Head Of Finance

Required Skills & Experience

Education / Qualifications

• B.A or B.S in Accounting and Fellow of CIMA/ACCA. Masters or MBA preferred.
  
• CPA (K) Member
  

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive functional experience.
  
• Experience in partnering with a company management team.
  

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong communication and negotiation skills
  
• Planning and organizing
  
• High level of business orientation    
  
• Strong analytical skills with numbers
  
• Ability to provide accurate reporting.
  
• Strong leadership skill
  
• Risk Management
  
• Entrepreneurial spirit and collaborative nature
  
• Attention to detail, strategic thinker.
  

Required Skills & Experience

Education / Qualifications

• B.A or B.S in Accounting and Fellow of CIMA/ACCA. Masters or MBA preferred.
  
• CPA (K) Member
  

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive functional experience.
  
• Experience in partnering with a company management team.
  

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong communication and negotiation skills
  
• Planning and organizing
  
• High level of business orientation    
  
• Strong analytical skills with numbers
  
• Ability to provide accurate reporting.
  
• Strong leadership skill
  
• Risk Management
  
• Entrepreneurial spirit and collaborative nature
  
• Attention to detail, strategic thinker.
  

Financial & Operational Strategy:

• Create and continuously refine country market finance strategy.
  
• Negotiate a pipeline of local currency debt to safeguard receivables against forex depreciation.
  
• Own the country financial model, using it to forecast EBITDA targets and the impact of strategy decisions on business performance.
  
• Ensure a line-by-line budget & forecast by all departments and support preparation where required.
  
• Support and drive maintenance/achievement of financial sustainability by guaranteeing:
  
• <= 100% Punctual Funding vs Budget to support business operations.
  
• Positive ROI.
  
• Manage and analyse Cash-Flow and working capital requirements by:
  
• Understanding the source and uses of cash and maintain integrity of funds received/generated.
  
• Cash-flow forecasting to determine acceptable levels of trending balances.
  
• Actively liaise with other teams for critical funding needs and shortage risks.
  
• Monitor and control accurate records of receivables, safe inventory levels and negotiate favourable credit terms with local suppliers.
  
• Continually monitor and refine the effectiveness of country financial strategies, gathering evidence in the process to inform the commercial strategy. 
  

Business Performance, Financial and Management Reporting

• Understand the business model for generating customer value and translates the operational metrics into measures for performance using dashboards and financial statement ratio analysis.
  
• Prepare management accounts and provide insights on deviations to budget, commentary on periodic performance and support Country Director with tactical moves accordingly.
  
• Generate both regular and ad hoc insights for action so that the business can maintain excellent financial health:
  
• Work closely with department heads to understand monthly expenses (BvA), monitor spending and drive efficiencies in cost centres.
  
• Create and/or coordinate with Financial Analyst on ad hoc reporting as necessary to analyse revenue and cost trends.
  

Tax and Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure compliance with local tax requirements and timely submission of all tax returns.
  
• Ensure efficient tax structures are in place and are properly administered.
  
• Keep abreast of changes in relevant local regulatory environment and communicates major changes to the group.
  
• Ensure company compliance for all financial record control including real estate contracts and leases.
  
• Keep tax non-compliance risk as low as possible by proactive education and documentation review, approval, and accounting.
  

Stakeholder Engagement

• Develop relationships with relevant actors and maintain networks throughout the business environment.
  
• Work closely with the following stakeholders to provide strategic finance and administrative support as needed:
  
• Managing Director and the group leaders.
  
• Business development team - to assist with financial considerations of expanding into new regions and grant applications.
  
• Operations Lead - to conduct inventory audits, coordinating with external auditors for annual audits and maintain and tie out inventory accounting systems.
  
• Credit team - as needed to assess and continuously improve portfolio health strategy to ensure repayment is healthy.
  
• HR team - to adapt compensation strategies that position the company as a competitive employer while meeting financial goals.
  
• Develop and maintain mutual beneficial business relationships to assist, protect and enhance the company’s image in the community which includes Tax Authorities, External Auditors, Banks, Regulatory Bodies, Shareholders, Lawyers, Insurance and Brokers Entities, and any other relevant to the business.
  

Governance & Risk

• Internal control maintenance, identification, profiling and reporting potential risks as well as propose and implement mitigation plans.
  
• Ensures financial audits are completed in time and statutory books closing occurs as appropriate.
  
• Responds to Auditor queries effectively and communicated any significant matters to the Country Director.
  
• Ensure adherence to financial spending policies and procedures.
  
• Procurement principles in place to ensure value for money.
  

People Management & Leadership

• Ensure the department is adequately staffed for execution of financial functions.
  
• Build and provide inspiring leadership to a high performing finance team, including:
  
• Recruiting and training mission-driven and highly qualified team members.
  
• Setting inspiring and ambitious targets and motivating the team to achieve them, including testing and setting compensation and incentive structures across the teams.
  
• Supervises the activities of the direct reports and ensure quality, service and compliance standards are met and that finance operations run efficiently and effectively to support the business operations.
  
• Facilitates training where required to build and develop team’s capacity.