Senior Financial Manager : NMSIS

Sanlam Fintech is a newly established digital first business within the Sanlam Group on a mission to democratize financial advice and solutions for everyone across the African continent. We exist to pioneer inclusive financial confidence helping people build strong foundations to bridge the gap in generational wealth. Our culture is that of agility and constant deployment; we believe in learning fast, learning cheap and learning forward. Our aim is to provide a work environment where knowledge workers can accelerate the development of their ideas and bring innovation to market, at the same time provide compelling career and development proposition that will enable them to realize their dreams.

NMS Insurance Services (SA) Ltd (NMS Insurance Services) is a composite, micro insurer and forms part of Sanlam Fintech. NMS Insurance Services is a newly acquired subsidiary within the Sanlam Group of companies, with Sanlam having recently acquired 60% interest in NMS Insurance Services from MultiChoice Group.

Sanlam is a leading financial services group, recognized for its innovative approach towards providing comprehensive insurance, investment, health, and credit solutions to millions of clients across Africa. As part of its strategy, it is part of Sanlam’s mission to digitize new and existing business models and activate them to acquire digital-first customer segments that have historically been difficult and expensive to acquire.

About the role

This role will be responsible for the comprehensive oversight and execution of reporting (incl. management, risk, regulatory and statutory) strategy and processes.

Reporting to the Chief Executive of NMS Insurance Services with a dotted line to the Sanlam Fintech Chief Financial Officer, the Senior Financial Manager forms part of the Sanlam Fintech Finance Team and will be responsible for supporting the Chief Financial Officer with driving the various Finance objectives in line with the company culture. The Senior Financial Manager will be responsible for supporting the management and direction of all finance resources, providing sound financial advice, ensuring that stringent and rigorous accounting processes and controls are in place, ensuring accurate reporting of financial results and operational excellence.

What will you do?

Role and responsibilities

• Oversee the accuracy of information for preparation of financial statements, ensuring compliance with IFRS.
  Ensure timely, accurate and transparent month-end, quarter-end, and year-end closings.
• Coordinate internal and external audits and liaise with auditors to ensure compliance and address any issues.
• Document internal control policies and procedures well (general close, reconciliations, inter-company, etc.)
• Effective management of the financial close process and activities.
• Ensure appropriate clearing of control accounts, reconciliations, etc.
• Manage master data changes (e.g. chart of accounts).
• Managing the taxation affairs and processes of the business (incl. corporate income tax, dividends tax, VAT).
• Liaising with internal tax experts across the Sanlam Group for specialist advice.
• Ensure compliance with tax laws and prepare tax returns.
• Identify, monitor and manage financial risks, ensuring effective mitigation strategies are in place.
• Conduct regular reviews and assessment of the adequacy of internal financial controls (IFCs) and the corresponding risk and control matrices (RACMs), including recommendations for improvements.
• Manage a proactive control monitoring process.

Budgeting & Forecasting

• Ensure a smooth target setting process with involvement of appropriate decision-makers.
• Ensure budgets are designed to meet the business plan targets and KPIs by clearly defining business drivers and underlying non-financial information that drives the financials.
• Ensure that the budget framework/principles prescribed by Group Finance is adhered to.
• Refresh forecasts to align to current performance and economic and commercial impacts (as required) on a periodic basis throughout the year, i.e. monthly, quarterly, annually.
• Ensure effective processes for tracking and improving forecast reliability.
• Support senior executives to make sound business decisions in the long and short term, through analytics driven insights.

Reporting

• Managing and overseeing the company’s financial systems.
• Actively drive financial reporting to meet prescribed organisational and regulatory deliverables and timelines.
• Drive system process efficiency improvements including the use of available Business Intelligence (BI) tools, and the design/ redesign of reports as needed.
• Identify and mitigate risks associated with financial reporting and data management.
• Collaborate across functions, including finance, tax, actuarial, treasury, IT and business units, to ensure the accuracy and relevance of management reports.
• Maintain business rules, chart of accounts and balance sheet accounts.
• Perform financial analysis of key business drivers and provide commentary on business performance and insights on future trends within the organisation.
• Analyse data and forecasts and provide reports with recommendations that enable accelerated decision-making by senior management and EXCO.
• Prepare valuations of non-life business line for reporting to the asset valuations committee (SNLACB).
• Coordinate and prepare reports to the Audit Committee and Board.
• Prepare annual financial statements (including disclosure) and the reporting packs.
• Adhere and promote sound governance principles, including the requirements of King IV and the Companies Act.
• Provide 1st line risk management support to ensure the business has a robust risk framework in place and proactively manage internal and external risk to the company.
• Update the CURA risk register quarterly.

Collaboration and relationship building

• Facilitate collaboration across departments within SFT, across the Finance community within the greater Sanlam Group and with Multichoice stakeholders, where necessary.
• Responsible for building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders.
• Involvement in business-critical projects such as the transition of NMS Insurance Services from the MultiChoice environment to Sanlam as appropriate.

What will make you successful in this role?

• Owns business unit and team objectives and key results (OKRs), by playing an integral part in developing and implementing the Finance OKRs that support the business OKRs.
• Being a team player and getting satisfaction from seeing the team succeed.
• The team’s success is my success.
• Owns problems that require coordination across multiple teams, roles and/or individuals.
• Encourages and facilitates creative problem-solving across teams, fostering collaboration to tackle complex challenges with limited resources.
• Independently discovers, scopes and breaks down complex impactful work for self and others, ensuring accountability and inspiring ownership for team outcomes, whilst leading by example during execution.
• A positive, client centric and growth mindset, proactively seeking self-development opportunities to increase impact through quality service delivery.
• Continuous pursuit of innovative solutions.
• Promote and uphold the brand, culture and values.
• Embodying the values of honesty and integrity.

What will you enjoy?

• Participating in and supporting the embedding of a high-performance culture where ownership, speed and agility is required to make an impact and the knowledge that your contribution is valued.
• Learn from organisational experts and having access to a network of seasoned professionals to leverage expertise from.
• Diving into projects that touch the lives of millions. Making a real difference in the lives of people through financial inclusion and education.

You’ll be the best candidate if you have

Qualifications

• CA (SA) Qualification

Experience

• Minimum 8-10 years senior management experience within the Financial Services Industry.
• Excellent leadership, communication and interpersonal skills (influencing and relationship building).
• Strategic thinker with the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Detail-oriented with a commitment to accuracy and pride in quality product delivery.
• Excellent team player with a collaborative approach to working with cross-functional teams.

Knowledge

• Proficiency in financial software and data analytics tools (e.g. SAP, HFM, PowerBI, etc.) – Visualisation & dashboarding.
• Strong knowledge of IFRS and regulatory requirements.
• Strong knowledge of taxation.
• Very Good technical accounting knowledge.
• Knowledge of Sanlam’s financial reporting systems will be an advantage.

Build a successful career with us

We’re all about building strong, lasting relationships with our employees. We know that you have hopes for your future – your career, your personal development and of achieving great things. We pride ourselves in helping our employees to realise their worth. Through its five business clusters – Sanlam Fintech, Sanlam Life and Savings, Sanlam Investment Group, Sanlam Allianz, Santam, as well as MiWay and the Group Office – the group provides many opportunities for growth and development.

Turnaround time

The shortlisting process will only start once the application due date has been reached. The time taken to complete this process will depend on how far you progress and the availability of managers.

Our commitment to transformation

The Sanlam Group is committed to achieving transformation and embraces diversity. This commitment is what drives us to achieve a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace as we believe that these are key components to ensuring a thriving and sustainable business in South Africa. The Group's Employment Equity plan and targets will be considered as part of the selection process.