Senior Financial Controller, Tax and Compliance, Cluster, SSA

Location: Kempton Park
Time Type: Full Time

Main Purpose of the Role

The Senior Financial Controller, Tax and Compliance, Cluster, SSA oversees tax and statutory compliance, financial controls and governance for assigned entities across Sub-Saharan Africa. The role provides technical accounting and tax guidance, manages compliance risks and supports informed business decisions in collaboration with local and Group stakeholders.

The incumbent acts as a finance compliance and tax subject matter expert, supporting alignment with IFRS, local statutory requirements, applicable tax legislation, Group policies and corporate governance standards.

Tertiary Qualifications

- Preferred academic qualification: a postgraduate qualification in Accounting, Taxation or a related field, such as HDip Tax or MCom Taxation.

- Professional designation or registration: CA(SA), SAIPA membership or registration as a Tax Practitioner is advantageous, not mandatory.

Computer Literacy Level

- Intermediate to advanced proficiency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Outlook.

- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills for financial analysis, reconciliations and supporting schedules.

Additional Computer Skills

- SAP ERP experience is advantageous, not mandatory.

- Proficiency in SARS eFiling and equivalent revenue-authority portals relevant to assigned entities.

Job-Related Requirements

- Advanced knowledge of IFRS and financial reporting.

- Strong knowledge of direct and indirect taxation and tax governance.

- Sound understanding of internal controls, risk management and corporate governance.

- Strong financial analysis, reconciliation and technical writing skills.

- Five to ten years of relevant finance experience, including at least five years in a senior financial control, tax, compliance or finance management role.

- Demonstrated experience in statutory reporting, tax compliance, audits and engagements with revenue authorities.

- Practical experience applying IFRS and managing corporate income tax, VAT and withholding tax requirements.

Added Advantages — Not Mandatory

- Multi-country Sub-Saharan African tax and statutory compliance experience, including engagement with revenue authorities, auditors and professional advisers across jurisdictions.

- Experience in a medium to large multinational, shared-services, regional finance or multi-entity environment; logistics, freight forwarding or supply-chain exposure is an added advantage.

- Experience supporting business acquisitions, legal-entity restructures, integrations or finance transformation projects.

- Experience preparing or reviewing IFRS technical accounting or tax position papers and testing financial controls or remediating audit findings.

- Experience leading or coaching finance, tax or compliance professionals.

- Experience improving tax and compliance processes through standardisation, automation or data analytics.

Duties and Responsibilities

Financial Reporting & Control

- Analyse financial results and communicate material variances, risks and opportunities to management.

- Ensure compliance with IFRS, applicable accounting policies and Group financial reporting requirements.

- Prepare and/or review annual financial statements and coordinate statutory financial reporting for assigned entities, in line with agreed responsibilities and approval requirements.

- Monitor and improve the effectiveness of financial controls, close processes and reporting procedures.

Tax Compliance & Governance

- Manage direct and indirect tax compliance for all assigned entities.

- Prepare or review corporate income tax, provisional tax, VAT, withholding tax, dividends tax and other applicable returns, and coordinate timely submission following the required approvals.

- Prepare or review current tax provisions, deferred tax calculations and related financial statement disclosures for accuracy and completeness.

- Prepare or review tax computations, supporting schedules and reconciliations before submission for approval.

- Support engagements with SARS and other relevant revenue authorities, including audits, verifications, reviews and disputes.

- Monitor legislative developments and assess the operational, reporting and financial impact on the business.

- Assess tax implications of complex transactions and business initiatives, consulting Group Tax and relevant advisers and obtaining required approvals where applicable.

- Coordinate cross-border taxation and withholding tax compliance requirements.

Financial Compliance & Internal Controls

- Implement and monitor Group financial compliance and internal control requirements and develop or maintain local procedures that address entity-specific risks without overriding Group policies.

- Ensure adherence to Group Finance policies, procedures, delegated authorities and approval requirements.

- Conduct periodic reviews of key financial and tax controls and retain appropriate evidence of performance.

- Coordinate remediation of control deficiencies, audit findings and compliance gaps with responsible owners, and track agreed corrective actions to completion.

- Identify financial, tax and compliance risks and implement proportionate mitigation plans.

- Support fraud prevention, governance and segregation-of-duties initiatives.

- Maintain complete and audit-ready supporting documentation and control records.

Audit Management

- Coordinate external and internal audit activities for assigned entities.

- Support liaison with auditors on financial reporting, controls, statutory and tax matters.

- Prepare and review audit schedules, supporting documentation and technical position papers.

- Ensure timely, complete responses to audit queries and escalate unresolved technical matters to the appropriate stakeholders.

Regulatory & Statutory Compliance

- Manage financial and statutory compliance within the role’s remit, coordinating company-law, exchange-control and other specialist regulatory matters with Legal, Treasury and relevant local or Group specialists.

- Coordinate non-tax statutory and regulatory submissions for assigned entities with responsible stakeholders, obtaining required approvals and retaining a complete audit trail.

- Maintain a compliance calendar and monitor filing, payment and reporting deadlines.

- Escalate significant compliance risks, breaches and overdue actions to appropriate management.

Business Support & Advisory

- Provide practical finance, tax and compliance guidance to business units and management.

- Support strategic projects, acquisitions, restructures and integrations within the regional finance remit, coordinating with Group Finance, Group Tax, Legal and Treasury as applicable.

- Support commercial decision-making through financial analysis and tax risk assessments.

- Evaluate proposed transactions for accounting, tax, controls and compliance implications.

- Drive process improvement, standardisation and appropriate automation within the Finance function, including support for system implementations and process migrations.

Other Duties

- Provide coaching, technical guidance and knowledge transfer to Finance and business stakeholders.

- Maintain finance, tax and compliance templates and guidance material to support consistent execution.

- Represent the Tax and Compliance function in relevant regional, Group or cross-functional forums.

- Assist with urgent tax, statutory, audit or regulatory matters and authorised special investigations within the role’s remit and relevant expertise.

- Provide cover for senior Finance team members during peak periods or absences, within relevant expertise and agreed priorities.

- Perform ad hoc financial analysis, technical reviews and compliance assessments within the role’s scope, as requested by management.

- Undertake other reasonable duties aligned with the nature, seniority and objectives of the role.

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