Finance Business Partner

Empowering Africa’s tomorrow, together…one story at a time.

Job Summary

• Finance Business Partnering for Direct Cost areas (Infrastructure areas) in CIB
• Planning, Reporting and Advisory as Finance Owners
• Consolidation and reporting of Direct cost base for TP Purposes.
• Preparation and Reporting of CIB TP to Front Office.

Job Description

Commercial Finance Execution Accountabilities

• Serve as a subject matter expert on financial data integrity, accounting processes, reconciliations’, analysis and reporting for end-to-end Financial Management in business area.
• Develop and sustain knowledge and experience on the end to end processes, including relevant systems within scope of work.
• First line of operational support to internal and external auditors within scope of work; and all queries addressed effectively and efficiently.
• Responsible for continuous operational excellence and real-time responsiveness of finance to enable business to achieve growth and profitability objectives.
• Prepare for all cycles in advance and ensure adequate engagement with the relevant finance and business teams.
• Focus on information-driven performance improvement and formulate data into easy access standardised views.
• Create unprecedented, seamless customer experiences via finance BU enablement.
• Embrace our distinctive brand aspiration and infuse in business.
• Identify and innovate operating practices to optimize the function. Embrace digital solutions.
• Drive continuous process efficiency, financial rigor and controls. 
• Adopt what’s ‘best for absa’ approach in finance practices.
• Have a holistic eco-system view of business, that is, geography, customer, channel and product in developing information views of business.
• Book of work contribution: Build innovative finance business case financial information, insights and benefits tracking’s’ solutions to continuously inform management decisions.
• Transform and evolve Finance planning, tracking and control processes.
• Know BU financial ambitions and balance sheet aspirations of CIB in performance reporting.
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the core finance processes for CIB Finance (annual planning, forecasting, spend trajectory and reporting).

Financial Reporting Accountabilities

• Build trust in the finance function through the creation of a single source of financial information which is corroborated by related management information sources and alignment to the agreed accounting principles, methodologies, and underlying data are correctly applied.
• Generate innovative easy to comprehend progress reports for leaders on their strategic agenda, short-term and long-term plans and investments, operational success metrics, efficiencies, risks and mitigations.
• Interact with the stakeholders to agree minimum quality standards, as well as an agreed method of communicating and resolving any identified quality deficiencies in the reporting process.
• Own the process of delivery of high-quality information for regular and ad-hoc enhanced reporting to agreed requirements, timelines, and standards.
• Act in line with the correct governance and control frameworks across the Finance team, as well as for proactively addressing any deficiencies and exceptions.
• Develop and implement control procedures as deficiencies or exceptions are identified which support the production of error-free reports. Assess and drive improvement of business accounting practices and policies.
• Take a commercial view on business and provide contextual insights into performance reports.
• Integrate advanced modelling and analysis capability to provide actionable intelligence, beyond data within the function.
• Generate finance narratives and insights driving business; and build pioneering new propositions.
• Ensure appropriate, quality and timeous delivery of accurate financial and non-financial management information to support business objectives and expectations, including appropriate financial and non-financial metrics, valid and insightful comments and packaging the information in a relevant and appropriate manner.
• Deliver reporting reflecting deep commercial, holistic understanding, coherency, clarity, and contextualisation. Tell the story with passion and conviction.
• Provide thought-leadership, insight, influence and challenge on evolving stakeholder information requirements and reporting processes to deliver analytics.
• Align to processes around month-end, year-end and planning cycles across the CIB finance community and BU based on the requirements from Group. Prepare for all cycles in advance and ensure adequate engagement with the relevant finance and BU teams.
• Manage the production of regular, high quality, standardised financial and non-financial reporting and analytics to Business and Finance; and focus on effective collaborative stakeholder hand-offs in the production.

Specific Responsibilities

Accountability: Financial management and Business Partnering

• Obtain a thorough understanding of the business unit’s strategy and explain it to team

members in such a way that they understand the contribution they have to make

• Provide financial advice and guidance to line managers and business owners on new

initiatives, current budget management practices and trends in expenditure in the

areas of accountability.

• Manage departmental budgets including signing off of invoices and quotes within

mandate. Escalate out of budgets or items higher than approved mandate to the next

level manager.

• Rigorously monitor expenditure against approved budgets for the areas of

accountability and put measures in place to address variances. Continuously identify

areas for improved efficiency and reduced cost.

• Conduct basic statistical analysis to track performance variances and determine the

root causes of errors. Make recommendations for productivity or process

enhancements to process owners

• Implement productivity improvement measures by coaching line managers on any new

processes or on their areas for improvement.

• Participate in the measurement and reporting of internal and external Service Level

Agreements on a monthly basis.

• Address any process failures specific to the department under management.
• Compile and present Financials to the relevant business owners on a monthly basis

including financial actuals against forecasted trends.

Accountability: Business Planning

• Partner with the departments and the BU line managers to complete sound annual

financial plans within the agreed timeframes.

• Review the 3 year forecast for Medium Term Plans (MTP's) for the area of
• accountability in accordance with BU strategy annually.
• Review the 3 year forecast for Short Term Plans (STP's) for the area of accountability in

accordance with BU strategy annually

•  Review the 3 year forecast for Revised Annual Forecast (RAF) for the area of

TP- CIB Transfer pricing

• Preparation and management of the CIB Performance Cell (Cost and TP Management Tool)
• Working with FBP’s ensuring that all Direct costs are locked and reported accurately in the Performance Cell
• Co-ordinating and consolidating monthly commentary regarding movement of Direct costs
• Consolidation of Drivers used to allocate Direct Costs to Front office.
• Allocation consolidated direct costs to CIB Front office
• Posting TP Journals
• Managing budgets for TP

People Investment Accountabilities

• Peer responsibility: Coach, inspire, engage, mentor and develop finance and business savvy leaders.
• Network with finance colleagues across GFD and create awareness of challenges, opportunities and issues and encourage collaboration
• Focus on Finance skills evolution and remaining relevant.
• Embrace the value of finance partnership in Big Data, Advanced Analytics, mergers and acquisitions, and partnerships into the core of our business.
• Ensure deep personal understanding of income statement, balance sheet, margin returns, variance analysis, capital and liquidity requirements, revenues, assets, liabilities and capital, expenses, headcount analytics and other key ratios through relevant business engagement.

Role / Person Specification

• Minimum B-degree (NQF level no.7) Desired Post Graduate Degree (NQF level no.8+), CA (SA) or CIMA or MBA qualification preferred.
• 3+ years professional financial management experience
• 2+ years Banking Experience
• Knowledge and skills:
• Experience in executing finance processes.
• Experience in commercial innovation environments
• Broad Finance including strategic, commercial, legal, risk and operational aspects
• Understanding of the financial services sector within a professional business environment
• Knowledge of building collaborative work environments

Education

Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Financial Sciences (Required)

Absa Bank Limited is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. In compliance with the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, preference will be given to suitable candidates from designated groups whose appointments will contribute towards achievement of equitable demographic representation of our workforce profile and add to the diversity of the Bank.

Absa Bank Limited reserves the right not to make an appointment to the post as advertised