Group Lead: Accounts Payable: Bryanston at Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) presents an exciting opportunity for a Group Lead: Accounts Payable, to join the Integrated Business Services team at CCBA. The role will report to the Group Lead: Share Services Finance.

CCBA is the 8^th largest Coca-Cola bottling partner in the world by revenue, and the largest on the continent. It accounts for over 40% of all Coca-Cola products sold in Africa by volume. With over 18 000 employees in Africa, CCBA services more than 735 000 customers with a host of international and local brands. CCBA operates in 15 countries, including its six key markets of South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique and Namibia, as well as Tanzania, Botswana, Ghana, Zambia, the islands of Comoros and Mayotte, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Malawi.

The Accounts Payable Group Lead will be a critical part of our IBS team, responsible for overseeing and managing the end-to-end accounts payable function across the organisation. This role requires a highly organised, detail-oriented, and proactive individual with strong leadership skills and a deep understanding of Accounts Payable (AP) processes, internal controls, and financial systems. You will play a key role in ensuring accurate and timely processing of invoices, managing vendor relationships, and driving continuous improvement within the Accounts payable department (Internal and outsourced).

Key Duties & Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership:

• Develop and execute the organisation’s Accounts payable strategy in alignment with business objectives and digital transformation goals.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to Group and Country Leadership, on all matters related to Accounts payable management

Operational Excellence:

• Managing execution of service standards in accordance with defined service level agreements, within the framework of the chargeback mechanism defined to ensure budgets and financial targets are met.
• Oversee the management of third-party service providers and inhouse Accounts Payable teams, ensuring high-quality and efficient service delivery.
• Collaborate with technology teams and external partners to ensure seamless integration of MDM tools, ERPs, and applications.
• Identify opportunities for process automation, efficiency gains, and cost reduction within the Accounts Payable function.
• Develop, implement, and maintain robust internal controls to safeguard company assets and ensure data integrity.
• Ensure adherence to segregation of duties and other control frameworks.
• Proactively identify and mitigate risks related to accounts payable operations.
• Accountable for corresponding process KPI’s and for identifying gaps to best practices and facilitating innovative solutions.

Team Leadership:

• Leading business process service delivery within their area of expertise, ensuring effective migration of activities that belong in the Centre of Scale and managing the relationship with inhouse and outsourced AP teams to provide service excellence to the business.
• Lead, mentor, and facilitate development of inhouse and outsourced AP teams, fostering a high-performance culture and ensuring effective workload distribution.
• Conduct regular performance reviews, provide constructive feedback, and identify training needs for Accounts Payable team members.
• Oversee daily operations of the inhouse and outsourced AP teams, ensuring adherence to company policies, procedures, and service level agreements

Collaboration and Engagement:

• Collaborate effectively with internal departments (e.g. Procurement, Inventory, Treasury) to streamline processes and resolve issues.
• Collaborating with local functional business on continuous improvement of process and its system support, identifying opportunities to improve operational efficiency.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key vendors.
• Provide regular reporting and insights on Accounts Payable performance to the Financial Manager / Head of Finance.
• Act as a key liaison between Centre of Scale and the Business for respective business processes and process optimisation as well as service excellence and KPI delivery.

System & Reporting:

• Utilise and optimise the ERP system for Accounts Payable operations.
• Generate various Accounts Payable reports (e.g. aging reports, payment forecasts) to support financial analysis and decision-making.
• Assist with month-end and year-end closing procedures related to accounts payable.

Skills, Experience & Education

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree / Postgraduate diploma / Master’s degree or CA(SA) / CIMA or a related finance qualification.

Experience:

• Between 5 to 10 years in an accounts payable or senior finance leadership role.
• Proven track record of working with complex, multi-market data environments, including multiple ERP systems.
• Deep understanding of Accounts Payable Management principles, tools, and technologies.
• Strong leadership and people management skills, with experience managing diverse teams and external providers.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities, with experience engaging senior leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to translate data insights into strategic actions.
• Familiarity with emerging technologies and trends, including AI and Intelligent Analytics.