Commercial Financial Controller

As a Commercial Financial Controller, you will play a critical role in supporting the commercial team by providing financial insights that drive profitability and optimize net revenue management. Your focus will be on enhancing cost efficiency through smarter management of discounting, trade spend, and promotional effectiveness, ensuring that every Rand spent contributes to improved margins. You will collaborate closely with sales, marketing, and other departments to align financial and commercial strategies. This includes analyzing the impact of pricing, promotions, customer profitability, and product mix, ensuring that financial implications are well understood and integrated into commercial decisions. Your input will be key in evaluating the financial viability of trade spend initiatives and discounting strategies to balance both revenue growth and margin protection.

Responsibilities:

• Support the PS&OP forecasting process with income statement forecasts, working capital forecasts, and gap analysis, focusing on trade spend, pricing, and revenue growth.
• Produce monthly management accounts with variance analysis, focusing on trade spend, pricing, and product profitability.
• Manage the annual budget process, ensuring alignment with revenue, margin, and cost optimization strategies.
• Provide decision-making reports, including product profitability analysis, trade spend efficiency, and post-project appraisals.
• Continuously review accounting practices for trade spend, discounting, and promotional activities to enhance operational efficiency and profitability.
• Assess product costings and trade spend feasibility monthly and ad hoc, aligned with revenue and margin goals.
• Develop cost-effective financial policies, focusing on trade spend management and mitigating financial risks.
• Ensure compliance with financial regulations and best practices, enhancing commercial outcomes.
• Lead ad hoc projects, focusing on trade spend, pricing, and revenue growth initiatives.

Preferred Qualification & Experience:

• CIMA ADV DIP MA or CA(SA) qualification
• 5 years’ management accountant experience within a FMCG/manufacturing environment.
• Experience in working on business management and accounting software

Ideal Competencies Of The Candidate:

• Analytical thinking – You excel at translating complex commercial scenarios, including pricing, trade spend, and discounting strategies, into financial implications, enabling flexible and informed decision-making.
• Process orientation – You continuously review and improve financial processes, particularly around trade spend and revenue management, by applying best practices and a critical, commercial lens.
• Continuous improvement – You consistently focus on optimizing net revenue and margin growth through innovative financial analysis and process enhancements.
• Effective communicator – You not only provide precise financial analysis but also deliver clear, commercially driven insights that influence business decisions positively.
• Proactive and driven – You are a self-starter, energized to tackle challenges, meet targets, and contribute to driving the commercial success and profitability of the business.

Job Type: Permanent

Application Question(s):

• Please state your notice period/availability?
• Please state your current salary?
• Please state your salary expectations?
• Provide an example of how you've improved profitability through managing product porfolios

Education:

• Bachelors (Required)

Experience:

• Manufacturing: 5 years (Required)
• Commercial: 4 years (Required)
• Finance Business Partnering: 4 years (Required)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Johannesburg, Gauteng