Head of Corporate at Peach Cars KE

Job Summary

Peach Cars is a startup company headquartered in Japan (Japanese entity name: Cordia Directions) with operations in Kenya. Recognizing that buying and selling cars in Sub-Saharan Africa is a fraught process, Peach Cars was founded to radically improve the customer experience with buyers and sellers. Peach is currently revolutionizing car ownership in Kenya through its marketplace purpose-built to connect buyers and sellers of used cars combined with dramatically improved customer experience To date, Peach Cars has built and maintained a system for proper financial management and record-keeping for both entities through a combination of an in-house team of two and external partners. As our teams and operations grow we are experiencing a need to expand this in-house team to keep up with our internal demand. The Head of Corporate at Peach Cars will manage all of the back-office including: payments, accounting and reconciliation, budgeting / forecasting, reporting, legal and regulatory matters and the Finance team - both its efforts individually and its collaborations with other teams across Peach and external stakeholders. We plan to have this individual work out of Japan - with 1-2 trips to Kenya per year. The ideal candidate has 5+ years of work experience in Japan and ideally speaks both Japanese and English at business level. Work experience in Kenya or other African countries and emerging markets is a bonus.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Financial operations and strategy - The Head of Corporate will be required to have a deep understanding of Peach’s financial and accounting records and ensure that all legal and regulatory requirements are met. He/she will lead the team to build proper financial reporting systems, track revenue and costs for the business and perform financial forecasting and budgeting together with the CEO from a leadership perspective. Other responsibilities will include auditing our financial records to find ways to reduce / maintain costs; setting up systems to reconcile and accommodate all payments and expenses; building relationships with external partners such as auditors, banks and regulatory institutions; and creating financial standards and practices within the organization and ensuring they are adhered to via systems and processes co-created with the rest of the organization.
• Manage Legal and Regulatory Compliance: Peach Cars is incorporated in both Japan and Kenya. Meaning, when we file our financials- they must be filed in both countries. This individual will have a solid understanding of regulatory compliance in Japan and is able to build clean systems to ensure compliance in Japan. The individual will also work with the company leadership in managing consolidated company financials with external accountants. 
• Team and company leadership ~  The Head of Corporate will lead the Finance team, responsible for day-to-day efforts and outcomes as well as career growth / professional development of the team. Likewise, should the Finance team require additional capacity, this individual will be responsible for needs scoping and active involvement and decision-making in the hiring process. Additionally, the Head of Corporate will be expected to participate as a strategic thinker and coordinator, using data to pull out insights and ask the next question / take the next step of “So what?”, in conversations with other leaders across Peach to drive positive change(s).
• Relationship Management - Peach is headquartered in Japan and will be seeking to build relationships with Japanese corporations, banks/ financial institutions and other business partners. This individual will be responsible for managing some of these key relationships; making introductions, seeking potential partnerships and generally networking on behalf of Peach. 
• Support our Japanese based team - Peach has a few functions located in Japan - including our entire R&D team. This individual will support with administrative work, coordination between teams (especially teams in Japan and teams in Kenya), and some project management where needed. This individual will provide the senior leadership support where needed from the Japanese side and be a facilitator and on the ground project manager/ go to person for the people working in Japan. 

Requirements 

• Candidates should have at least 5 years’ experience in finance, experience in management is an advantage 
• Candidates must have an undergraduate degree in a business, finance, accounting or related course
• Candidate should be bilingual: Native Japanese and Business English
• CPA or masters certificate is an added advantage
• Candidate must have prior work experience in Japan. Work experience in Kenya or other East African countries and other emerging markets is an advantage 
• Candidates should have knowledge in financial and accounting softwares
• Solid understanding of financial and accounting principles, tax regulations and industry legislations and/or willingness to collaborate with external experts 
• Candidate should have an analytical mind and keen eye for detail and should uphold honesty and transparency values
• Candidates should be able to work as part of a team and have experience managing/mentoring others