Senior Financial Officer: Private Wealth at Praesignis

Job Description

• Our client in the banking industry is looking for an experienced Senior Financial Officer: Private Wealth to support financial planning, budgeting, forecasting and reporting. The successful candidate will analyse financial performance, provide insights and recommendations to stakeholders, monitor expenditure and ensure accurate and timely reporting to support business decision-making.
• The ideal candidate will have 3–5 years of experience in financial management, preferably within the financial services industry, along with strong analytical skills, advanced Excel knowledge and a relevant financial qualification.

Key Responsibilities

• Prepare monthly flash reports by analysing trends and cost drivers to forecast financial performance.
• Compare flash results against budgets and previous periods, conducting variance analysis to measure performance and growth.
• Provide financial commentary and interpret results for stakeholders.
• Prepare monthly, ad hoc, financial and non-financial reports by gathering, analysing and interpreting information from various sources.
• Verify and update reporting structures to reflect business changes.
• Forecast annual staff costs and monitor headcount through staff run-rate reporting.
• Monitor and report actual expenditure against budgets for footprint roll-outs.
• Manage financial planning processes, including annual budgets, three-year plans and quarterly forecasts, considering trends, business initiatives, distribution and cost drivers.
• Advise stakeholders on profitability by extracting, interpreting and tracking relevant financial information monthly.
• Align regional business plans with the organisation’s strategy through planning and stakeholder engagement.
• Prepare and present monthly operational committee packs to regional management and executive stakeholders for quarterly business reviews.
• Train and support new and existing stakeholders and line managers on financial management through individual sessions and training.
• Ensure reporting deadlines are met by providing accurate information to the finance team and relevant stakeholders.
• Support branch administration centres in adhering to policies and procedures.
• Track and reconcile expenditure on training, local area marketing and donations to ensure compliance with relevant policies and standards.
• Manage closed-branch processes in collaboration with operations, capital expenditure and channel infrastructure teams to minimise fraud risks and financial losses.
• Keep abreast of relevant legislation, industry developments and regulatory changes affecting the role.
• Maintain and share knowledge with team members to ensure accurate and consistent information.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, systems and policies and support the implementation of improvements.
• Contribute to transformation initiatives, corporate social responsibility programmes and a culture of continuous learning and development.
• Take responsibility for personal development by completing relevant training and maintaining required certifications.

Essential Qualifications

• Advanced Diploma or National First Degree (NQF Level 7).
• Preferred: Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Accounting.

Minimum Experience

• 3–5 years’ experience in financial management, preferably within the financial services industry.

Technical and Professional Knowledge

• Financial analysis and reporting
• Budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis
• Administrative procedures and systems
• Banking procedures and operational processes
• Governance, risk and controls
• Relevant regulatory requirements
• Relevant financial software and systems
• Business writing and reporting
• Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint

Behavioural Competencies

• Building Customer Loyalty
• Communication
• Decision Making
• Initiating Action
• Managing Work
• Quality Orientation