Financial Controller - Africa Region

Company Description

Evolution is a market-leading developer and provider of products and services for online casino entertainment. Our excellence is driven by over 20,000 EVOlutioneers across 40 markets worldwide, working in product innovation, software development, IT solutions, game hosting, and business support. Evolution’s dynamic and creative environment creates a unique opportunity for personal and professional growth.

Our integrated business-to-business solutions guarantee that our clients can always provide an unrivalled online entertainment experience to their players globally. We thrive on remaining an award-winning digital powerhouse of entertainment products and services.

Job Description

Our regional Finance Function provides enhanced financial and commercial support to our local management. We are seeking an experienced Financial Controller for the Africa Region to take ownership of the regional finance function. The role will combine financial controlling, FP&A, commercial business partnering, tax and statutory compliance, revenue and transactional finance, treasury, strategic financial support and managing the forecasting and budget cycle. The successful candidate will work closely with the Africa CEO, Commercial leadership, Group Finance, central financial controlling and billing teams, external accounting, supports the local HR BP on payroll, auditors, regulators, and other key stakeholders across the region.

We are seeking a Financial Controller to take over these functions which include:

FP&A, Performance Monitoring & Business Partnering

• Take responsibility for financial performance monitoring of the African Commercial/KAM teams, including analysis of revenue, GGR, direct promotion costs, Opex and other key financial trends.
• Monitor performance against targets, budgets and forecasts, identifying key variances, risks and opportunities.
• Prepare and deliver monthly management reporting, including GGR, revenue, Opex, Capex and other relevant financial metrics.
• Lead the regional budgeting, forecasting and financial planning cycles across revenue, Opex and Capex.
• Partner with the regional CEO and Commercial leadership to provide meaningful financial and commercial insight, support decision-making and drive effective cost management.
• Provide financial analysis and recommendations to support regional strategy and business performance.
• Support central financial controlling teams with regional analysis and provide insight into contracts and activities managed outside the local teams.

Financial Controllership & Reporting

• Oversee the month-end close process across regional entities, ensuring accurate, complete and timely financial reporting in accordance with IFRS.
• Maintain oversight of balance sheet integrity, including intercompany balances, provisions, allocations and reconciliations.
• Provide IFRS technical guidance on accounting classifications, policy application and emerging accounting standards.
• Coordinate and lead internal and external financial and tax audit processes, acting as the primary point of contact for external auditors.
• Liaise with outsourced accounting providers across South Africa and other African countries and take responsibility for the quality, accuracy and timeliness of their output.
• Ensure appropriate financial controls are maintained across the regional operations.

Tax, Statutory & Regulatory Compliance

• Manage regional corporate tax compliance and obligations, including CIT, VAT and Dividend Withholding Tax.
• Ensure timely and accurate monthly, bi-annual and annual tax and statutory submissions.
• Own and coordinate regulatory reporting to relevant authorities, including SARS, SARB and StatsSA.
• Ensure accurate BBBEE-related financial reporting and support the company's transformation objectives.
• Provide financial information and support to internal compliance teams where required.
• Ensure compliance with applicable financial, tax, regulatory and treasury requirements across the African region in collaboration with the global tax team.

Payroll (System, Compliance and Statutory)

Encompassing \EMP, SDL, UIF, ETI and the following resincluding the following:

• Supporting HR with employee benefit calculations, financial impact assessments, etc.
• Keep up to date with employees tax developments
• Regular StatsSA definition updates to ensure accurate reporting
• Classification (or reclassification) of earnings-, deductions-, company contributions- types, etc. on the SAGE system according to the ITA
• Review of monthly EMP201 submissions, including review of monthly ETI calculations
• Related compliance checks to ensure payroll is accurately and completely recorded and submitted to SARS (e.g. taxable or non-taxable allowances)

Revenue, Billing & Transactional Finance

• Act as the key interface between global billing teams and the local Commercial/KAM teams.
• Oversee the regional billing process, including invoicing, billing controls, financial reporting and system set-up.
• Support debtor collection activities and conduct debtor analysis to identify working capital opportunities and risks.
• Ensure appropriate controls are in place around revenue recognition, billing and related financial processes.
• Provide analysis and insight to central financial controlling and billing teams.
• Provide debtor analysis and debtor reports as required.

Treasury & Cash Management

• Oversee regional treasury activities, including cash flow management, liquidity planning and banking relationships.
• Conduct regular cash flow and debtor reviews to support working capital optimisation.
• Monitor regional cash requirements and ensure appropriate liquidity is maintained.
• Ensure compliance with treasury-related regulatory requirements, including SARB reporting.
• Provide management with timely visibility of cash flow, liquidity and working capital positions.

Strategic, Commercial & Ad-hoc Support

• Provide financial due diligence and commercial analysis for regional transactions, partnerships and strategic initiatives.
• Support procurement processes from a financial control, commercial and compliance perspective.
• Provide ad-hoc financial analysis and participate in projects supporting regional and Group strategic priorities.
• Work closely with Group Finance and other central functions to implement and improve regional finance processes.
• Serve on the Regional Executive Committee (ExCo), supporting corporate governance, strategy, financial policy and decision-making.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, controls, reporting and the overall effectiveness of the regional Finance Function.

Qualifications Requirements and Qualifications:

• Minimum 5 year’s experience in a Financial Controller, Finance Manager or similar senior finance position.
• Strong experience in FP&A, financial analysis, budgeting, forecasting and management reporting.
• Proven experience in financial controllership and month-end reporting.
• Strong knowledge of IFRS and financial accounting principles.
• Experience managing tax, statutory and regulatory compliance in South Africa (African jurisdictions experience would be advantageous).
• Experience with SARS, SARB and other regulatory reporting would be advantageous.
• Experience managing outsourced accounting and payroll providers.
• Experience with payroll systems (e.g Sage 300 People) would be advantageous
• Strong understanding of revenue, billing, working capital, treasury and cash management processes.
• A CA(SA), CGMA or similar recognised accounting/finance qualification is required.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, with other Finance team members located across different countries.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, international and evolving business en