Executive Head: Treasury at Vodafone Global Enterprise

Role purpose:

• Oversee the centralised cash pooling in South Africa, in line with group treasury policy, i.e. iro security, liquidity and yield
• Review cash flow forecasts and monitor on-going liquidity requirements across main SA entities and African entities
• Effectively support external bi-annual dividend distributions, bi-annual tax payments and other major payments throughout the year by ensuring sufficient cash collected via the centralised treasury function

Your responsibilities will include:

• Investigate available options and internal and external sources of funding to finance mainly capital expenditure and mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) across the Vodacom group of companies. Structure each loan or preference share funding transaction in the most optimal way
• Review and negotiate agreements and borrowing margins
• Build and maintain ethical and sound relationships with banks and other lenders
• Drive reduction in and maintain efficient consolidated cost of debt 
• Carry out thorough analysis and prepare robust group board papers on short term borrowings, long term borrowings, debt maturity profile and fixed-floating mix
• Responsible for determining IFRS16 discount rates for African markets and liaising with auditors on how the rates were arrived at
• Ensure that group capital structure is aligned with both business strategy and financial policy, both medium and long term
• Monitor and manage various borrower’s covenants ratios with various stakeholders
• Integral to the YeboYethu preference share funding program, meeting the bi-annual priority of payments, managing the preference share agent relationship and contributing to the board papers 
• Provide information requirements needed to maintain good investor relationships
• Assess requirements for short-term and long-term inter-company funding;
• Fully understand the Companies Act, as amended, Section 45 for related and inter-related financial assistance and prepare robust board papers for regular and ad hoc financial assistance
• Undertake benchmarking exercises to ensure arms-length pricing for internal and external funding 

Analyse and interpret all financial risks, adhere to policies and employ measures to mitigate these, paying particular attention to:

• Interest rate risk
• Foreign exchange risk (transactional hedging and dividend inflow hedging)
• Counterparty risk (e.g. bank risk assessments) for operational cash and M-Pesa customer funds
• Carry out an annual review of treasury’s Delegation of Authority (“DOA”) and group treasury policy and African treasury policies (i) to ensure full alignment with Vodafone group policy and (ii) to strengthen or reformulate the policy if necessary (based on operational feedback)
• Present proposed policy changes to the board
• Ensure divisional policies and procedures, systems and controls are updated and aligned with group treasury policy at all times
• Ensure that all treasury transactions are accurately recorded
• Attend monthly Finance Exco meetings and present on treasury matters and projects on an ad hoc basis
• Attend monthly M-Pesa Risk and Compliance meetings and M-Pesa Risk and Compliance board meetings on an ad hoc basis
• Provide regular training to African markets on group treasury policy 
• Maintain 
• Understand the SARB regulations on cross-border transactions, foreign direct investments and foreign exchange hedging to provide treasury advice on operational projects and M&A deals
• Prepare SARB applications for loan funding, preference share funding and M&A deals
• Review and approve the issuance of bank guarantees
• Liaise with (i) CFO, ME Legal Affairs, ME Tax on major funding issues (ii) CEO and Op Co MD’s on critical projects (iii) Vodafone Group Treasury and (iv) relevant external stakeholders, as required.

The ideal candidate for this role will have:

• Relevant B. degree or recognised Treasury Qualification 
• Broad business experience with a minimum of 10 years in a treasury environment / corporate treasury role, 3 years of which should have been in a supervisory role. 
• A key expert with in-depth knowledge of treasury management able to support financial directors / executives in all group companies on treasury matters
• Comprehensive knowledge of how corporate funding arrangements contribute to strategic decision making and operational performance across group operating companies
• Responsibility for professional direction within a key expertise area
• Good analytical skills, analysing information and prioritising decisions based on complex dynamic material
• Ability to influence decisions through advice that have  sizeable impact on the availability and management of funding
• Must be able to challenge the advice of bankers pitching trade ideas, funding solutions investment products or derivative hedging solutions
• Provide technical treasury advice to internal customers such as treasury and/or finance managers of operating companies on issues such as what the subsidiaries should do with any surplus cash, funding requirements or new systems and processes
• Requires strong communication and negotiation skills with both internal and external stakeholders.

Leadership Competency Requirements 

• Required to provide professional guidance to, and manage a team of senior specialists / specialists.  Leadership needs to be persuasive, ethical and in line with financial strategy.

Technical / Professional Expertise

• Previous operational and management treasury management experience
• Previous experience with treasury systems 
• Knowledge of company law – legal agreements, loans, bank facilities, share purchase agreements, etc.
• Knowledge of financial regulatory environment and exchange control
• Ability to interpret accounting policies, financial statements
• Knowledge of tax (local and cross border)
• Knowledge of governance and compliance procedures
• Understanding of derivatives

Competency / Performance Drivers

• Problem solving and decision making skills
• Resilience and ability to balance changing priorities and anticipate changing conditions
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Interpersonal skills, team player
• Decision and results-driven
• Ability to manage conflict