Principal Specialist: Record to Report at Vodacom

Role Purpose:
Business excellence team within the Group International Business is responsible for delivering the Africa hub centralisation of the COE for FinOps. The team’s value proposition:

• Process Excellence: Efficiency and effectiveness of business processes and systems. Define best practices, frameworks & policies. Drive standardisation and alignment of best practice.
• Governance and Controls: Design and implement risk management and controls to ensure compliance
• Innovation: Define and implementation of strategic and transformational targets leveraging on technology and best practices
• Financial Value: Support between operational, accounting teams, group and local market ensuring integrity and compliance of financial reporting
• To be successful the individual will have a solid understanding of Record to Report, Commissions including A&R; and Inventory Accounting; systems across an integrated systems landscape which incorporates several complementary business solutions and their respective interfaces. They will enjoy problem solving; understand performance metrics for world class organization and compliance (such as Internal Audit, Sox). They will support the FinOps International Business team across African Opcos. Interaction with Shared Service centres, Corporate Services, Group Financial processes, local markets leadership teams, Internal and External Audit will be essential.

Your responsibilities will include:
Financial Reporting Assurance

• Leadership in risk management, internal controls and operational efficiency in Record to Report, Commissions including A&R; and Inventory Accounting
• Strategic oversight, cross function collaboration, and continuous improvement on assurance frameworks
• Drive adherence to IFRS and Vodacom accounting standards
• Identify, assess and mitigate financials risk by ensuring accuracy and integrity of the balance sheet through meticulous reconciliation and verification
• Effectively drive action plans on aged/ unidentified balances with account owners/ head of finance
• Develop process compliance frameworks: Follow up on identified control and audit risks as well as review and propose changes to relevant policies to reflect Vodafone Way principles and tax, legal statutory requirements. Deliver control review activities in accordance with SOX regulations and Vodafone Group policies.
• Develop and implement risk mitigation strategies, including process improvements, internal control enhancements, and reporting procedures
• Monitor and report on the effectiveness of risk mitigation measures, adjusting as needed
• Coordinate with internal auditors, SOX, Group Risk, ensuring smooth and efficient audits and timely resolution of audit findings
• Drive the implementation of changes required due to regulations.

Manage the execution of strategic projects:

• Lead the prioritisation and implementation projects
• Effectively manage Strategic projects, ensuring stakeholder buy-in and minimal disruption
• Develop and implement communication plans to keep stakeholders informed of progress and anticipated outcomes
• Drive the business case development and return on investment

Performance Management and Reporting:

• Enhance financial reporting processes to provide real time insights
• Drive data-driven decision making is embedded in financial operations
• Regularly monitor and report on performance against KPIs, providing insights and recommendations for improvement
• Analyse data to identify trends and opportunities for service optimisation
• Champion a data-driven culture within the finance department by promoting the use of data analytics tools and insights
• Develop and implement dashboards and reporting systems that provide real-time financial visibility and support informed decision-making
• Partner with data analysts to extract valuable insights from financial data to drive strategic initiatives

Stakeholder Management:

• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders across the organisation, fostering a deep understanding of their needs and expectations
• Collaborate with stakeholders identify and drive the development of solutions that would cater to their business needs
• Effectively communicate the value and impact of service delivery initiatives
• Proactively address stakeholder concerns and ensure their satisfaction with service quality

The ideal candidate for this role will have:

• Chartered Accountant (Essential)
• SAP certification (Desirable)
• Minimum of 10+ years relevant experience in a finance environment (Essential)
• Performance Management and Reporting (e.g. based on identified KPIs) experience
• Working across multinational

Job-Related Skill

• SAP ERP knowledge
• Project Planning
• System implementation experience
• Excellent facilitation skills
• Communication – written or oral (the ability to speak and write in a clear, concise and fluent manner to both individuals and groups)
• Planning
• Change management
• Aptitude for fostering positive relationships
• Problem solving
• Teamwork
• The ability to explain complex information clearly and simply
• Operational excellence and attention to detail
• Ability to adapt quickly in a new environment and work on multiple systems/platforms
• Ability to communicate financial information with non-finance employees
• Ability to effectively communicate across all levels

Job Knowledge

• Knowledge of Finance Operations in a Shared Service centre, supporting multiple companies and countries
• Knowledge of Key performance indicators used within the organisation to drive business decisions
• SOX & IFRS specifically in Record to Report, Commissions including A&R; and Inventory Accounting
• Excellent SAP & HFM skills
• Understand business impact of the respective elements of local and global initiatives/projects
• Technical knowledge/experience of related systems (incl. interfaces)
• Post go live support