Our client, a leading International Logistics company based in Johannesburg, is looking to fill the position of Financial Manager.
Purpose of the Role:
To lead the finance function strategically by aligning financial planning, performance, controls, compliance, and innovation to the company's business strategy. The Financial Manager plays a central role in business partnering, pricing strategy, cost optimization, financial digitization, ISO compliance, enabling business growth through due diligence, strategic input into service innovation, financial risk management, and operational efficiency. This role also strengthens the company's competitiveness through cost optimization, performance insights, and financial governance in line with ISO and regulatory standards and also serves as a financial strategic advisor to Exco.
Key Responsibilities:
Strategic Financial Planning and Forecasting:
- Lead multi-year strategic financial planning processes.
- Align financial forecasts with business objectives.
- Provide scenario planning to guide executive decisions.
- Use historical data to inform long-term assumptions.
- Adjust forecasts for market, regulatory, and internal changes
Financial Reporting and Compliance:
- Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual management reports.
- Ensure IFRS and regulatory compliance in financial statements.
- Align reporting with stakeholder requirements.
- Maintain audit-ready documentation.
- Manage reporting templates for internal and external users.
Business Growth and Competitiveness Support:
- Perform financial modelling for new service lines.
- Assess feasibility and sustainability of growth plans.
- Identify cost advantage opportunities.
- Track margins across business units and markets.
- Collaborate with product teams on go-to-market strategy.
Financial Risk Management:
- Monitor and mitigate financial risks (FX, interest, liquidity, credit).
- Collaborate with operations to limit margin erosion.
- Maintain and update financial risk registers.
- Evaluate hedging strategies.
- Build early-warning systems and alerts
Working Capital & Cash Flow Management:
- Optimize debtor and creditor cycles.
- Monitor daily, weekly, and monthly cash flow forecasts.
- Align payment cycles with cash inflows.
- Collaborate with sales for proactive collections.
- Track customer credit terms vs. working capital.
Invoicing, Accruals & Revenue Recognition:
- Ensure timely and correct invoicing for services rendered.
- Monitor unbilled WIP and shipment profitability.
- Manage monthly accruals with operational inputs.
- Enforce consistent revenue recognition principles.
- Identify missed billing opportunities.
Internal Financial Controls & ISO Compliance:
- Implement and monitor internal financial controls.
- Align with ISO [Phone Number Removed]; financial control requirements.
- Perform control risk assessments.
- Ensure segregation of duties and approval workflows.
- Conduct regular control self-assessments.
Cost Management & Efficiency Improvement:
- Identify cost drivers and inefficiencies.
- Benchmark against industry best practices.
- Recommend and implement cost-saving measures.
- Track OPEX trends by department and service line.
- Drive zero-based budgeting initiatives.
Financial Systems, Data Quality & Automation:
- Oversee Cargowise and reporting tools usage and efficiency.
- Ensure integrity of financial data across systems.
- Collaborate with IT and third parties for system automation.
- Support financial dashboard development.
- Train users on financial systems and reporting.
Budgeting and Performance Monitoring:
- Lead annual budgeting cycle across company departments.
- Ensure alignment between budget and strategic targets.
- Allocate costs fairly between departments and regions.
- Track actual vs. budget performance.
- Recommend mid-year budget adjustments.
Business Partnering with Exco, Management and Ops Teams:
- Support Exco with financial decision-making.
- Attend operational reviews and strategy sessions.
- Co-create regional and departmental business plans and forecasts.
- Perform service-level profitability reviews.
- Provide financial advisory for client pricing.
Procurement Financial Oversight:
- Oversee adherence to procurement policy within the company.
- Evaluate supplier financial health.
- Track procurement spending against budgets.
- Analyse cost of goods/services procured.
- Collaborate with national procurement for vendor cost savings.
Credit Control and Client Risk Management:
- Assess client financial health during onboarding.
- Monitor ageing and credit limits.
- Flag high-risk accounts to sales and GMs.
- Participate in credit committee.
- Recommend remedial actions or write-offs.
Financial Audit and Governance:
- Prepare for internal and external financial audits.
- Ensure timely resolution of audit findings.
- Maintain a robust audit trail of all transactions.
- Support statutory compliance (SARS, CIPC, etc.).
- Educate teams on audit and governance best practices.
Financial Input into Tender Pricing:
- Partner with tender/pricing teams on cost models.
- Validate assumptions on volume, cost, and margins.
- Present pricing risk scenarios to execs.
- Incorporate FX, transport, and warehousing assumptions.
- Analyse profitability of awarded bids post-tender.
People Development and Team Leadership:
- Build a high-performing finance team.
- Assign clear KPIs and review performance.
- Coach and mentor junior team members.
- Foster a culture of excellence and innovation.
- Lead succession and capacity planning
Qualifications and Experience:
- Grade 12 Senior Certificate
- BCom Honours in Finance, Accounting, or Financial Management (Essential)
- CA(SA) or CIMA Qualification (Strongly Preferred)
- MBA or Executive Development Certificate (Advantageous
- ISO [Phone Number Removed]; familiarity (Preferred)
- Advanced ERP, Cargowise and BI Tools (Power BI, Tableau)
- Minimum 5-8 years in progressive financial leadership roles.
- Strategic financial planning, analysis, and reporting experience across multi-regional operations.
- Proven business partnering with GMs, EXCO, and operations.
- Track record of pricing strategy development and margin optimization.
- Experience in leading or participating in commercial negotiations and tenders.
- Experience in logistics, supply chain, or clearing and forwarding (strongly preferred)
- Implementation of digital finance tools and reporting dashboards.
- ISO audit participation, SOP governance, and compliance controls.
- Lead or oversee enterprise-level budgeting, forecasting, and financial modelling and due diligence for business expansions
- Managing financial audits (internal and external).
Knowledge and Skills:
- Statutory and Management Accounting
- Consolidated Financial Reporting and Group Submissions (HFM or similar)
- Financial Policy Design and Control Frameworks
- Business Case Development and ROI Analysis
- WIP, Accruals, and Shipment Cost Control
- Scenario Planning and Sensitivity Modelling
- Forecasting Models and Variance Analysis
- Financial ERP Implementation/Optimization
- Cost and margin analysis across service lines.
- ISO [Phone Number Removed]; Operational Application in Finance
If you are interested in applying for this role, please send a detailed copy of your CV to [Email Address Removed]
If you have not been contacted within two (2) weeks, please consider your application as unsuccessful.
