Financial Controller

Château Gâteaux; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Chateau Gateaux Limited is seeking a Financial Controller in Johannesburg to support the commercial team with insights that drive profitability and optimize net revenue management. You will enhance cost efficiency through smarter management of discounting, trade spend, and promotional effectiveness, aligning financial and commercial strategies with sales and marketing.

The role requires strong analytical and communication skills, with experience in FMCG finance partnerships and a focus on margin

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Commerce, Finance or closely related field.
• CIMA Advanced Diploma (Dip MA) or CA(SA) qualification advantageous.
• 3+ years' relevant experience in commercial, FMCG, manufacturing, or finance-business partnering roles.
• Experience with business management, accounting software and MS Office applications (Sage, MS Excel).

Responsibilities

• Support forecasting process with income statement forecasts and gap analysis.
• Produce monthly management accounts with variance analysis and commentary.
• Produce annual budgets aligned with stakeholders.
• Provide financial analysis on product profitability and feasibility assessments.
• Assess product costings and trade spend feasibility monthly and ad hoc.
• Drive cost savings and overall cost efficiency initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with financial policies and practices.
• Support ad hoc projects and lead implementation of financial initiatives.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Process orientation

Continuous improvement

Effective communicator

Proactive and driven

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Commerce/Finance

CIMA Dip MA or CA(SA) advantageous

Tools

Sage

MS Excel

Job description

Tasty moments to feel good about!

From mouth-watering pizzas, comforting meals and tasty sides, to indulgent cakes, and desserts, Dr. Oetker South Africa has been bringing people together to share feel-good food moments since 2010

Ready to take your career to the next level?

Dr Oetker SA is looking for a Financial Controller for our Johannesburg site.

As Financial Controller, you will play a critical role in supporting the commercial team by providing financial insights that drive profitability and optimize net revenue management. Your focus will be on enhancing cost efficiency through smarter management of discounting, trade spend, and promotional effectiveness, ensuring that every Rand spent contributes to improved margins. You will collaborate closely with sales, marketing, and other departments to align financial and commercial strategies. This includes analyzing the impact of pricing, promotions, customer profitability, and product mix, ensuring that financial implications are well understood and integrated into commercial decisions. Your input will be key in evaluating the financial viability of trade spend initiatives and discounting strategies to balance both revenue growth and margin protection.

WHAT THE ROLE ENTAILS

• Support the PS&OP forecasting process with income statement forecasts and gap analysis.
• Produce monthly management accounts with variance analysis to the root cause and commentary.
• Produce annual budgets, ensuring accuracy and alignment with relevant stakeholders.
• Provide decision-making financial analysis and conclusions, including product profitability analysis and financial feasibility assessments, e.g. investment feasibilities.
• Assess product costings and trade spend feasibility monthly and ad hoc, aligned with revenue and margin goals.
• Be a Cost savings champion, driving and supporting the business towards overall cost efficiency and continuous improvement.
• Ensure compliance with financial policies, processes and best practices.
• Ad hoc projects support and facilitation with a view to leading effective implementation of financial initiatives.

Preferred Qualification & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Commerce (BCom), Finance, or a closely related field
• CIMA Advanced Diploma (Dip MA) or CA(SA) qualification advantageous
• 3 + years' relevant experience in commercial, FMCG, manufacturing, or finance-business partnering roles
• Experience in working on business management, accounting software and MS Office applications - Sage, MS Excel

Ideal Competencies Of The Candidate:

• Analytical thinking – You excel at translating complex commercial scenarios, including pricing, trade spend, and discounting strategies, into financial implications, enabling flexible and informed decision-making.
• Process orientation – You continuously review and improve financial processes, particularly around trade spend and revenue management, by applying best practices and a critical, commercial lens.
• Continuous improvement – You consistently focus on optimizing net revenue and margin growth through innovative financial analysis and process enhancements.
• Effective communicator – You not only provide precise financial analysis but also deliver clear, commercially driven insights that influence business decisions positively.
• Proactive and driven – You are a self-starter, energized to tackle challenges, meet targets, and contribute to driving the commercial success and profitability of the business.