Head of Operational Finance at Vector Logistics

Job Purpose

• Create the Financial, Operational Strategy of all the regions nationally, together with all Regional Management Executives, the finance director, operations director & CFO.
• Provide leadership and guidance to all Regional Finance and Operational teams.
• Projects – research, investigate, and motivate cost improvements and solutions for the various operations.
• Strategically plan and assign resources for the region to achieve the required goals.
• Implement and ensure compliance across all functions.
• Manage and coordinate regional financial support to the Business.
• Review Financial and Operational reporting for the region including variance analysis to provide accurate and timeous operational financial reporting.
• Ensure Corporate Governance compliance across the region.
• Ensure compliance with External and Internal Audit requirements & findings
• Assessment and prevention of risk in the region.
• Coordination and control of the region’s budget preparation and finalization.
• Daily operational decision making.
• Ensure adequate controls in place to monitor and safe keep assets.
• Implement monitoring systems to ensure compliance.

Key Responsibilities
Strategic and Technical Contribution

• Together with the Finance Director, co-create and drive the formulation and implementation of the national financial and commercial strategy, based on a 1-to-5-year view of requirements.
• Ensure that assigned and agreed strategic targets are operationalized and achieved.
• Provide and promote the commercial perspective in the overall Vector growth strategy.
• From engagement with functional leadership, drive the provision of strategic commercial and Operations financial support, and constantly evaluate alignment and execution against Business requirements.
• Work closely with the senior leadership and cross-functional management teams to ensure the delivery of an integrated commercial strategy and to identify commercial opportunities.

Budgeting and Forecasting

• Coordinate and control all regions budget process and delivery within deadlines.
• Oversee the consolidation of the budget input from the various businesses and sense check reasonableness.
• Provide input regarding the formulation of the operational budgets.
• Coordinate the Capex budget within agreed parameters.
• Liaise with the project steering committee regarding the prioritization of projects based on return on investment, risk etc. and for guidance on the Capex budget and forecasts.
• Ensure that expense budgets are based on agreed economic indicators.
• Report the budget in the required format and present it to the Executive team.
• Draft the executive summary and ensure that the final budget document/presentation reflects the strategic intent and adequately communicates the year’s ‘story’ and explains major variances.
• implement and control a monthly cost forecasting process.
• Provide insight and interpret the impact of key cost drivers on profitability at a leadership level.
• Review the monthly reports detailing customer and principal sales and performance and engage with the senior leadership of the Business regarding any opportunities.
• Monthly and Annual Financial Reporting Coordinate the monthly financial close with Operations and approve expenses in accordance to LOA.
• Perform comparative analyses of results to budget, forecast, and last year to test accuracy and reasonableness.
• Oversee prompt resolution of queries / reconciling items.
• Assess the level of accruals held for operational expenditure each month to cover timing differences
• Provide input to the National managing executives for commentary on monthly reports.
• Manage the year-end audit process to ensure deadlines are met at the operations, including year-end stock counts.
• Through regular review, ensure that there are no high-risk audit exceptions for the attention of the audit committee.
• Governance Compliance Ensure compliance with IFRS, the Income Tax Act and Business-wide operational procedures internal controls.
• Ensure national compliance with Capex application and procure to payment processes.
• Ensure post-implementation audits are completed, and results are submitted and distributed accordingly.
• Returnable Packaging Management Manage and oversee the CHEP performance against contract and the associated pallet holdings per site based on volumes moved and days per site.
• Ensure appropriate controls are in place in the operations to manage pallets including the timely collection of pallets from customers.
• Drive pallet cost reductions.
• Accounts Receivable Support Support the accounts receivable process by ensuring that each trip is effectively reconciled, and PODs are scanned and stored on sap.
• All claims must be reviewed and closed out with a 7-day period.
• Asset Management Oversee the management of all assets across all sites, including inventory.
• Ensure the assets are fairly reported in SAP through periodic asset verifications and compliance with IFRS principles.
• Ensure that Fixed asset movements are recorded accurately and on time
• Ensure that the WIP accounts are reviewed and actioned every month
• Ensure compliance with stock count procedures.
• Staff Leadership Lead and develop geographically spread teams within the context of the Labor Relations Act, Employment Equity Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Skills Development Act.
• Monitor staff performance and provide regular feedback.
• Manage staff activities, ensuring service levels are met and protocols are adhered to.
• Coach and support staff where necessary to achieve objectives.
• Manage staff leave and general time management issues in line with organizational deliverables and standards.
• Manage and deliver on succession plans to enable the development of a future generation of leaders and specialists and ensure optimal turnover and retention levels are maintained.
• Champion staff training and development through the utilisation of available training opportunities or contributing to the development of new training solutions in collaboration with national training specialists.
• Conduct regular performance appraisals with subordinates.
• Establish sound staff and labour organising and communication structures and systems.
• Lead the team towards meeting the strategy and targets through regular communication and utilisation of the full organisational talent management tool set.
• Develop and manage high performance multidisciplinary teams in order to solve problems within the commercial arena.
• Conduct regular meetings and ensure that records are kept and shared across the team and that action plans agreed to within team meetings are delivered upon.

Key Relationships
Internal

• Divisional Finance Executives.
• Extended Management Teams.
• Operations Managers and Financial Managers.

External

• Legal representatives.
• Auditors.
• Suppliers.

Qualifications
Qualifications and Experience
Qualifications, Skills and Experience Required for the Job

• A relevant BCOM or CIMA qualification.
• 10 years’ experience, 5 of which a senior level, managing large teams.
• SAP experience would be advantageous.
• Experience in leading large teams and effectively collaborating.

Competencies

• Business and Financial Acumen
• Deep understanding of operational finance, commercial drivers, and cost levers.
• Ability to translate financial data into actionable business insights that influence decision-making and performance.
• Leadership and People Management
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to lead, coach, and develop a geographically dispersed team.
• Promotes a culture of accountability, excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Analytical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Advanced financial modelling, forecasting, and variance analysis skills.
• Strong critical thinking ability to assess risks, identify opportunities, and resolve complex issues proactively.
• Execution and Delivery Orientation
• Drives performance through clear goal setting, follow-through, and results orientation.
• Ensures consistent application of controls, policies, and processes across regions.
• Change Agility
• Capable of leading through change and uncertainty while keeping teams engaged and aligned.
• Advocates for innovation and continuous improvement within the finance function.

Skills

• Feasibility and appraisal methods.
• Verbal and written communication.
• Computer literacy (MS Office and especially proficiency in Excel).
• Report writing.
• Interpersonal relations.
• Negotiation.
• Logical thinking.
• Problem solving.
• Decision-making.
• Analytical thinking.
• Presentation.
• Strategic influencing.
• Lateral and innovative thinking.
• Organisational awareness.
• Ability to leverage technology.