Organization: Silverleaf Academy Ltd

Location: Silverleaf Academy Network, Arusha, Tanzania

Position: Finance Manager

Role type: Executive Leadership | Full-time

Contract duration: 2 years (renewable)

Reports to: MD

Direct reports: Finance Associates

Organization overview

Silverleaf Academy is a fast-growing education platform building a scalable network of high-quality, affordable private schools across Tanzania, serving lower-middle-income families. Silverleaf exists to demonstrate that excellent education, grounded in strong learning outcomes, inclusive practice, and whole-child development, can be delivered sustainably at scale.

Silverleaf has built a strong reputation for disciplined execution, data-informed leadership, and a distinctive school culture, delivering solid academic outcomes with a sharp focus on foundational literacy, numeracy, and life skills, supported by technology-enabled learning and continuous improvement.

We are now entering a pivotal scale phase, targeting growth from 5 to 30 schools over a 5-year horizon beginning in 2026. This expansion includes entry into multiple regions, the launch of Secondary education and a Teacher Training College, and rapid enrollment growth from 1,200 to over 10,000 learners. This scale introduces increasing complexity across capital planning, governance, and risk management and demands a finance leader who is a true strategic architect.

Role overview

The Finance Manager is a core member of Silverleaf’s Executive Leadership Team and the organisation’s principal architect of financial strategy, long-term financial sustainability, and enterprise-wide performance. This is not a traditional accounting or compliance role. It is a strategy-led finance leadership position for an individual who combines the analytical rigour of a Finance Manager with the commercial instinct of a growth investor.

As Silverleaf blends philanthropic funding, equity and debt financing to fuel its expansion, the Finance Manager must be deeply fluent in capital structure strategy — including but not limited to the implications of each financing instrument on growth objectives, investor dilution, governance rights, and long-term organisational ownership. The right candidate will help Silverleaf raise capital smartly, not just adequately.

The Finance Manager will ensure that financial insight drives operational decision-making at every level: translating complex data into clear strategy, trade-offs, and recommendations that enable Silverleaf to scale responsibly while protecting quality, impact, and the mission.

Key responsibilities

1. Enterprise financial strategy & scale architecture

• Lead the refinement of Silverleaf’s 10-year financial forecasting and expansion model, ensuring its alignment with the Board-approved growth plan.

• Lead the development and maintenance of dynamic organisation-wide and discrete multi-scenario financial models (base, upside, downside, stress) to support leadership and Board-level decisions.

• Translate the expansion strategy into a clear multi-year capital funding strategy, developing the most efficient capital structure for each discrete operating asset (e.g., school) and the collective organization (e.g., parent company).

• Advise the MD and Board on the appropriate pace of operational growth, taking into consideration all forms of risk (e.g. macroeconomic, operational, regulatory, etc.). In connection with this duty, the Finance Manager will lead the creation and presentation of risk-adjusted scenario planning.

• Lead the financial aspects of all activities associated with Silver Leaf’s pre and post-merger acquisition strategy (e.g., financing analysis, capital deployment, etc.).

• Facilitate, along with the leadership team, a pricing strategy for each product offering (e.g., academic services/tuition, busing, food services, boarding, etc.) that helps to ensure the school’s service offerings are viable (i.e., meet the target profitability) on a standalone basis.

2. Capital strategy, fundraising & shareholding dilution management

• Design and actively manage Silverleaf’s capital structure strategy across the various forms of capital types (e.g., philanthropic grants, debt, equity) utilised by the Organization.

• Analyse and define the long-term implications of each capital raise on (among other things) shareholder ownership and dilution, as well as governance rights and composition, ensuring the MD, Board and current shareholders understand (with full clarity) the shareholder-oriented implications associated with every proposed funding round and acquisition.

• Develop and maintain an up-to-date and forward-looking cap table that reflects current ownership holdings as well as prospective dilution scenarios for future financing rounds.

• Advise on the optimal financing sequencing; in particular, when and to what degree the Organization and its underlying assets should take on the right proportion of grant, equity, and debt funding and relatedly how best to structure financing across those various financial instruments in a way that preserves the Organization’s mission while in balance, maximising shareholder returns and rights.

• Partner with the MD on developing and maintaining investor and lender relationships, negotiating term sheets, due diligence management, and closing processes.

• Ensure capital is deployed efficiently in connection with acquired assets during the growth years to ensure actual activities meet the projected expectations of the Organization (e.g., its Board and shareholders).

3. Budgeting & cashflow management

• Develop and manage the Organization’s consolidated annual budgets as well as facilitate the creation of the discrete budgets for each underlying asset.

• Manage the monthly, quarterly, and annual cashflow needs of the consolidated Organization and its underlying assets (e.g., underlying schools).

• Establish and monitor enterprise-level financial KPIs, including but not limited to revenues, profitability, liquidity, unit economics, and return on invested capital.

• Shift financial reporting from backwards-looking compliance to forward-looking decision support, giving leadership real-time visibility into what matters.

4. Finance systems, process automation & financial reporting

• Lead the design and implementation of financial management systems and processes capable of supporting the growth ambitions of the Organization.

• Lead the automation of routine finance tasks, including payroll processing, fee collection reconciliation, procurement workflows, and statutory reporting, to free the team for higher-value work.

• Standardise financial operations, the chart of accounts, and reporting structures across all schools and the enterprise.

• Build real-time dashboards and data pipelines that give the MD and campus leaders instant visibility into financial health.

• Align finance systems with broader enterprise data (enrollment, HR, operations, academic outcomes) to support integrated business intelligence.

• Evaluate and implement appropriate ERP, school management, or accounting platforms suited for a growing multi-site network.

• Produce Board and Leadership-ready financial reports and narratives that articulate current financial realities as well as prospective realities and communicate complex scenarios with clarity and confidence.

5. Governance, risk & financial integrity

• Strengthen enterprise-wide governance, internal controls, and financial risk management appropriate for a 30-campus organisation.

• Ensure full statutory, tax, and regulatory compliance across all entities.

• Lead external audits and Board Finance Committee engagements with confidence and clarity.

• Mitigate financial risks associated, including but not limited to foreign exchange, regulatory and compliance.

• Develop and maintain a risk register and scenario-based contingency planning framework.

6. Leadership, team development & financial culture

• Build and lead a high-performing finance team capable of supporting a complex, scaled organisation, recruiting, retaining, and developing strong talent.

• Shift the finance function from transactional execution to strategic partnership, embedded across all business functions.

• Build financial literacy across non-finance leaders to strengthen ownership, cost discipline, and accountability at every level.

• Model calm, decisive, and disciplined leadership during high-growth and high-pressure phases.

• Foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and cost-effectiveness throughout the organisation.

Qualifications & experience

Education & professional certification

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree required in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field and a Master’s degree strongly preferred.

• CPA, ACCA, CIMA, or equivalent professional qualification required.

Experience

• Minimum 8 years of progressive finance leadership, including senior-level Finance Manager or equivalent strategic responsibility.

• Demonstrated experience designing capital structures across multiple instruments — including equity, impact debt, grants, and blended finance.

• Proven track record in building and managing cap table models, advising on dilution strategy, and structuring investment rounds.

• Experience in multi-site, growth-stage, or mission-driven environments strongly preferred.

• Deep familiarity with Tanzanian statutory, tax, and regulatory frameworks.

• Track record of implementing finance systems and automation at scale.

• Experience presenting to and engaging with Boards, investors, and lenders at an executive level.

Technical skills

• Advanced financial modelling proficiency (Excel/Google Sheets; experience with scenario and sensitivity analysis required).

• Familiarity with ERP and accounting systems (e.g., QuickBooks or equivalent).

• Strong command of data visualisation and dashboard tools.

• Exceptional ability to communicate complex financial concepts clearly to Boards and non-financial leaders.

Values

The Finance Manager is expected to embody and promote Silverleaf’s core values:

1. Lead the Way: Demonstrate integrity, accountability, and servant leadership.

2. Speak, Listen and Learn: Engage openly, collaborate deeply, and learn continuously.

3. Ask Why and Why Not: Challenge assumptions and pursue better ways of working.

4. Build for the Future: Make decisions that strengthen Silverleaf for the long term.

5. Mission Focus: Balance financial discipline with unwavering commitment to student outcomes.

Why this role matters

This is a rare opportunity to help build an institution, not just manage numbers. Silverleaf’s ambition is to become a nationally recognised, financially sustainable education platform that proves the model for quality, affordable schooling at scale across Tanzania.

The Finance Manager who joins at this stage will have direct influence over the financial architecture, ownership structure, and strategic direction of a mission-driven organisation at an inflection point. This is a role for someone who wants to make a lasting mark — and who understands that getting the financial foundations right now is what makes the mission possible for decades to come.

Method of Application