Chief Financial Officer

About WeForest

WeForest is an international NGO headquartered in Brussels with teams and projects across Africa and Latin America – with a focus on its entities in Zambia, Ethiopia, and Malawi.

The aim of WeForest is to demonstrate, through the restoration of entire regions, that well-planned reforestation can be the solution to today’s biggest challenge: climate change. This is done by promoting Forest and Landscape Restoration best practices and through the creation of a global movement engaging brands, and their customers to act toward their aims.

Job Summary

Location:

Within a distance that would allow attendance in the Brussels head office circa 3-4 days a month.

This attendance would be needs based and aligned and planned with other senior staff (specifically the CEO) to ensure adequate senior interaction and leadership discussions.

Salary:

EUR 100,000-110,000 (Dependent on residency and working arrangement).

Direct Reports:

Group Controlling, Audit and Compliance Director, Senior Finance Advisor, Senior Finance Manager (P/T), Financial Project Controller, Accounting Assistant (P/T), Finance Assistant.

NB: In-country finance directors have a dotted line relationship with the CFO.

Benefits:

Benefits are defined for employees residing in Belgium, France and Netherlands but may change based on a different country of residence. For Belgium, France and the Netherlands, details can be provided on request.

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WeForest seeks an accomplished and passionate Chief Financial Officer to join their senior team and provide leadership to WeForest. The CFO will be instrumental in ensuring the highest quality of business operations, driving efficiency and effectiveness, as well as providing financial, risk management and governance leadership. They will provide leadership at the highest levels of the organisation and be a key contributor to the evolution of the organisation’s growth strategy. The CFO will oversee multiple teams based in Belgium and across the globe.

Strategic Leadership for Future Growth

• Collaborate with the executive team to finalize and implement a 10-year strategic plan, focusing on key areas such as carbon certification, sustainable business models, geographical expansion, and organizational structure.
• Lead the creation of scalable business models (including revenue models for project-based initiatives, carbon credits, and livelihood improvements) to enhance WeForest’s appeal to sponsors and ensure long-term sustainability.
• Establish sales targets and spearhead growth initiatives to foster a performance-driven culture.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to the CEO and executive team, offering insights and recommendations on operational and financial strategies that influence the organization’s overall direction.

Financial Leadership

• Oversee financial operations and ensure robust financial oversight across all country offices, implementing risk management frameworks and internal controls to empower local operations while maintaining accountability.
• Lead the annual budgeting process, aligning financial projections with strategic priorities and program objectives.
• Oversee external and internal audit processes, ensuring compliance with financial regulations and standards while promoting transparency and accountability.

Operational Efficiency & Back-End Alignment

• Lead the integration and optimization of back-end processes across all entities, ensuring efficiency and alignment in legal, contractual, bidding, pricing, IT systems, and GDPR compliance.
• Drive the standardization of performance KPIs for sales, resource allocation, and operational efficiency, establishing systems for continuous improvement and monitoring.
• Foster a culture of high performance and accountability, promoting effective communication and collaboration across teams and geographies.

Risk Management & Governance

• Develop and implement a comprehensive risk management framework, proactively identifying, mitigating, and resolving operational, financial, and compliance risks.
• Ensure governance structures are effective, aligning policies and procedures with strategic priorities and the organization’s risk profile.
• Manage legal compliance and regulatory requirements across WeForest’s global operations to safeguard the organization’s integrity.

WeForest are looking for an accomplished and experienced individual able to fulfill the role of Chief Financial Officer. Highly experienced at leading and overseeing the functions of finance, legal, compliance and risk, and other business services (i.e. IT), this individual will come with a passion for environmental sustainability, preferably from an organisation with this focus or similar.

The individual will be an emotionally intelligent leader, able to model effective organisational values provide direction and advisory on strategy and organisational development and bring fresh leadership capacity to the organisation as it grows and develops. WeForest are looking for an individual who can work effectively with senior leadership peers, guide departmental leads and country offices, and, more broadly, inspire and motivate all staff. The organisation seeks someone who can lead, advise, guide and manage to a level in line with the aspirations of the organisation and the urgency of its mission.

Experience and Knowledge

• Experience of successfully leading at executive or board level. At least 10 years of professional experience in a senior finance and operations leadership role, with demonstrated success in managing teams, office operations, and budgets at a regional level.
• Knowledge and experience of the not-for-profit sector, preferably of non-government organisations in the sustainability, environment or conservation specialism.
• Experience of organisational strategy development and the development of effective resourcing and operational planning to meet this.
• Experience of entity compliance and risk management and leadership/oversight of functions in a similarly sized organisation, or larger.
• Proven experience in supporting resource mobilization, including strategy development, multi-channel fundraising, and effective donor management and reporting. Familiarity with corporate partnerships in a non-profit environment is preferred. Additionally, experience in working with donors, grant reporting, and fund accounting in an international context is essential
• Commitment to WeForest’s mission and values, with a desire to contribute to global efforts to combat climate change and protect biodiversity

Skills

• Exceptional financial management skills with an advanced degree in business administration or similar, accounting, finance, or related field (CPA or MBA preferred)
• Strong understanding of compliance, accounting principles and financial analysis
• Outstanding analytical skills for strategic planning
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders

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