Chief Financial Officer

About the position

Background:

Excellent career opportunity for a CFO within a leading manufacturing company to ensure the financial health of the organisation
Minimum Requirements:

• Professional qualification: CA(SA)
• 8-12 years’ experience in a financial management role; including experience in a Senior Finance leadership role
• A commercial track record beyond accounting or audit
• Demonstrated multi-entity consolidation and ownership of an external audit
• Demonstrated cash and working-capital management in a constrained, turnaround or high-growth-strain setting, including hands-on management of trade finance, letters of credit and Customer and Supplier terms
• Demonstrated financial modelling, budgeting, and reforecasting owned personally
• Experience managing inventory in a manufacturing, assembly, or distribution business, including BOM-based product costing, WIP and inventory valuation, and the associated financial controls and reporting
• Senior finance experience in a manufacturing, engineering, project-based or industrial-distribution environment
• Demonstrated pricing and margin management: owning or overseeing costing and quotation models, order- and customer-level profitability, and quoted-versus-actual margin reviews
• Practical experience of foreign-exchange risk management, trade finance, and cross-border operations, including import-heavy supply chains and USD-linked revenue
• Demonstrated hands-on leadership of Finance teams across multiple business units

Responsibilities:

• Lead the finance function across the Group and ensure efficient financial operations of all business units in the portfolio
• Oversee accounting, budgeting, cash flow management, audit, payroll, billing, and financial compliance in accordance with financial operational requirements
• Manage and oversee the financial consolidation process across all business units, including appropriate management of intercompany balances and transactions
• Present financial statements that are accurate, complete, and timely, in full compliance with IFRS and applicable South African regulatory requirements
• Ensure robust internal controls and risk management practices (including inventory, stores, BOM and master-data, procurement, and order-to-cash controls) are implemented and standardized across the Group
• Translate strategic initiatives into financial models and execution plans
• Support the CEO and business unit Managing Directors in: Growth and strategic planning / business unit expansion and new market opportunities / pricing and revenue strategies / capital allocation and investment decisions
• Develop financial models to support decision-making, expansion, and scenario planning
• Conduct ratio analysis to provide more comprehensive financial oversight and support informed decision-making
• Oversee and support product and project costing (BOMs, labor standards, landed cost including freight, duties and FX, and overhead absorption), applied consistently in the ERP, with Finance accountable for BOM and master-data integrity
• Produce a monthly gross-margin bridge that explains movements and shows a fully loaded margin, with financing costs such as trade finance and LC charges shown separately
• Oversee and support BOM-based pricing and quote approval with the CEO and commercial leads, including quoting FX rates and repricing triggers: no material quote without a verified BOM and a fully loaded order-level P&L, with escalation below approved margins
• Assess bulk, discounted and multi-year contracts on contribution and cash rather than revenue alone, and support negotiation of payment, LC, Incoterm, and currency terms
• Own the 13-week rolling cash forecast at Group and entity level, maintained weekly, built bottom-up from the order book, production plan, LC and shipment timing, Supplier payment runs and FX, and reconciled to actual bank balances
• Own banking relationships, bank mandates, and the payment authorization matrix
• Develop and assess appropriate funding solutions for the Group’s operations, projects, and growth initiatives
• Monitor debt and funding facilities, including facility limits, obligations and financial covenants
• Lead and support capital raising initiatives, including debt and equity funding, as required to support the Group’s growth and strategic objectives
• Own the cash-conversion cycle (debtor, inventory, and creditor days) against business-unit targets, with a single order-to-cash view from order book to collections
• Structure and manage trade and working-capital finance for a manufacturing and project business, including letters of credit, invoice and Supplier finance, guarantees, and development-finance or export-credit facilities, with LC terms reviewed before orders are accepted
• Set and apply customer credit and country-exposure limits, and manage Supplier terms and payments against the production plan
• Measure and manage net FX exposure across USD-linked pricing, imported components and foreign-currency receipts, under a Board-approved hedging policy (forward cover, natural hedging, and quoting rates)
• Ensure compliance with SARB exchange control, including repatriation of export proceeds, and manage currency-convertibility risk in customer countries
• Ensure compliance with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards across the Group
• Oversee HR operations by coordinating with external service providers (incl. payroll, benefits, recruitment) and internal staff responsible for other aspects of HR
• Assess the financial viability of new projects, investments, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships including financial due diligence where required
• Evaluate capex requirements, cost projections, expected margins and projected returns on new investments and growth initiatives
• Assess affordability and sustainability of expansion plans using long term financial modelling and recommend the most optimal financing options
• Ensure compliance with applicable regulatory, tax and governance requirements across the Group, including requirements arising from international operations (exchange control, customs, VAT, and cross-border tax)
• Manage annual audits and liaise with external Auditors
• Oversee the Group’s financial and governance of B-BBEE, including procurement-spend reporting
• Oversee the Group’s tax compliance and work with external Tax Advisers where required
• Implement processes to mitigate financial risk, including debt management, covenant monitoring, and insurance oversight
• Provide financial support and strategic insights to the Executive team and Board
• Communicate financial performance, outlook, and key risks in a clear, accessible manner to non-financial Stakeholders
• Support engagement with external Auditors, tax advisers, and other professional advisers as required

TO APPLY:

• Only if you meet the minimum job requirements and experience as mentioned above, you may submit a detailed updated CV.
• Please Apply Online and complete your registration via our website to enable and protect you as a candidate and to accept the new POPIA terms and conditions.
• This will then create your permanent profile with which you can apply for all jobs as advertised by AJ PERSONNEL.
• However, you may remove your profile from AJ PERSONNEL when you are no longer in the job market.
• Please take note that the applicants who do not adhere to the minimum requirements will not be considered for the respective position.
• Note our clients may expire jobs at their own discretion.
• AJ PERSONNEL will only respond to shortlisted candidates.
• If you have not received a response within two (2) weeks from applying, your application was then unsuccessful for that specific position, however your profile remains on our system for future opportunities.

Desired Skills:

• Chief Financial Officer
• Leadership Skills
• Strategic Skills
• Reporting Skills
• Attention to Detail
• Merger and Acquisitions