Africa Controller at GE - General Electric

Role Summary/Purpose:            
Africa Controller provides technical Controllership guidance to both finance and operations leaders for a specialist area within controllership; and/or provides strategic operational controllership leadership for a Region with some complexity, or has sub-region accountability. The regional Controller may manage team of country controllers

Essential Responsibilities:        

• - Establish standard operating procedures (SOPs) for operational and transactional processes impacting the financial statements, including closing, reporting and analysis
• - Drive consistent and effective policies and procedures during monthly/quarterly close process including account reconciliations, account reconciliation audits, GE Corporate Data Request (DR) submissions, representation letters and adjusting entries.
• - Monitor & Drive GE and GE Healthcare corporate initiatives, simplification projects and integration projects. Provide leadership on these projects.
• - Plan and budget the resources necessary to complete all activities on-time and in accordance with authoritative guidance.
• - Ensure that the balance sheet account reconciliations are completed within corporate guidelines
• - Ensure US, GE & local GAAP finance records are maintained in timely, accurate and complete fashion
• - Ensure Controllership & Compliance of all Finance Activities & Documentation within Local Statutory, GE Corporate & Business practices, policies & requirements
• - Ensure compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley 404 requirements
• - Performs quality assurance on all documentation.
• - Research and advise on complex technical accounting issues
• - Support commercial and operations leaders/teams to understand financial/accounting implications of transactions and other matters by providing GE expertise and technical accounting guidance.
• - Reports finance status and key metrics to the Business Regional Controller & Africa CFO
• - Special projects related to internal control over financial operations & reporting as determined by Business Regional Controller & Africa CFO.
• - Drive business growth through simplification processes with P&L and Functional Finance Leaders
• - Participate in annual pre-close, quarterly CFO risk reviews and monthly controllership reviews with key operations and financial management personnel..
• - Partner with GE Corporate Audit Staff and Finance team for internal GE compliance reviews. Drive closure of open audit issues and proactively work to prevent future issues / manage risk. Lead resulting corrective action process implementation and follow up throughout the organization.
• - Perform financial analysis of balance sheet accounts to ensure compliance, integrity of account balances/financial reporting and effectiveness of business processes.
• - Work closely with financial and operational leadership to pro-actively assess and manage financial risk.
• - Identify potential risks & opportunities & and communicate effectively
• - Interpret finance risks & opportunities to local circumstances & present workable solutions

Qualifications/Requirements:

• Bachelors degree in accounting, finance, or other business related field
• 10+ years progressive accounting or finance experience
• Demonstrated proficiency in U.S. GAAP, local GAAP and authoritative accounting literature (i.e. FASB pronouncements) and local statutory

Desired Characteristics:               
CPA / CA or GE Corporate Audit Staff Experience working in a global business environment with sound understanding of global process and transactional flows Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to communicate complex business issues in a clear/concise manner Strong analytical skills: able to clearly link financial results to operational performance drivers, generate alternatives and drive positive change Clear thinking/problem solving: successfully led projects/process improvements within operations/finance functions; able to quickly grasp new ideas Adaptable/Flexible: being open to change in response to new information, different or unexpected circumstances, and/or to work in ambiguous situations Integrity: accepting and adhering to high moral, ethical, and personal values in decisions, communications, actions and when dealing with others Confidence/Assertiveness: strong influencing skills Experience working in a matrixed environment Experience leading in a global business environment; minimum of two years experience leading team members