Associate Manager, Financial Planning Analysis at BIC Nigeria

Job Summary

• The expectation is that the candidate will be an accomplished team-player to help drive the business forward. Forecasting, planning and budget management abilities will be crucial.
• Reporting to the Nigeria Finance Manager, the ideal Financial Analyst would have 5+ years’ experience of Financial planning & Analysis (including the production of monthly management accounts and reporting) with a proven track-record within FMCG environment.
• Must have a good understanding of all functions of the typical accounting department, including accounts receivable, accounts payable.
• Must keep up with a material volume of information, often tracked in complex spreadsheets, thus requiring discipline and methodology.
• Effective communication skills are crucial as she/he must be able to relay difficult, dense information to upper management in a precise and easy-to-understand way.
• Responsible for providing full financial & business analytics and accounting support to the country manager, finance manager and to HQ finance department, ensuring all business decisions are taken with a full understanding of their financial impact.

Main Responsibilities / Tasks

• Plan, collect data and prepare annual budgets/Rolling Forecast, monthly and quarterly financial forecasts, operating plan and modeling tools in conjunction with the Finance Manager and Sales/Marketing teams.
• Submit, follow-up and justify budget components to the local management and to finance team.
• Analyze current and past trends in key performance indicators including all areas of revenue, cost of sales, expenses, and capital expenditures.
• Monitor performance indicators, highlighting trends and analyzing causes of unexpected variance Supervision of Financial Analyst(s).
• Develop analysis of variances against operational plan, rolling forecast and business plan, suggest adequate corrective actions where needed.
• Prepare rebates set-up, ensure proper calculation and manage their payments
• Preparation of working capital analysis, P&L and balance sheet
• Implement and work with a Business Intelligence Tool and Dashboard reports
• Improve performance by evaluating processes to drive efficiencies and understand ROI in marketing programs, menu pricing, new store rollouts as well as new projects
• Develop financial models and analyses to support strategic initiatives
• Providing all departments (sales, marketing, HR, CS & SC…) with the necessary financial analysis and information
• Providing ad-hoc month-end business report analysis to management
• Maintaining Pricing Index, Item Master and Standard Costing Computation.

Key Performance Indicators / Key Figures:

• Timely and Accurate Reporting in the different environments
• KPI = deadline compliance + Post deadline adjustments tracking
• Precision: Highest standards of accuracy and precision; highly well-organized and efficient
• Active involvement in the good communication between finance and other departments.
• Monthly closing on time and with all BIC procedures completed (31 steps in the closing procedure to manage in 4 days)
• Accurate and timely reports on P&L and balance sheets items;
• Completion of tasks within company and legal deadlines/standards;

Qualifications
Candidate Profile: Qualifications / Technical Skills (R = Required  D = Desired):

Simple Criteria:

• R - Bachelor's Degree in Accounting / Economics / Finance
• R - 5+ years’ experience in Financial Planning and Analysis
• R - Fluent in English, People Oriented, Proactive
• R - Exposure and interest to ERP and comfortable with IT.
• R - Exposure in Consumer Products & Retail industry  
• D - Professional Accounting certification such as ACA, ACCA, CFA
• D - MBA in financial management and planning is an added advantage   
• D - JDE, ANAPLAN, S2M & HFM knowledge is a plus
• D - Professional knowledge of French is a plus

Complex Criteria:

• R – Accounting, Financial and Reporting system knowledge
• R - Practical knowledge of Advanced Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills and MS- Access
• R - Cognate skill in Sage Evolution usage
• D - Experience with Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) in a reputable organization
• D - Demonstrated ability to roll-up sleeves and work with team members in a hands-on management capacity
• R - Integrity, Assertive, Approachable, Adaptability
• R - Committed and involved to transformation/cultural change
• R - Self-motivated, detail-minded, well organized, responsible and willingness to learn
• R - Must be able to work accurately under pressure without supervision.
• R - Must be able to liaise and communicate at all levels.
• R - Deadline driven.
• R - Strong at process improvement with an analytical mind
• R - Effective in communication and team player
• D - Project management experience is appreciated
• R - At least one proven experience in statutory consolidation (Knowledge of local GAAP and IFRS).
• The candidate will be joining a Fast-Growing area, with newly implemented Nigeria Finance Department.
• With Finance Manager support, she / he will be working on the business’ specific needs assessment and strategic roadmap, integrating / mapping disparate legacy systems and reengineered business processes, (overall systems design, risk and security design, data and information cleansing, financial close, consolidation, reporting processes, Tax…)
• The candidate is expected to have a good understanding of all aspects of the Finance function, accounting acumen - and IT sensitivity.