FP&A & Finance Business Partner Lead

About the role

The FP&A Lead leads the affiliate performance agenda by combining commercial, demand and financial information into one forward-looking view of the business. The role covers affiliate planning and consolidation, regional submissions and team leadership, and acts as a strategic finance partner to commercial leaders across South Africa and Region Africa. It ensures recommendations to the Finance Director are commercially relevant, financially sound and backed by a reconciled affiliate view.

Key responsibilities

• Lead affiliate planning and forecasting, managing the monthly Latest Best Estimate (LBE), annual Plan and Long-Range Plan (LRP), including calendars, assumptions, business input reviews and a reconciled affiliate view.
• Partner with Business Unit Directors and commercial leaders to turn performance into insight, challenge assumptions and evaluate investments, pricing, portfolio choices and business cases.
• Integrate actual results, forecasts, risks and opportunities, explain key drivers and recommend actions that improve performance and predictability.
• Evaluate and reconcile business-unit, demand and cross-functional inputs so that regional submissions and responses are accurate, consistent and timely.
• Review and endorse Finance recommendations before they go to the Finance Director for approval or decision.
• Set priorities for Finance Managers and the Demand Manager, allocate capacity, delegate and coach the team.
• Clarify ownership across Finance, give direction and quality oversight, and simplify, standardize or eliminate reports, models and processes that do not support decision-making.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting or a related discipline; a CA(SA), CIMA, CPA, MBA or equivalent is advantageous.
• Progressive experience in financial planning and analysis and commercial finance in a complex, matrixed organization; pharmaceutical or healthcare experience is advantageous.
• Demonstrated capability in forecasting, affiliate consolidation, financial modelling, performance analysis and executive-level communication.
• Ability to lead a team, delegate and challenge senior stakeholders constructively.

Required skills

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience with SAP, planning systems and data-visualization tools such as Power BI is advantageous.