Management Accountant - WSP Africa

Job Description

Purpose of the role:

• To partner with the relevant business unit in ensuring that revenue and operating cost is reported in line with IFRS standards and WSP policy. Provide commercial and financial oversight in supporting the business unit while monitoring performance to approved budgets. Maintain appropriate communication channels between finance and the business unit while supporting the Commercial Finance Director.

Key Responsibilities:

• The incumbent would ideally have had significant experience in all or some of the requirements as noted below which are core to our business:

Commercial: 

• Work closely with the Divisional head and Group Finance team to develop a strategic financial plan
• Elevate finance departments to provide and communicate insight into performance 
• Assist accounts receivable in managing working capital to ensure DSO targets maintained 
• Provide commercial/financial insight into bid preparations
• Provide commercial support to enhance project profitability and margins ensuring appropriate direct labour multipliers are maintained
• Improving systems to monitor order-book and provide insight into forward workload   
• Assist with client contract negotiations and take ownership of Commercial aspects. 
• Assist BU in managing resource utilisation across regions/disciplines

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Essential Job Functions 

• Analyse financial data, extracts and define relevant information; interpret data for the purpose of determining past financial performance and/or to project financial probability. 
• Financial modelling scenario planning: Oversee the development of budgets, forecasts, contracts, revenues, and other monthly related reporting. Analyse budgets, trends/patterns and project expenditure. 
• Oversee the preparation of working papers and approved budgets; review expenditure against budgets / contracts at a project level. Ensure reports are prepared and managed to maintain balanced accounts. 
• Develop financial reports for forecasting, trending, and results analysis.
• Keep abreast of laws, IFRS and regulations that apply to this particular function or field of professional expertise, maintain up-to-date compliance. 
• Confer with appropriate internal and external administrative offices to ensure that required procedures are followed. Provide instruction and answer questions relating to budget procedures, serve as liaison between the group office and unit areas. Identifies budget issues, provide alternative solutions, and resolve problems.  
• Maintain clear communication channels between BU and Support and take ownership for any guidance/resolution
• Monthly review of project multipliers, cost to complete anomalies and taking appropriate action
• Extraction of information from database/s and develop into a meaningful report/s
• Monthly review of project multipliers, cost to complete anomalies and taking appropriate action
• Draw reports from multiple databases and provide insights to the business
• Key metrics/strategy: measurement, improvement and innovation: utilisation, GPD, audits (E/I/ISO), NR, OM, EBITDA, HC, backlog, cost per FTE, NR per FTE, burn rate, project reviews, DSO, bids/wins, people.    
• Adherence to policy, project recons & controls, BU recons & controls,
• Monthly review of WIP schedule ensuring WIP is based on effort and managed within acceptable limits (aging)
• Ownership and preparation of monthly BU packs according to prescribed reporting standards
• Review of monthly balance sheet recons
• Review aged debtors reports and outline key actions with respective stakeholders  

Scope of Responsibility 

• Know the formal and informal goals, standards, policies and is sensitive to the interrelationship of both people and functions within the department 
• On a regular and continuous basis, exercise administrative judgement and assume responsibility for decisions and impact of quality of service within the functional area. 
• Provides leadership and direction to project accountants
• Provides support to Commercial Finance Director by taking ownership and accountability for respective BU responsibilities
• Take initiative in refining systems and processes to achieve overall responsibility
• Plan and direct the commercial activities of a Division. Includes the regular and continuous management of the function.  
• Attend to ad-hoc requests from divisional COO's

Communication 

• Exchanges non-routine information using tact and persuasion as appropriate requiring good oral and written communication skills. 
• Maintain transparency across communication with stakeholders

Health and Safety

• Role model standards for SHEQ performance and behaviour consistent with the company’s health, safety, environmental and quality vision and policies by influencing those around you
• Contributing to the identification of SHEQ risks and driving processes to achieve Zero Harm
• Embracing, displaying and promoting the company values and ensuring a safe working environment is maintained at all times

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Qualifications

• Qualified CA(SA)- minimum requirement
• 8 years’ relevant working experience
• Experience in professional engineering service or other professional services industry an advantage
• Able to collate, analyse and evaluate data to enable business decision making
• Self-starter keen to challenge accepted wisdom and drive change
• Strong and confident communicator
• Flexible working style to align with rapid growth and on-going change
• Highly advanced excel, SQL and other Microsoft office.
• BWO/ Oracle
• PowerBI
• Programming Language (Python, etc)
• Future ready: Virtually reality et al.

Key competencies and generic skills:

• Ability to communicate effectively
• Able to see big picture while not losing sight of the detail
• Good interpersonal skills, work well with teams, and have strong organisational skills
• Confident, forward-thinking and be able to facilitate relationships
• An excellent work ethic, with integrity and above average resilience.
• Good time management, with the ability to multi-task and achieve goals, deliverables and strict deadlines with minimal supervision 
• Good knowledge of accounting systems and process 
• Extensive knowledge of Microsoft Excel
• Strong capabilities in business partnering