Senior Finance Officer

Department: Finance

Grade: C

Reports to: Chief Finance Officer (CFO)

Location: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan / Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Deadline: 26 January 2026

Purpose of the Role

Senior Finance Officer will oversee financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and analysis processes to support strategic decision-making across UCA. This role ensures accurate financial insights, compliance with internal policies, and alignment with institutional objectives. The Senior Finance Officer will be responsible for the areas of CAO Treasury and Tekeli Operations.

Why Join UCA?

• Impactful Teaching and Research: Contribute to an academic institution that is dedicated to fostering innovation and development in Central Asia and beyond.
• Collaboration and Growth: Be part of a diverse, interdisciplinary academic environment, with opportunities for collaboration and research across multiple fields of societal relevance.
• Regional Leadership: Lead the development of innovative solutions to regional challenges in climate adaptation, sustainable development, technology, data science, and digital policy.
• Support for Female Scholars: UCA is deeply committed to supporting all scholars in all fields, providing opportunities to further advance gender equity in academia.

Key Responsibilities

1. Budgeting & Forecasting

• Lead annual and mid-year budget forecasts in coordination with academic and administrative units.
• Review schools and departments budget for accuracy and consistency with operating plan, including procurement and staff planning.
• In collaboration with budget owners, prepare accurate monthly budget phasing based on operation plan, and provide budget plan for the next four years of the five-year budget cycle of UCA.
• Develop rolling forecasts and scenario analyses to support strategic planning.
• In collaboration with CFO develop and upgrade budget and forecast guidelines, templates and timelines in compliance with the university policies and procedures.
• Collect non-financial statistics related to budgeting including but not limited to enrolment data, staff headcounts (HC), staff full-time equivalent (FTE) and others for the meaningful financial analysis of the university operations.

2. Financial Analysis and budget management

• Provide variance analysis and actionable insights on revenue, expenses, and capital projects.
• Prepare monthly and quarterly financial performance reports for MEC.
• Review and implement budget transfers after due internal process.
• Review and record external grant entries for management reporting.

3. Strategic Support

• Partner with CFO and Rector’s Office on various initiatives, including financial modelling, costing, etc.,
• Support forex analysis and forecasting.
• Support Treasury, grants, donor reporting and other finance functions as and when required.

4. Team Leadership

• Supervise PDPs and FP&A team members, ensuring timely delivery of budget transfers, reports and adherence to quality standards
• Mentor staff and build capacity for advanced financial modelling and data analytics

5. Systems & Processes

• Develop, continuously improve and oversee financial planning tools (e.g., SAP, Power BI) and ensure data integrity
• Drive process improvements for efficiency and transparency.
• In close collaboration with CFO, build budget owners, finance and other operation’s staff capacity in budget management.

6. Treasure

• Oversight of Cash for all UCA Locations (month closure process);
• Oversight of Banks for all UCA locations (month closure process);
• Revaluation for bank and cash GLs in University ERP (month closure process, quarterly);
• Change signatory card for CAO Bank (on need base);
• Managing contracts with Banks (Deposits, changing card, elsom, internet acquiring) on need basis.
• Entering HH Fund request customer invoices (operational);
• Maintain, update, and check the history of currency conversion rates for the relevant currencies daily (every morning);
• Streamline the record keeping for the transactions made through the Central Administration office (CAO) and Campuses and preparing accurate and timely financial report monthly.
• Assist in checking and verifying all payments and make final recommendation for the payment processing while ensuring compliance with the UCA financial policies and procedures and authority matrix.
• Perform and assist as needed with daily accounting operations, including cash receipts, disbursements and accruals, fixed asset purchases, operating within University’s ERP.
• Assist in compilation of UCA financial reports on periodic basis and in preparing monthly and periodic budget variance reports and other financial reports including travel, sectional report, advances and payables, etc.
• Coordinate with the external and other relevant auditors for various audit assignments for the relevant functions.
• Undertake any other assignment given by the supervisor.

7. Tekeli Campus Operations:

• Effectively check, verify and ensure compliance with the financial policies and procedures for all payments and make final recommendations for payment processing while ensuring adherence to the UCA authority matrix;
• Control of accounting systems;
• Organization of financial document flow;
• Verification of all cash substantiating vouchers of UCA;
• Verification of all cash substantiating vouchers of UCA;
• Tracking and reconciliation of the advance payments issues to workers;
• Ensure effective and accurate maintenance of fixed assets registry and coordinate periodic physical verification in accordance with the policy;
• Reflection in the financial accounting of economic transactions and creation of the corresponding financial reporting;
• Work with suppliers and contractors;
• Liaise with UCA Central Finance Office for other tasks;

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field.
• Minimum 7 years of progressive experience in FP\&A or corporate finance, with at least 3 years in a leadership role.
• Strong analytical, modelling, and presentation skills.
• Familiarity with higher education finance and donor-funded projects preferred.

Competencies

• Strategic thinking and problem-solving.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines.

Reporting & Collaboration

• Reports directly to CFO.
• Works closely with Treasury, Grants, and Compliance teams, as well as academic units.

UCA Background:

The University of Central Asia (UCA) was founded in 2000 as a private, not for profit, secular university through an International Treaty signed by the Presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV; ratified by their respective parliaments and registered with the United Nations. The Presidents are the Patrons of the University and His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V is the Chancellor. UCA’s mission is to promote the social and economic development of Central Asia, particularly its mountain communities, by offering an internationally recognized standard of higher education and enabling the peoples of the region to preserve their rich cultural heritage as assets for the future. UCA is distinguished by its three schools: the undergraduate School of Arts and Sciences (SAS), the Graduate School of Development (GSD), and the School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPCE). For more information: www.ucentralasia.org

How to Apply

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Applications will be reviewed when received. Early applications are strongly encouraged. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.