Commercial Finance Manager - WCA at GE - General Electric

Role Summary/Purpose:    
The West Central Africa Commercial Finance Manager will provide commercial finance and Financing support to the LCT & Africa Zone business leadership to drive increased visibility into operating performance with the goal of supporting revenue growth and increased profitability of the platform.

Essential Responsibilities:    

• One-on-One Partner with the GM and his/her staff to drive operating performance & act as champion for pricing, preparation of sales plan/monthly estimation of revenue to standard margin,
• Playing a key role in development & execution of structured finance solutions for customers. Ability to interact with financing partners & banks and develop products under the oversight of the Africa CFO and the Global Financing Organisation.
• Defining the overall strategy and vision of West Central Africa through very close cooperation with the LCT GM.
• Proactively recognize standard revenue recognition practices in close cooperation with Controllership, deal escalation, contribution margin walks.
• One-stop Finance Rep towards the GM and external partners – being amongst other things the link to the central FP&A teams.
• Close cooperation with EAGM, Africa zone and local Controllers
• Strong contributor to Africa & EAGM FP&A for developing estimates, operating plans/forecasts/reviews Driving profitable growth by providing analysis of results and reporting key metrics while advising the West Central Africa leadership team on risks and opportunities, as well as recommending actions
• Effectively manage, and coordinate the commercial finance activities across the region.
• Provide financial analysis and insight in support of business decision making needs, including evaluation of major risks and opportunities
• Help define the IT platform and requirements to support analysis, improve data visibility and ensure controllership
• Lead cross-functional projects focused on improving rigor in key Finance processes, reducing costs & improving profitability, such as Pricing, Warranty Accounting, Inventory
• Ensure Integrity is upheld throughout all processes, policies and practices, by ensuring appropriate communication, training and prioritization of related activities.
• Support the cash initiatives across the Cash / Credit / Risk Manager
• Actively manage distributor performance, specifically on cash, through frequent direct interaction.
• Help manage the GOF relationship by driving better quality input and monitoring and working collaboratively to improve GOF output.

Qualifications/Requirements:    

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration and minimum of 15 years of financial and/or Commercial work experience;
• Experience within a commercial bank, trade finance or risk functions; or relevant Sales & Project Finance experience in a multi-national environment.
• Demonstrated experience and understanding of Accounting Principles and Controllership
• Compliance in challenging countries
• Strong analytic skills: able to clearly link financial results to operational performance drivers, generate alternatives and drive positive change
• Clear thinking / problem solving: successfully led cross-functional projects/process improvement within operations/finance function involving process improvement; able to quickly grasp new ideas
• Strategic thinking/Able to understand market and financial trends and be able to recommend programs and tools to promote sales and services
• Excellent communication skills: experience working across multiple levels (including executive level), functions and regions; able to clearly communicate complex financial information in a easy to understand manner; able to deliver message effectively verbally and in writing
• Experience in presenting to high level management of private and government customers
• Proven Track record of working successfully in a very diverse international and cross-cultural environment, ideally some years of residence / work in one of the larger markets of the region
• Solid PC skills: experience with financial systems/applications, strong Excel skills in data compilation and aggregation
• Integrity: Accepting and adhering to high moral, ethical, and personal values in decisions, communications, actions, and when dealing with others

Additional Eligibility Qualifications:    

Desired Characteristics:    

• Experience of BD / Due Diligence and Risk assessment
• Demonstrated GE values and growth traits
• Confidence / Assertiveness: strong influencing skills across business functions; confidence to approach business leaders with difficult messages and defend position; for example, work closely with business leaders to achieve business objectives while driving controllership/GE Values
• Experience working in global business environment with sound understanding of global process and transactional flows
• Adaptable/flexible: being open to change (positive or negative) in response to new information, different or unexpected circumstances, and/or to work in ambiguous situations
• Flexible in traveling in and outside West Central Africa & the wider EAGM region.
• Trained and/or certified in process improvement methodology such as LEAN or Six Sigma
• Graduate of GE's Financial Management Program (FMP), Experienced Financial Leadership Program (EFLP) or Corporate Audit Staff (CAS); or graduate of other financial leadership programs of other companies
• Masters’ degree in Business Administration

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