Magic Bus - Finance Controller

About Magic Bus:

Magic Bus India Foundation, founded in 1999 by Matthew Spacie, stands among the top five NGOs in India dedicated to education and skill development. Our organisation equips adolescents and young individuals with essential life skills and knowledge to thrive during the transition from childhood to livelihood. Our mission is to create a world where young people break free from poverty, leading fulfilling and rewarding lives while making positive contributions to their communities. We achieve this by enabling adolescents to complete their secondary education, providing them with the necessary skills for employment, and connecting them to job market opportunities. Our target age group ranges from 12 to 24 years. We operate two flagship programs: the Adolescent Programme and the Livelihood Programme.

In our Adolescent Programme, we prioritise the instillation of life skills and the enhancement of education. Through our network of connected schools operating in 234 districts across 24 states, we have positively impacted the lives of over 8 million adolescents, with an impressive 52% participation rate of girls. The Livelihood Programme focuses on enhancing employability by providing specialised skills training and connecting young individuals to sustainable livelihood opportunities. Through our 115 Livelihood Centres and 1250 Colleges, we offer sector-specific training, job placements, and post-placement support.

This programme, operational in 19 states, has achieved an impressive 60% participation rate among girls and has a cumulative outreach of 6,00,000 youth.

Job Description: Finance Controller

Location: Airoli, Navi Mumbai (with oversight across regions).

Reporting To: Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Role Overview:

The Finance Controller will act as the second-in-command to the CFO, responsible for end-to-end financial management, governance, compliance, and operational efficiency of the finance function across the organization. This is a strategic and operational leadership role, overseeing finance, procurement, and administrative functions while ensuring strong financial controls, donor compliance, and process excellence aligned with the organizations scale and growth trajectory.

Key Responsibilities:

Finance Operations & Control:

Provide overall direction and control over:

1. Accounts Payable (AP).

2. Accounts Receivable (AR).

3. General Accounting.

- Ensure timely and accurate accounting closure (monthly, quarterly, annual).

- Maintain strong financial discipline and governance across all transactions.

- Act as final approval authority for financial transactions as per delegation matrix.

- Drive cash flow management, treasury planning, and fund utilization.

Donor Reporting & Fund Management:

- Oversee donor reporting, utilization certificates, and compliance reporting.

- Ensure alignment of budget vs actuals (BVA) across all projects.

- Support donor audits, due diligence, and financial reviews.

- Ensure compliance with donor-specific requirements including FCRA and domestic funding norms.

Compliance, Audit & Internal Controls:

Ensure adherence to all statutory requirements including:

1. FCRA.

2. Income Tax Act.

3. GST and other applicable laws.

Lead and manage:

1. Internal audits.

2. Statutory audits.

3. Donor audits.

- Design and implement robust internal financial controls (IFC).

- Monitor compliance calendar and risk areas proactively.

MIS, Reporting & Decision Support:

- Own the Monthly MIS process:

1. Preparation, validation, and analysis.

2. Presentation to CFO and CEO.

- Build data-driven dashboards and insights for leadership decision-making.

- Ensure real-time visibility of financial performance across projects and functions.

- Drive continuous improvement in quality, accuracy, and timeliness of reporting.

Leadership & Team Management:

Lead and manage multi-layered finance teams, including:

1. Accounts Payable Team.

2. MIS-Compliance-Audit Team.

3. Donor Support Group.

- Manage both direct and indirect reporting teams across HO and regions.

- Build high-performance culture, accountability, and capability development.

- Ensure clear role definitions, KPIs, and performance tracking.

Procurement & Commercial Governance:

- Oversee and strengthen the Central Procurement Function:

1. Vendor identification and management.

2. Rate contracts and negotiations.

3. Procurement governance frameworks.

- Implement robust procurement policies and approval matrices.

- Ensure cost optimization, transparency, and fraud prevention mechanisms.

- Improve procurement turnaround time and efficiency.

Administration Oversight:

- Set up and manage Admin function across Head Office and Regions.

Ensure effective control over:

1. Facilities management.

2. Travel and logistics.

3. Infrastructure and asset management.

- Implement systems for cost control and operational efficiency.

Systems & Process Transformation:

- Lead implementation and optimization of finance IT systems, including:

1. ERP (e.g., Microsoft Dynamics 365).

2. Expense and payment systems.

- Drive automation and digitization initiatives across finance processes.

- Improve data integration, workflow automation, and approval systems.

- Collaborate with IT teams for system enhancements and scalability.

Process Excellence & Business Support:

- Design and implement efficient business processes across finance and support functions.

- Enable finance to act as a business partner to program and operations teams.

- Improve turnaround time (TAT) and service delivery standards.

- Ensure alignment with organization-wide growth and scalability goals.

Strategic Execution:

- Drive execution of strategic initiatives defined by CFO.

Support long-term initiatives such as:

1. Financial planning & forecasting.

2. Process transformation.

3. AI/automation in finance.

- Act as a change leader for organization-wide initiatives.

Digital Transformation & AI Enablement:

- Drive adoption of AI-enabled finance systems and tools across the organization.

- Identify opportunities for automation and intelligent decision support systems.

- Work closely with CFO to conceptualize and implement AI-driven finance initiatives.

- Enable transition from transaction-based finance to insight-driven finance function.

Key Deliverables / KPIs:

- Timely and accurate monthly financial closure.

- High-quality MIS reporting and insights.

- Zero major audit qualifications.

- Strong internal controls and compliance adherence.

- Improved procurement efficiency and cost savings.

- Effective team performance and retention.

- Successful implementation of systems and automation initiatives.

Qualifications & Experience:

Educational Qualification:

Chartered Accountant (CA) / CPA / MBA Finance (preferred).

Experience:

1215 years of experience in:

1. Finance controllership.

2. Accounting and compliance.

3. Audit and governance.

- Experience in non-profit/NGO sector or donor-funded organizations preferred.

- Strong exposure to FCRA and donor compliance frameworks.

- Experience in ERP implementation and process transformation.

Key Skills & Competencies:

Functional & Technology Skills:

Strong knowledge of:

1. Accounting standards.

2. Financial controls.

3. Compliance frameworks.

Expertise in:

1. MIS and financial analytics.

2. Budgeting and forecasting.

3. Procurement and commercial negotiations.

Strong understanding of finance technology ecosystems, including:

1. ERP systems (e.g., Microsoft Dynamics 365).

2. Workflow automation tools.

3. Data analytics and reporting systems.

Demonstrated capability in leading software system implementations, including:

1. Requirement definition.

2. Vendor coordination.

3. UAT and rollout.

4. Post-implementation stabilization.

Understanding of AI-enabled finance applications such as:

1. AI-driven MIS and reporting.

2. Automated data extraction and reconciliation.

3. Intelligent workflow and approval systems.

Experience with or exposure to AI-led software systems will be a strong advantage, including:

1. NLP-based data querying.

2. AI-assisted analytics and insights generation.

3. Process automation using AI tools.

Leadership Skills:

- Strong team leadership and stakeholder management.

- Ability to manage large, distributed teams.

- Decision-making and problem-solving capability.

Strategic & Digital Mindset:

- Experience in process re-engineering and automation.

- Understanding of AI/technology in finance (preferred).

- Ability to drive data-led decision-making.

Personal Attributes:

- High level of integrity and accountability.

- Strong ownership mindset.

- Ability to work in a fast-growing, dynamic environment.

- Strong communication and presentation skills.

Role Significance:

This role is critical in ensuring that finance operates as a strategic enabler, supporting Magic Bus in scaling operations while maintaining strong governance, transparency, and compliance across all programs and geographies.