BA East Africa Finance Head at Syngenta

Description

Role Purpose

• Act as the key partner to Business Area Head and together with respective Busines Area Leadership Team drive strategy and delivery of financial targets
• Full accountability to manage P&L and deliver financial targets for respective Business Area and credit management activities
• Manage statutory and tax accounting processes in BA and related compliance activities
• Active participation in the development and implementation of the relevant operational plans to ensure clarity of the financial impact, including support of evaluation of new businesses and models
• Through appropriate balance of short, medium, and long-term financial planning and monitoring
• drive effective and efficient delivery of business goals with sound financial analysis and advice,
• drive the delivery of budgets and forecasts,
• challenge the resource allocation and income generation pro-actively raising issues and driving resolution.
• Provide management with sound risk-based analysis on potential impacts, implications and propose potential ways to mitigate risks on key economic and commercial exposures.
• Drive productivity and simplification in finance and related business processes in the relevant functional/business scope
• Support / lead as appropriate BA strategic initiatives and projects or beyond assigned BA depending on the business needs
• Implement effective governance model in BA driving full compliance of activities and processes for group and local purposes.
• Ensure implementation of and alignment with global and regional finance initiatives

Accountabilities

• Represent Finance function to the Business Area Leadership Team
• Support development and implementation of respective strategies for assigned Business Area
• Utilizing key agronomic indicators, deliver 5-year plans and budgets. Ensure effective resource prioritization based on sound risk-based cost / benefit analysis
• Provide business management with sound risk-based analysis on potential impacts, implications and propose potential ways to improve risk management on key economic exposures
• Provide functional expertise in key projects within BAs or specific regional projects
• P&L accountability for the Business Area; drive actions to support stronger cash-flow generation for the company, including optimization of working capital
• Act as Productivity Ambassador; help origination to embrace Productivity mindset across all teams in Business Are
• Lead financial processes across P&L scope connecting with various stakeholders
• P&L and working capital management
• Latest Outlook and Risks & Opportunities management
• Coordinate planning cycle: sales and GP forecast, S&OP preparation
• Lead the annual budget preparation process
• 5-Year-Plan preparation and strategy co-creation with Business Area Leadership Team(s)
• Co-create and review commercial terms and policies (price model, i.e. discounts / rebates / incentive plans), contracts, support of commercial processes (e.g. Battle Plans, in-season commercial terms tactics) and new business models (financial consideration and frameworks for strategic business projects)
• Manage credit & collection activities
• In collaboration with Finance Operations team, act as Company assets custodian, ensure proper accounting policies, effective process governance and Control Framework maintained in the area of responsibility
• Member and active contribution in BA Leadership Team & BU AME Finance Leadership team
• Ensure local statutory and tax books are complete and accurate on a real time basis and get submitted to appropriate authorities on time and according the valid standards. This relates to all statutory and tax filings (corporate income tax, local statistics, local taxes, VAT related taxes, etc.).
• Ensure assets and liabilities in the balance sheet represent a true and fair value in compliance with local statutory and tax principles and guidelines.
• Ensure governance model is executed and related processes are fully compliant with group and local policies / regulations.
• Ensuring a good internal control framework & ultimately accountable for following through on all relevant compliance issues.
• As a Board member, take accountability and ownership for financial matters of the legal entity. If not as member of the Board, ensure effective stakeholder communication towards Board of Directors regarding finance matters of the legal entity.
• Be a sound and responsive face to local legal, tax and external audit bodies, including facilitating tax audits.
• Lead/participate in projects either from a license to operate or operational excellence perspective.

Critical success factors & key challenges.

• Finance expertise and advice to business, support of decision-making process.
• Driving use of risk management, financial modelling tools & techniques.
• Strong business acumen and understanding of end-to-end implications of commercial decisions
• Collaboration and agility mindset

Qualifications

Qualifications

• BSc. in Finance, Commerce, Economics or its equivalent.

Knowledge, Experience & Capabilities

Critical Knowledge

• Sound knowledge of business and industry drivers
• Effective finance management of a business with full P&L responsibility
• Best practices for the development of annual budgets, latest estimates and financial planning
• Financial modelling
• Commercial finance (commercial terms, pricing, campaign planning)
• Ability to understand, communicate and manage complex cross-functional issues
• Solid understanding of local Generally Accepted Accounting Policies
• Solid understanding of legal entity governance framework (roles / accountabilities of BOD, LELT), business end to end processes and internal controls necessary to safeguard the Company’s assets.

Critical Experience

• A finance professional with 8+ years of experience in different areas of business finance and controlling, Stat & Tax and Finance Operations activities
• Experience in working with cross functional teams and ability to work with all levels of the organisation
• Experience in influencing key stakeholders towards adopting and aligning to relevant procedures and tools
• Exposure to commercial operations
• Experience in working with multi-cultural and virtual teams, coordination of work of others without direct reporting line

Critical Technical, Professional and Personal Capabilities

• Wide knowledge of finance (financial analysis, investment analysis, valuation analysis, risk management, budgeting / planning).
• Influencing, teamwork skills
• Successfully communicate ideas that proactively challenge business.
• High focus and energy with a pragmatic mind set and solution-oriented approach
• Strong collaboration mindset and ability to work in matrix organisation
• Technology savvy, drive for digitalisation
• Keen demonstrated strengths in unquestionable integrity and trustworthiness.
• Experience in working in multinational organizations with emphasis on communicating and decision making with demonstrated ability to work under pressure. Must be motivated by interdependency.
• Appreciates cultural differences.
• Can manage teams in a virtual environment

Critical Leadership Capabilities

• Customer management: ability to interact and influence at different levels within the organization
• Judgment: provides timely and good decisions that are respected by the business, involves stakeholders to enhance the decision-making process
• Insight generation: brings forward looking mindset to business, generate insights and identify financial impacts

Additional Information

• Manage Commercial Finance & Accounting team