We are SGS – the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company. We are recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. Our 96,000 employees operate a network of 2,700 offices and laboratories, working together to enable a better, safer and more interconnected world.

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE JOB

Responsible for the full financial function including but not limited to the quality and accuracy of the financial reporting, the preparation of analytical reports and monthly commentary as well as the coordination of business planning, budgeting, accounting and auditing issues for the Sub-Region

REPORTING STRUCTURE

• Reports to Francophone West Africa and Central Africa Managing Director, with a strong dotted line to Africa Western Europe Regional Controller

RESPONISIBILITIES

Ensuring business decisions are grounded in sound financial criteria

• • Taking a commercial view in partnership with the business
  • Identifying commercial, financial and economic risks from business propositions
  • Establishing profitability in business propositions
  • Providing robust but constructive challenge to business stakeholders
  • Clearly communicating the financial implications of proposals

Providing insight and analysis to support the Regional Managing Director and other senior managers

• • Communicating financial information effectively
  • Assessing drivers of profitability
  • Identifying and communicating areas of risk
  • Forecasting future performance based on knowledge of past performance
  • Identifying corrective action where required

Leading key initiatives in finance that support overall strategic goals

• • Leadership skills to drive through change in finance
  • Setting and communicating the vision and strategy for finance
  • Able to engage with business stakeholders to determine the appropriate role for finance
  • Bringing together disparate stakeholders within finance and the business
  • Sponsoring delivery of major change in the finance function

Funding, enabling and executing strategy set by the Regional Managing Director

• • Funding the organization’s operations
  • Prioritizing investments
  • Developing strategic plans to achieve corporate goals across the sub-region
  • Understanding the key value drivers
  • Turning strategic plans into operations plans and targets (including defining KPI’s)
  • Designing the implementation program
  • Monitoring progress against strategy

Coordinating and Implementation of Finance Strategy in line with Group Strategy

• • Translating corporate goals into a clear strategy
  • Identifying financial and risk issues in relation to corporate strategy
  • Delivering a workable strategic plan within known constraints
  • Creativity / Ability to think “out-of-the-box” / conceptually strong
  • Analyzing portfolio of opportunities
  • Visionary / a storyteller / ability to build trust and motivate people
  • Effective communication of financial and risk issues to colleagues

When representing the sub-region on strategic goals

• • Give clear communication of performance
  • Have perspectives on the sub-region’s performance relative to main competitors
  • Have detailed knowledge about main value drivers / key KPI’s and initiatives to improve them
  • Give positive communication around management of key risks
  • Take a forward-looking view

Financial Controls

• • Ensures accounting controls are implemented by the affiliate teams and maintained by affiliates
  • Reviews balance sheets and income statements drawn up by the affiliates and ensure compliance with legal requirements
  • Ensures affiliates client’s payment conditions are in line with Group Policy and watches over their implementation
  • Watches over the requests for financing required by affiliates for their running operations
  • Reviews affiliates supplier payment conditions and settlement terms
  • Ensures monthly, quarterly and yearly financial guidelines from Group are cascaded to affiliates as appropriate
  • Carries out financial analyses of affiliate performance when required and follows up affiliates profit margins and informs the sub-regional management about any deviations
  • Performs secondary review after local finance review of all Capex investment projects/proposals arising from affiliates
  • Reviews and recommends affiliates provisions management
  • Reviews affiliates treasury / loan requests and capitalization issues
  • Reviews affiliates inventory levels and recommends corrections
  • Reviews affiliates requests for annual inventory write-offs for obsolescence/ time expired items
  • Seeks to be aware of updates regarding fiscal, accounting, commerce legislation and international regulations, as they might be applicable in the sub-region
  • Ensures follow up of affiliates performance against plans, budgets and targets Identifies gaps, analyses the causes with local finance and alerts the sub-regional management about the noticed situations and their status
  • Assists different affiliates in budgeting process and ensures affiliates budgeting procedures, are in line with Group policy
  • Manages and pushes for improvements in Net Working Capital by affiliates, ensuring continuous improvement to achieve group targets
  • Ensures compliance by affiliates to group and local accounting standards
  • Ensures internal controls function in line with group requirement by affiliates and are improved to protect company assets and ensure adherence to group standards and policy
  • Coaches Local Finance Managers in their role as partners with the business lines across the sub-region, advising on improvements including but not limited to profitability and Net Working Capital
  • Ready to manage the acquisition process including due diligence, negotiations and implementation
  • Promotes adherence to all quality and safety requirements of the SGS management system by all the local Finance teams in the affiliates
  •           Perform any other reasonable tasks as assigned by direct line manager
  • Manages and drives improvement in the internal control environment across the sub-region and ensure compliance to the internal control systems and processes by the local Finance teams in the affiliates
  • Manage internal audit visits, ensure preparation, supply of documents and response of management comments
  • Ensure internal audit findings are corrected in line with timeline agreed in internal audit report and ensure internal control environment amended to address all internal control points

Education

Financial degree, Chartered accountant will be an advantage but not mandatory

Experience & competencies 

• 10 years’ experience in a similar position 
• Experience in a multinational in a senior level
• Experience in a matrix organization critical
• Must have a strong knowledge of financial accounting, budgeting, control, and reporting principles, methods, techniques, and standards
• Ability to analyze and interpret financial data and to prepare financial reports, statements and/or forecasts
• Ability to identify risk and develop mitigation / controls
• Experience/knowledge of acquisitions and takeovers and formulating business plans for acquisitions
• Must be able to understand the business
• Work under pressure and discern between priorities 
• Ability to identify issues and implement the appropriate solutions
• Ability to analyze financial systems requirements and provide recommendations to sub-regional management
• Must have knowledge of computerized financial information systems
• Hyperion and HFM experience critical
• Oracle Boss and Sun experience an advantage
• Fluent in English and French (oral/written) 
• Leading the complete financial function 
• Leading, motivating and developing finance teams from diverse cultures 
• Experience of dealing with a shared service centre; 
• Must be able to travel domestically and regionally; 

Performance Assessment Criteria

• Quality of performance and time taken against planned expectation
• Performance statement against specific, measurable targets / objectives