Head: Strategic Project & System Support

Head: Strategic Project & System Support

Operating Division: Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager (TRIM)

Employee Group: Permanent

Department: TR-FIN-Financial Accounting/Stat Rep-PKT

Location: Parktown

Reporting To: General Manager: Finance

Grade: C

Reference: req5523

The closing date is on 13/08/2026. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that HR has received the application before the closing date of the advertisement.

Position Purpose

• To lead the Strategic Finance Projects Office, providing the CFO with dedicated execution capacity for high-impact, cross-functional finance initiatives that are critical to TRIM's financial sustainability and rail reform mandate.
• The role is accountable for:

• Executive Support to the CFO – Providing strategic financial analysis, decision support, and project execution capacity to enable the CFO to focus on Board, Regulator, and Shareholder priorities.• Private Sector Participation (PSP) Transactions – Leading the financial structuring, modelling, and business case development for corridor concessions and public-private partnerships.• Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) Funding – Managing TRIM's BFI funding pipeline, including applications to National Treasury, post-approval tracking, expenditure monitoring, and compliance reporting.• Cost Optimisation and Revenue Enhancement – Driving the identification, evaluation, and implementation of initiatives to reduce costs and maximise revenue across TRIM's operations.• Finance Systems and Digitisation – Leading the finance systems transformation agenda, including the migration to SAP S/4HANA, automation, data analytics, and AI implementation.• Special Projects – Providing dedicated capacity for ad-hoc strategic finance projects as directed by the CFO.•This role leads a lean, high-impact team. The incumbent will be accountable for TRIM's finance systems evolution, PSP pipeline, BFI funding cycles, and the continuous pursuit of cost competitiveness and revenue growth. Position Outputs

1. Executive Support to the CFO • Provide strategic financial analysis and decision support to the CFO on Board papers, Shareholder (DOT) reports, and Exco presentations. • Prepare high-quality executive-level presentations, including Board packs, Exco updates, and Department of Transport/ National Treasury updates. • Lead special projects as directed by the CFO, providing dedicated execution capacity for ad-hoc strategic initiatives. • Coordinate cross-functional inputs for CFO submissions, ensuring completeness, accuracy, and alignment with TRIM's strategic objectives. • Act as a trusted advisor to the CFO, providing independent analysis, challenging assumptions and recommending optimal courses of action.

2. Private Sector Participation (PSP) Transaction Leadership • Lead the financial structuring of PSP transactions, including corridors concessions, PPPs, and other private-sector partnership models. • Oversee the development of complex financial models for PSP proposals, including DCF analysis, NPV, IRR, payback periods, and risk adjusted returns. • Lead the preparation of PSP business cases and investment memoranda, presenting findings to TRIM Exco, Group Investment Committee (GIC), and Board. • Support PSP negotiations, providing financial analysis and structuring expertise to the commercial and legal teams. • Manage external advisors, lenders, and potential bidders during the PSP procurement process. • Ensure PSP transactions are bankable for private partners while protecting TRIM's long-term interests and public mandate.

3.Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) Funding Management • Lead TRIM's BFI funding pipeline, including the identification, prioritisation, and preparation of funding applications to National Treasury. • Oversee the development of comprehensive business cases and motivation documents for BFI funding, including cost-benefit analysis, economic impact assessments, and project implementation plans. • Manage post-approval BFI tracking and reporting, ensuring expenditure aligns with approved budgets, milestones, and Treasury requirements. • Ensure full compliance with BFI conditions, including procurement provisions, audit requirements, and performance targets. • Maintain a professional and responsive relationship with National Treasury officials on BFI applications, amendments, and reporting. • Manage the BFI drawdown process, ensuring timely submission of drawdown requests against verified expenditure.

4.Cost Optimisation and Revenue Enhancement • Lead the identification, evaluation, and implementation of cost optimisation initiatives across TRIM's operations. • Oversee the development of financial models to quantify potential cost savings and track actual savings realised against targets. • Lead revenue enhancement initiatives, including pricing reviews, commercial opportunity assessments, and new revenue stream identification. • Establish and maintain a cost and revenue initiative dashboard, reporting progress monthly to the CFO and Exco. • Benchmark TRIM's cost structure against industry peers (local and international) to identify improvement opportunities. • Drive a culture of cost consciousness across TRIM, ensuring accountability for efficiency at all levels.

5.Finance Systems and Digitisation • Lead the finance workstream for the migration from legacy SAP to S/4HANA, ensuring minimal business disruption and full data integrity. • Define and maintain TRIM's finance systems roadmap, updated annually, reflecting emerging technologies, regulatory changes, and business requirements. • Lead the identification and implementation of automation opportunities (RPA, intelligent document processing) to reduce manual effort and improve accuracy. • Lead the deployment of data analytics and business intelligence tools (e.g., SAP Analytics Cloud, Power BI) to provide real-time financial insights. • Develop and maintain a roadmap for AI implementation in finance, including predictive analytics, anomaly detection, and intelligent forecasting. • Manage the relationship with ICTM on finance systems matters, ensuring clear boundaries and effective collaboration.

6.Team Leadership and Capability Building • Lead and develop a lean, high-impact team • Set clear performance objectives and development plans for direct reports, ensuring alignment with TRIM's strategic priorities. • Build internal capability to reduce reliance on external consultants for routine project execution and systems support. • Foster a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and delivery excellence within the Strategic Finance Projects Office. • Represent the Strategic Finance Projects Office at Exco, Group Exco, and other governance forums as required.

7. Governance, Compliance, and Audit • Ensure all PSP transactions, BFI funding, and cost initiatives comply with PFMA, Treasury Regulations, and TRIM's Delegation of Authority. • Maintain a central, auditable repository of all project documentation, business cases, financial models, and approval records. • Identify and manage risks across the Strategic Finance Projects Office's portfolio, escalating material risks to the CFO.

Qualifications and Experience

• Qualified Chartered Accountant (CA(SA)), CIMA (ACMA/FCMA, CGMA), CFA, MBA or Masters in Finance. • 10-12 years of experience in a financial environment, with at least 5 years at a senior management level • Demonstrated experience in PSP/PPP transactions, project finance infrastructure finance is highly advantageous. • Demonstrated experience in managing government funding processes (BFI, Treasury submissions) is highly advantageous. • Demonstrated experience in finance systems transformation (SAPS/4HANA, automation, analytics) is highly advantageous. • Experience in rail, infrastructure, or logistics is highly advantageous, but not essential • Requirement of trust and honesty