Operations Finance Analyst at Highlands Drinks Limited

Key duties and responsibilities

A.Business Performance Management

• Support the preparation and delivery of weekly, monthly, and periodic business performance reviews.
• Monitor and analyse business performance against budgets, forecasts, and key operational targets.
• Evaluate revenue, gross margin, contribution margin, EBITDA, and other key financial and operational drivers.
• Conduct variance analysis to identify underlying trends, risks, opportunities, and performance gaps.
• Partner with functional teams to develop and track action plans aimed at improving business performance and achieving strategic objectives.
• Provide timely, data-driven insights and recommendations to support management decision-making.

Expected Output:

Robust business performance visibility, early identification of risks and opportunities, and actionable insights that support improved operational and financial outcomes.

B.Operational Cost Analytics

• Monitor and analyse key manufacturing and operational cost drivers across the business.
• Evaluate cost per litre, labour productivity, overtime utilisation, casual labour efficiency, and other workforce cost metrics.
• Track operational efficiencies, material usage, waste, losses, and process variances to identify improvement opportunities.
• Support cost optimisation and productivity improvement initiatives through robust financial analysis and performance tracking.
• Assess the financial impact and return on investment of operational improvement projects and business initiatives.
• Provide insights and recommendations to support sustainable cost management and operational excellence.

Expected Output

Enhanced cost visibility, improved operational efficiency, and data-driven recommendations that support productivity improvement and sustainable profitability.

C.Commercial Finance Support

• Analyse customer, channel, route, and product profitability to identify opportunities for revenue growth and margin improvement.
• Support pricing reviews, promotional evaluations, and commercial investment decisions through robust financial analysis.
• Monitor trade spend utilisation and evaluate the return on investment of promotions, activations, and other commercial initiatives.
• Track commercial performance trends, market dynamics, and key business drivers to provide actionable insights and identify growth opportunities.
• Develop and support business cases for new products, customers, channels, and strategic commercial investments.
• Partner with Commercial teams to enhance decision-making through data-driven analysis and performance visibility.

Expected Output:

Enhanced commercial visibility, improved quality of business decisions, and sustainable revenue and profitability growth through effective financial and operational insight.

D.Planning

• Track promotional performance, commercial spend utilization, and return on investment for sales and execution initiatives across modern trade channels.
• Support evaluation of discounts, activations, visibility programs, and customer initiatives to assess commercial effectiveness and execution impact.
• Monitor performance of promotional and execution initiatives and provide recommendations for continuous improvement and optimization.
• Support governance, reporting visibility, and tracking relating to commercial investments, promotional activities, and in-market execution initiatives.
• Support promotion planning processes including pre-promotion analysis, promotion performance tracking, and post-promotion evaluation to assess commercial effectiveness, execution impact, and return on investment.

Expected Output

Robust and reliable financial plans, improved forecast accuracy, and forward-looking insights that support effective business planning and strategic decision-making.

E.Business Intelligence and Reporting

• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve business performance dashboards, scorecards, and management reports to support operational and strategic decision-making.
• Ensure the accuracy, integrity, and consistency of business data through effective validation, reconciliation, and governance processes.
• Analyse financial and operational data to generate actionable insights, identify trends, and highlight opportunities and risks across the business.
• Support the automation and continuous enhancement of reporting processes, tools, and data visualization capabilities to improve efficiency and decision support.
• Provide ad hoc analysis and management information to support business reviews, strategic initiatives, and executive decision-making.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to enhance reporting capability and promote a data-driven performance culture across the organization.

Expected Output

Accurate, timely, and insightful business intelligence that enhances performance visibility, strengthens decision-making, and drives operational and commercial excellence.

F.Business Partnering

• Build strong collaborative relationships with Commercial, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Procurement, HR, and other business functions to support the achievement of strategic and operational objectives.
• Provide independent financial insight and constructive challenge to business assumptions, plans, and investment decisions.
• Partner with functional leaders to identify opportunities for improving profitability, productivity, cost efficiency, and overall business performance.
• Support cross-functional projects, strategic initiatives, and business transformation programmes through robust financial analysis and decision support.
• Promote a culture of accountability and fact-based decision-making by translating complex financial and operational data into clear, actionable insights.
• Assist business leaders in understanding the financial implications of operational decisions and in developing practical solutions to business challenges.

Expected Output

Strong cross-functional partnerships that drive informed decision-making, enhance business performance, and support the delivery of the Company's strategic and financial objectives.

Working relationships

Internal Relationships:

• Business Controller: to support business performance reviews, financial analysis, cost management, forecasting activities, and the delivery of strategic financial insights.
• Head of Finance to provide operational and commercial performance visibility, support decision-making, and contribute to the delivery of the Company's financial and strategic objectives.
• Commercial Team: to support customer, channel, route, and product profitability analysis, pricing evaluations, trade investment reviews, and commercial performance reporting.
• Manufacturing Team: to monitor production costs, cost per litre, labour productivity, operational efficiencies, waste analysis, and manufacturing performance.
• Supply Chain & Logistics: to support inventory analysis, working capital management, stock movement reporting, operational cost visibility, and supply chain performance tracking.
• Procurement Team: to support procurement spend analysis, supplier performance evaluation, cost-saving initiatives, and sourcing decisions through financial insight.
• Senior Leadership Team: to provide accurate management information, business performance dashboards, strategic analysis, and data-driven recommendations that support executive decision-making.

External Relationships:

• Distributors & Trade Partners: to support trade execution tracking, promotional visibility, outlet performance analysis, and market intelligence gathering.
• Merchandising & Field Execution Agencies: to support execution compliance reporting, POSM tracking, activation monitoring, and field visibility initiatives.Knowledge, experience and qualifications required

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Statistics, Business Analytics, Mathematics, or a related business discipline from a recognized institution.

Professional Qualifications

• CPA (K), ACCA, CFA, or equivalent professional qualification (Part Qualified or Qualified) will be an added advantage.
• Additional training in Financial Modelling, Data Analytics, Business Intelligence, or Performance Management will be desirable.

Experience

• Minimum of three (3) to five (5) years' relevant experience in Finance, Commercial Finance, Business Analysis, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Business Controlling, or Operations Finance within a dynamic business environment.
• Experience in FMCG, manufacturing, distribution, or other fast-paced commercial environments will be an added advantage.
• Demonstrated experience in financial modelling, budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, and business performance reporting.
• Proven ability to analyse large and complex datasets and translate them into meaningful business insights and actionable recommendations.
• Experience working cross-functionally with Commercial, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Operations teams to support business planning and decision-making.
• Proficiency in ERP systems, advanced Microsoft Excel, and Business Intelligence tools such as Power BI will be highly desirable.