Junior Financial Manager (CA(SA)) at Helderberg Personnel

• Somerset West. A leading Western Cape fruit exporter is appointing a Financial Manager to partner closely with the CEO, FD and operational teams to drive financial discipline, visibility and decision-making across the operational value chain.
• This is an ideal opportunity for a newly qualified CA(SA) who wants to move beyond pure reporting and become commercially and operationally involved in a fast-paced, seasonal agri environment.

Key Responsibilities
Operational Finance Partnering 

• Act as the finance partner to operations and packhouse management, supporting performance and decision-making.
• Travel to the packhouse weekly to engage with operational teams, validate information, and support operational reporting.
• Develop and maintain operational dashboards and management reporting (throughput, yields, labour/packing costs, variances).
• Support budgeting, forecasting and seasonal planning, aligned to operational realities and export requirements.
• Analyse operational costs and variances; identify inefficiencies, risks and improvement opportunities.
• Strengthen financial controls and processes across operational workflows (approvals, cost tracking, documentation, reconciliations).
• Support profitability analysis (product/pack formats, cost-to-serve, supplier/service provider impacts) where applicable.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives across finance and operations.

Governance Support (Company Secretarial)

• Maintain company secretarial administration and governance documentation as required (records, meeting packs, minutes/resolutions, statutory filings), in collaboration with the CEO/FD and external advisors where applicable.

General / Ad Hoc

• Support the CEO and FD with operational projects, reporting packs and decision support as required.
• Uphold strong confidentiality, integrity and professionalism.

Minimum Requirements

• CA(SA) qualification – essential (newly qualified / early post-articles welcome).
• Strong analytical capability and ability to translate financial data into operational insights.
• Comfortable working on-site and building relationships with operational teams.
• Strong Excel and reporting skills; ERP/accounting system exposure advantageous.
• Valid driver’s licence and willingness to travel to the packhouse.
• Based in the Western Cape or willing to relocate.

Experience Advantageous

• Audit/assurance articles with exposure to operations-heavy clients (manufacturing, logistics, agriculture, FMCG).
• Exposure to costings, operational reporting, internal controls or process improvement.
• Any experience in agri-business, exports, packhouses, or seasonal operations.

Personality & Fit

• Hands-on, practical and curious — enjoys understanding “how the business runs” on the ground.
• Proactive and solutions-driven; able to work independently and manage priorities in season.
• Strong stakeholder management — comfortable engaging with both executives and shop-floor/packhouse teams.
• High integrity and strong attention to detail.

Measures of Success

• Improved operational reporting and decision-making visibility.
• Stronger cost control, clean data flows and effective operational financial controls.
• Insightful analysis and practical recommendations that improve efficiency and margin.
• Governance/secretarial admin handled reliably and on time.

Closing Date: 2026-02-28