Urban Movement Innovation (UMI) Fund is hiring an Operations and Finance Officer to support its growing international finance function. This is a fully remote role — however, candidates must be based in Belgium, with Brussels preferred. If you are a Kenyan finance professional already living and working in Belgium, or relocating there, this Operations Finance Officer UMI Fund Remote 2026 opportunity closes on 18 May 2026 at 9:00 AM CET.
About This Role
UMI Fund is a donor collaborative founded by international philanthropies to fund and accelerate the global climate movement. As the organisation grows rapidly, the finance team needs additional capacity to ensure financial data across multiple countries, currencies, and platforms remains accurate, compliant, and audit-ready.
The Operations and Finance Officer reports to the Head of Finance and receives day-to-day technical support from the Finance Officer. Your core focus is bookkeeping integrity — reviewing, verifying, and accurately recording financial transactions from platforms like Airbase, Airtable, and Fluxx into the central accounting system. You also handle Belgium-specific compliance: VAT filings, statutory submissions, and coordination with external advisors including EY Tax & Compliance.
This is a junior-to-mid-level role suited to a meticulous finance professional who is equally comfortable reconciling multi-currency transactions and preparing audit documentation. The work is detail-heavy, internationally oriented, and high-trust — you will be handling philanthropic funds on behalf of a mission-driven climate organisation.
Key Responsibilities
Finance:
- Review and verify financial transactions recorded across internal platforms (Airbase, Airtable, Fluxx) for accuracy, completeness, and proper documentation
- Perform timely and accurate data entry into the organisation’s accounting software
- Code transactions correctly against the chart of accounts, project budgets, and donor requirements
- Reconcile bank accounts, corporate credit cards, and debit cards regularly, investigating and resolving any discrepancies
- Maintain organised, audit-ready supporting documentation for all financial transactions
- Identify discrepancies proactively and follow up for resolution without prompting
Operations and Compliance:
- Support vendor management, contracts, and service provider administration in Belgium
- Maintain and track a compliance calendar for statutory, tax, and regulatory filing deadlines
- Liaise with Belgian external service providers — tax advisors, legal counsel, payroll providers — to ensure filings are complete and accurate
- Coordinate with EY Tax & Compliance (or equivalent) on VAT, statutory, and regulatory submissions
- Support audit processes by ensuring all documentation is complete, accessible, and compliant
- Maintain organised records of contracts, agreements, and official filings per organisational and Belgian legal requirements
Required Qualifications and Experience
Essential:
- 2–5 years of experience in bookkeeping or a similar finance and operations role
- Strong foundation in basic accounting principles, double-entry bookkeeping, and account reconciliations
- Experience working with accounting software and digital financial platforms
- Experience liaising with external auditors, tax advisors, or legal service providers
- Ability to work within European regulatory frameworks, including Belgian accounting and VAT requirements
- Fluent written and spoken English
- Must be based in Belgium (Brussels preferred) and able to travel internationally once per year for team meetings or conferences
Desirable:
- Familiarity with Belgian accounting, VAT, and regulatory environment — strongly preferred
- Experience handling global or multi-entity transactions across multiple currencies
- Experience in non-profit, philanthropic, or donor-funded finance environments
- Proficiency in Flemish or French
- Hands-on experience with Airbase, Airtable, Fluxx, or similar grant management and financial platforms
Skills and Competencies
- Exceptional attention to detail — accuracy is the core output of this role
- Strong organisational and time management skills to manage high transaction volumes across multiple systems simultaneously
- Cultural awareness and ability to work collaboratively in a diverse, international remote team
- Professionalism and discretion when handling sensitive financial and organisational data
- Tech-confident — comfortable adapting to new financial tools and proposing improvements where relevant
- Resilience and independence — able to manage workload remotely without close supervision
What UMI Fund Offers
- Salary commensurate with qualifications, experience, and candidate location, with a location allowance of 15–30% on top of the global base salary
- Annual work-from-home allowance of USD 1,000 (converted to local currency)
- Life insurance
- Health care (vision and dental included) covering family members, legal partners, and dependants under 18
- Minimum 20 days annual paid leave plus additional year-end paid break
- Access to the Headspace mental wellness platform
- 2 days paid volunteering leave per calendar year with a non-profit of your choice
- Bereavement leave from 2 to 20 working days depending on relationship
- Flexible remote working arrangements (core hours 9AM–5PM local time; no expectation to work before 6AM or after 9PM)
- Official holidays and local cultural and religious practices respected
About UMI Fund
UMI Fund — the Urban Movement Innovation Fund — is a donor collaborative founded by international philanthropies to connect, align, resource, and strengthen people-powered climate action globally. The fund supports, incubates, and accelerates strategic elements of the climate movement through partnerships focused on disruptive, scalable greenhouse gas mitigation.
UMI Fund operates as a convenor of the field, an advisor to philanthropy, and a grant maker — working to ensure climate pressure becomes relentless and impossible for governments and institutions to ignore. It is a relatively new and rapidly growing organisation with a strong internal culture built around justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. The team is international, remote-first, and described as warm, mission-driven, and collaborative.
How to Apply
Submit your application through the official UMI Fund recruitment process — applications via email are not accepted (GDPR compliance).
Prepare and submit:
- Your CV/Resume saved as:
full_name_CV_UMI Fund_Operations Finance Officer - Your Cover Letter saved as:
full_name_Operations Finance Officer_CL
Your cover letter must outline your interest in the role and directly address how you meet the requirements listed in this announcement.
For questions about the role or organisation, contact: McAra Kirby-Fahey at mcara@upsallinternational.com
Apply via the official UMI Fund or Upsall International recruitment portal.
