Chief Financial Officer (CFO) GHPH at Growthpoint Properties

Key Performance Areas

Strategic & Commercial Leadership

• Partner with the Fund Manager and executive leadership to develop and execute GHPH’s long term financial and strategic plans aligned to income, NAV growth and investor returns.
• Evaluate and drive value enhancing opportunities across the income statement, balance sheet, and property portfolio.
• Lead financial evaluation into acquisitions, developments, disposals, restructures, and other strategic initiatives.
• Oversee the financial integration and post-investment performance monitoring of acquired assets and operating businesses.
• Develop and maintain robust financial models, business cases, and performance dashboards to support Board and investment decisions.
• Identify and implement operational and commercial improvement initiatives to enhance profitability, cash generation and capital efficiency.

Financial Governance, Risk & Compliance

• Ensure strong financial governance, delegation of authority, internal controls, and risk management frameworks.
• Oversee compliance with IFRS, statutory requirements, tax legislation, and regulatory frameworks.
• Serve as a key contributor to Audit & Risk, Advisory, and Management Company Operations Committees.
• Manage relationships with external auditors, and advisors.
• Ensure that appropriate company secretarial support is in place and oversee compliance with statutory and governance requirements.
• Maintain an effective financial risk framework covering liquidity, interest rates, funding covenants, taxation, fraud, financial controls and business continuity. 
• Oversee the financial aspects of the property valuation process and ensure consistency between valuations, forecasts, financing assumptions and external reporting. 
• Monitor compliance with loan agreements, investor mandates, Board-approved policies and delegated authorities. 
• Ensure that material financial and control risks are reported promptly to the appropriate governance structures.

Finance Function & Operations Oversight

• Lead all finance, accounting, treasury, and audit activities across the Fund and management companies.
• Oversee budgeting, forecasting, long term financial planning, and cash flow management, including liquidity forecasting.
• Ensure accurate and timely monthly and quarterly management accounts, variance analysis, and reporting to EXCO, Board, and investors.
• Ensure optimal tax structuring and VAT treatment.
• Oversee payroll, fixed assets, capital expenditure accounting, and property level financial reporting.
• Drive the development, integration, and optimisation of financial systems and ERP platforms.
• Establish clear financial oversight and reporting standards for property assets, management companies, joint ventures and operating investments. 
• Oversee rent, debtor and cash-collection reporting, including arrears, impairments and tenant credit risk. 
• Maintain rolling liquidity, covenant and interest-rate forecasts and recommend appropriate funding and hedging strategies. 
• Ensure effective financial controls over development expenditure, capital projects and major operating-business expenditure. 
• Oversee finance-service arrangements with Growthpoint group functions and external service providers, including service levels and cost allocation.

Reporting & Investor Relations

• Prepare interim and annual financial statements.
• Lead the annual audit process and facilitate all requirements of the external audit team.
• Lead the preparation and quality assurance of financial information for Boards, committees, investors, lenders and other stakeholders. 
• Support the Fund Manager in investor engagement and capital raising by providing accurate, consistent and decision-useful financial information, forecasts and models. 
• Participate in investor and lender engagements on financial performance, funding, forecasts, governance and risk matters. 
• Ensure consistency between statutory reporting, management reporting, investor communications and underlying financial records.

Digital Enablement & Continuous Improvement

• Develop and execute a finance technology and data roadmap covering ERP integration, reporting automation, data governance and business intelligence. 
• Strengthen the integrity, consistency and accessibility of financial, property and operating-business data. 
• Automate repetitive processes while maintaining appropriate segregation of duties, access controls and audit trails. 
• Establish scalable finance processes capable of supporting portfolio growth, new entities and operating-business acquisitions.

Leadership & People Development

• Build, lead, and develop a high performing finance team through coaching, mentorship, and clear development pathways.
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Support succession planning and the development of a strong talent pipeline within finance and governance functions.
• Promote effective collaboration between finance, asset management, operations, investments, treasury and Growthpoint group functions.

Requirements
Knowledge

• Deep understanding of property fund structures, capital markets, and regulatory environments.

Job Specific Skills

• Strong technical knowledge of IFRS and financial reporting. 
• Commercial evaluation of acquisitions and operating businesses. 
• Property valuation and investment-return analysis. 
• Tax and transaction-structuring capability. 
• Strong financial modelling, data analytics, systems and business-intelligence capability. 
• Ability to communicate complex financial matters clearly to non-financial decision-makers.
• Strategic thinking with the ability to translate strategy into execution.
• Advanced problem-solving and decision-making skills.

Competencies

• Strong leadership, influencing, and stakeholder engagement capability.
• High levels of integrity, accountability professional
• judgement, and governance orientation.
• Strategic and commercial thinking. 
• Sound judgement and decision-making under pressure. 
• Constructive challenge and professional independence. 
• Ability to balance strong governance and risk discipline with commercial decision-making. 
• Ability to operate effectively in a lean, hands-on executive environment.

Experience

• Minimum 10 years relevant post articles experience, with at least 6 years in senior financial leadership roles.
• Minimum 7 years’ experience in property, investment funds, infrastructure, or another asset-intensive operating environment
• Proven track record in financial strategy, treasury, IFRS reporting, governance, tax, audit and stakeholder management.
• Experience supporting acquisitions, due diligence, transaction structuring and post-acquisition integration. 
• Experience engaging with Boards, audit and risk committees, investors, lenders and external auditors.
• Experience in regulated,  high growth or complex operating environments is advantageous
• Exposure to REITs, unlisted funds, property valuations or healthcare operating businesses would be beneficial.

Education

• Chartered Accountant (CA(SA)) qualification is essential

Internal Liaison

• Board of Directors and Board Sub-Committees
• Executive Committee
• Head of Fund Management, Fund Manager and Senior Leadership
• Finance, Treasury, and Operational Teams.

External Liaison

• Regulators
• External auditors
• Banks and Lenders
• Investors and Shareholders
• Industry Bodies (e.g. SA RIET Association)