Finance Business Partner at Syngenta

Role Purpose

Reporting to the Head of Finance, East Africa; the role holder is pivotal in the strategic success of the business by providing commercial support with financial insights to the business with an aim of optimizing business decision making and value addition to the business. The commercial insights will be around pricing decisions, direct marketing spends, value chain analysis, distribution account & incentives scheme management.

Accountabilities

• Proactive management of pricing decisions in the business with a view of influencing the delivery of revenue and gross profit of the business.
• Provide insightful analytics on business performance and informing pricing decisions, investment, and innovation decisions.
• Coordinate with the commercial and marketing functions to manage and monitor performance, spends with a view of return-on-investment approach from all commercial activities.
• Lead and coordinate the annual budgeting process of the business between the finance function and other functions.
• Participate in key strategic initiatives of the business to drive efficiencies, growth opportunities, cost control and profitability for the business.
• Maintain integrity of the balance sheet, integrity for the marketing accruals and regular reviews on the same.
• Management of periodic sales monitoring and credit management as per internal guidelines.
• Lead the credit management activities of the business.
• Evaluate the creditworthiness of new and existing customers.
• Develop and enhance business efficiencies and improvements based on best practice and group policies.
• Manage and participate on month end and/or group reporting activities and processes.
• Coordinate with the supply chain department in inventory forecasting with a view of efficient working capital management
• Support finance and commercial functions with all adhoc requirements

Qualifications

Critical knowledge/ qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, or finance or its equivalent and a relevant professional qualification i.e., CPA, ACCA, CIMA,
• Master’s degree is an added advantage
• Excellent knowledge of SAP and MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point i.e., computing skills and presentation skills)
• Excellent knowledge of relevant local/ regional tax legislations
• Excellent understanding of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs)
• Good understanding of business end to end processes and internal controls

Critical Experience

• 6 – 8 years of professional experience in finance (commercial, operations and credit management)
• Significant experience in FMCG/ distribution business and strategic decision making
• Strong business acumen/ commercial experience with a holistic view of the business financial performance
• Significantly developed communication and interpersonal skills
• Highly experienced in stakeholder management (internal and external)
• Team management and leadership skills
• Insight generation/ forward looking mindset with positive financial impact to the business

Critical Success factors

• Commercial analysis and net revenue management
• Sales and operations planning
• Credit management and analytical skills
• Business partnering
• Collaborative and team-oriented mindset
• Project planning and management
• Strong communication and relationships with local and regional senior management and other stakeholders