Design Finance for Country Entry and Partnerships
• Define the finance workstream for each prospective country and delivery model, including decisions, responsibilities, dependencies, timelines, and readiness requirements.
• Assess and design financial arrangements for fiscal agents, implementing partners, subrecipients, and other third parties. Cover due diligence, budgets, payment and cash-flow design, reporting, reconciliation, controls, approvals, escalation, and transition.
• Identify financial and operational constraints before commitments are made, present feasible options with their cost and risk implications, and create tools and guidance that can be adapted across countries.
  
• Manage SFS Finances and Work Across Teams
• Create consistent budget structures, activity coding, and reporting categories across the portfolio, linked to the chart of accounts and planning system.
• Lead regular financial reviews for each country and grant, covering actuals, forecasts, funding runway, material variances, risks, decisions, and follow-up actions.
• Oversee donor financial reporting and grant closeout with Accounting and Grants and Compliance.
• Serve as the day-to-day finance partner to SFS leadership. Coordinate assumptions, responsibilities, deadlines, and decisions across teams; communicate financial findings clearly; and build colleagues' financial capability through practical tools and guidance.

Requirements

• You hold a bachelor's degree in a relevant field and at least 6 years of related experience.

• You have led financial planning, analysis, and management for complex programs, portfolios, or business units with multiple budgets, funding streams, stakeholders, and planning horizons.
•  You have built and adapted multi-year forecasts, scenarios, and cost-driver models in Excel as assumptions change.
• You can  translate program and operating assumptions into budgets and recommendations;  explaining costs, risks, and tradeoffs to senior leaders.
• You hold a working knowledge of restricted-grant management, proposal budgets, donor financial reporting, cost recovery, indirect and shared costs, internal controls, and financial risk management.
• You have experience assessing partner budgets and financial capacity or designing financial arrangements for partners, subrecipients, fiscal agents, or other third parties.
• You have improved financial processes across teams while managing concurrent workstreams, including identifying dependencies and raising risks or capacity constraints early.
• You are able to work across a matrixed, multi-country organization to support both centralized and field-based teams.

Location

The preferred base for this role is Washington, DC, though we are open to those working remotely within the US. This role works across time zones and may travel to program locations up to 10 percent of the time. 

We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of a U.S. employment visa at this time. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. for roles based in the U.S.

Benefits

The expected role range for this US position is listed below. We consider multiple factors when determining the base salary for a role, including but not limited to: role scope, program budgets, internal equity, and a candidate’s qualifications and/or prior experience.

Note: Pay and benefits will be commensurate with the role specifications, local statutory requirements, and the cost of labor in the markets where we operate. 

The expected pay range for this full-time role is $98,700 - $ 110,000 per year.

For US-based roles, Evidence Action provides comprehensive benefits including international health care, HSA/FSA options, life insurance, disability coverage, retirement plans with a matching component, generous and flexible leave options, as well as other employee perks on a reimbursement basis. For more information, visit our careers page or ask our recruiting team!

Evidence Action is an Equal Opportunity Employer with a commitment to diversity. All individuals, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply.