Financial Manager (Logistics Industry) - CA(SA)

Ability Executive Recruitment; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent recruitment agency is seeking a Financial Manager to strategically lead financial functions aligning with business strategies. The role demands extensive experience in financial leadership along with a strong educational background in finance and relevant qualifications. Key responsibilities include strategic financial analysis, risk management, and partnering with the executive team to enhance business performance.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5-8 years in progressive financial leadership roles.
• Experience in logistics, supply chain, or clearing and forwarding strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with ISO 9001, 14001, 45001.

Responsibilities

• Lead multi-year strategic financial planning processes.
• Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual management reports ensuring compliance.
• Monitor and mitigate financial risks related to liquidity and credit.

Skills

Strategic financial planning

Financial risk management

Cost optimization

Education

BCom Honours in Finance, Accounting, or Financial Management

CA(SA) or CIMA Qualification

MBA or Executive Development Certificate

Tools

Advanced ERP

Power BI

Tableau

Job description

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 IL Exco.

REQUIREMENTS:

• BCom Honours in Finance, Accounting, or Financial Management (Essential)
• CA(SA) or CIMA Qualification (Strongly Preferred)
• MBA or Executive Development Certificate (Advantageous)
• ISO 9001, 14001, 45000 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.
• Experience in logistics, supply chain, or clearing and forwarding (strongly preferred)
• ISO audit participation, SOP governance, and compliance controls.
• Managing financial audits (internal and external).

DUTIES:
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 9001, 14001, 45001 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 IL 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 IL Exco, Management and Ops Teams

• Support IL 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 IL.
• 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