Cost Analytics & Profitability Manager

FirstRand Bank Limited; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

FirstRand Bank Limited seeks a Cost Accountant Manager with strong data analytics and financial modelling skills to drive profitability and strategic decision-making across Branch Banking. You will build cost models, analyse large datasets with SQL, and translate insights into actionable business recommendations.

The role blends finance, analytics, and business strategy, offering exposure to senior stakeholders and opportunities to automate and govern financial models for continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Cost & Management Accounting, Business Analytics, Data Science, Mathematics, or a related qualification.
• 4-5 years of relevant experience in Cost Accounting, Financial Analytics, Financial Data Intelligence, or a similar finance-focused analytical role.
• Strong stakeholder management and business partnering across multiple business areas.
• Experience leading projects or teams in Finance/Analytics environments (advantageous).
• Proven ability to translate complex financial and analytical insights into practical business decisions.

Responsibilities

• Build, maintain, and enhance cost allocation, profitability, forecasting, and predictive models that support strategic business decisions.
• Apply analytical and data science techniques to identify trends, opportunities, risks, and performance drivers.
• Use SQL and data interrogation techniques to analyse large and complex datasets.
• Develop insights that support cost optimisation, resource allocation, and profitability improvement initiatives.
• Support budgeting, forecasting, and scenario planning activities.
• Translate complex financial and operational information into clear, actionable recommendations for business stakeholders.
• Partner with Finance, Analytics, Data, and Business teams to solve commercial challenges and improve decision-making.
• Drive automation, continuous improvement, and model governance practices.
• Leverage data-driven insights to influence business strategy and performance outcomes.

Skills

SQL

Power BI

Tableau

Excel

Financial modelling

Data analytics

Forecasting

Machine learning

Statistical modelling

Business intelligence

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting/Finance

Tools

SQL

Power BI

Tableau

Excel

Job description

FirstRand Bank Limited seeks a Cost Accountant Manager with strong data analytics and financial modelling skills to drive profitability and strategic decision-making across Branch Banking. You will build cost models, analyse large datasets with SQL, and translate insights into actionable business recommendations.

The role blends finance, analytics, and business strategy, offering exposure to senior stakeholders and opportunities to automate and govern financial models for continuous improvement.