The Mérieux Foundation:
Established in 1967, the Mérieux Foundation is an independent foundation, chaired by Alain Mérieux and recognized as a public benefit organization. Its mission is to contribute to global health by strengthening local capacities in developing countries to reduce the impact of infectious diseases that affect vulnerable populations, particularly mothers and children.
With 160 employees across some fifteen countries, in France and internationally in Central and West Africa, Madagascar, Asia and the Middle East, the Mérieux Foundation structures its action around four objectives:
- Increase access to diagnosis for vulnerable populations by strengthening clinical biology laboratories in national health systems;
- Strengthening local applied research capacities through the training of researchers, the development of collaborative programs and the creation of Rodolphe Mérieux Laboratories, transferred to local actors;
- Develop the exchange of knowledge and initiatives in public health in connection with the Centre des Pensières;
- Taking action for the Mother and Child within a holistic health approach.
In Africa, FMx has:
- From a coordination team grouped within an Africa Office based in Dakar;
- From a West Africa Office which coordinates projects in Senegal, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Guinea Bissau (based in Dakar);
- From a Gulf of Guinea office which coordinates projects in Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Guinea Conacry (based in Lomé);
- From a Central Africa Office which coordinates projects in DRC, Burundi, Chad, CAR, Cameroon (based in Kinshasa).
Note that the Foundation has a physical office in some of the 14 countries mentioned above, depending on the volume of activities in the country.
- General objective of the function:
Within the Africa office of the Mérieux Foundation in Dakar, under the hierarchical supervision of the Africa Administrative & Financial Manager, the Africa Management Controller is responsible for budgetary control in the region. They provide analytical and control elements and deliver reliable financial information in accordance with the procedures of the Mérieux Foundation and its financial partners. They work closely with the Finance & Procurement Support Functions Department at headquarters.
- Main Missions:
The management controller for Africa performs the following tasks:
2.1 Budgetary and strategic management
- Ensure the development of new budgets during the call for projects phase across the entire Africa zone;
- Coordinate the loading of new budgets in the area and update their basic data in the ERP system;
- Analyze the budgetary situation of the area and support its management in strategic decisions/steering;
- Propose corrective actions to optimize the financial performance of the Mérieux Foundation;
- Supervise and validate all donor financial reports in the Africa zone;
- Coordinate in the Africa zone the conduct of the annual budgetary process (updating estimates and preparing annual budgets), ensuring compliance with deadlines, procedures and expected results;
- Propose and validate requests for budget reallocations;
- In coordination with the RAF Africa and operational teams, ensure compliance with the budgets of projects and offices in the area;
- Monitor operating costs and keep up to date the operating expense plan for the area offices;
- Project Human Resources Monitoring:
- In collaboration with the Regional Project Management Officer, support the allocation of human resources to operational projects (workload plan) and ensure their correct financial valuation in budgetary tools;
- Ensure compliance with the budgeted workload plan (monthly monitoring of time reports using the Lucca tool) and the allocation of HR costs to each resulting project;
2.2 Quality and risk management:
- Ensure compliance with the standards and procedures of the Mérieux Foundation and/or donors in terms of financial management and internal control;
- Support the implementation of management procedures and tools within the Offices (accounting procedures, budget monitoring, use of the Power BI monitoring tool);
- Improve internal control of the area in order to control financial and reputational risks, enable corrective actions and be proactive in proposing solutions to the RAF;
- Regularly monitor the cash management of the zone offices; Assist the RAF in the process of analyzing, validating and compiling periodic funding requests from the countries in the zone before transmission to headquarters;
- Pay particular attention to compliance with the overall purchasing process (supplier selection, order validation, compliance with services, archiving of supporting documents in the ERP tool, etc.);
- Track expenditures/disbursements in accordance with financial standards and procedures; verify the quality of supporting documents recorded in the ERP system;
- Coordinate the preparation of audit missions (donor or internal) and the preparation of response files and justifications requested by the auditors.
2.3 Management of financing contracts:
- In coordination with the Project Management Officer, advise the teams in the area on donor regulations and their contractual requirements and participate in the analysis of potential financial risks related to contracts;
- To ensure that commitments to donors are respected in the area;
- Contribute in the area, in collaboration with the Africa partnership officer and the headquarters partnership team, to improving the management and optimization of donor funding.
2.4 Control of public procurement:
- In coordination with the Project Management Referent, support the teams in the area in their purchasing procedure (contract award, purchase file and call for tenders) in compliance with FMx procedures;
- Contribute to continuous improvement in all aspects of procurement management.
3. Education & Experience:
- Graduate of a business school or university, specializing in finance/controlling/auditing, Master 2 level
- Successful experience of 4 years in auditing, internal control or a management controller position in the international solidarity sector, ideally
- Proficiency in French (written and spoken) and English preferred
4. Skills and qualifications:
- Skills in finance and management (including budget preparation and monitoring, financial analysis, management control)
- Proficiency in office suites and databases
- Proficiency with ERP and reporting tools (knowledge of Microsoft Business Central and Power BI would be an asset)
- Ability to prepare and present data in a pedagogical manner and adapted to the audience
- Excellent interpersonal skills and team spirit
- Rigour, courage and a sense of responsibility
- Analytical, critical thinking and synthesis skills
- Driving force in a context of transformation
5. SALARY CONDITIONS
- Fixed-term employment contract of one (01) year renewable;
- Position open to all nationalities but no expatriation: contract governed by Senegalese law
- Based in West Africa (Dakar);
- Working hours: 40 hours – full time;
- Gross monthly salary package paid over 13 months according to internal salary scale
- Other benefits (sports bonus…)
How to apply
- Applications (CV and cover letter) should be sent to the following address before June 12, 2026 : recrutementAFO@fondation-merieux.org
- Written tests and interviews will be conducted.
- Position available ASAP.