General Manager: Finance Operations

Large Telecommunications Company  is seeking a General Manager: Finance Operations

The core purpose of this job is to take the lead for the Finance Operations and MTNSA Tax strategy and execution thereof.

The role:

• Defines the strategy of the transactional processing environment to ensure robust and efficient processes governed by a strong control environment and ensuring operational excellence.

• Ensures operational delivery according to functional standards and effective collaboration with internal and external clients and stakeholders, which include MTN Group.

• Ensures MTNSA is a Tax-compliant entity with reporting performed timeously and accurately.

The role is expected to design and implement a global shared services infrastructure for vendor and customer transactions.

The role reviews and manages the range of services provided and ensures effective service monitoring including Performance Management KPIs and SLAs, issue management and resolution as well as change control within FinOps/ Shared Services.

The role directs and co-ordinates ongoing process and system enhancements for Finance Operations including automation initiatives.

The role is responsible for managing banking and suppliers’ relationships.

The role is expected to manage the development of business Tax information model with regards to the future state and comparison to the current state in line with the overall Finance vision.

This role will help drive the direction and scope for Tax information with a forward-looking view.

The role requires outstanding leadership skills and with strong interpersonal and negotiating ability to engage with the MTN SA Executives, broader Finance community and drive transformation, standardisation and efficiency.

The individual must be able to lead teams and drive for change and continuous improvement.

The role requires credibility and resilience to engage with and influence those at the most senior levels, along with a very wide range of stakeholders, and be comfortable working with ambiguity.

Key Performance Areas: Core, essential responsibilities / outputs of the position (KPA’s)

Summary:
• Develop and execute on the shared services and Tax strategy for MTN SA
• Ensure that shared services run efficiently and effectively, and in an agile manner that supports business process and speed of execution
• Design, track and monitor operational KPIs daily, weekly and monthly as per area specific requirements
• Review and monitor operational KPIs, looking for trends, identifying improvements, isolating areas of concern and implementing corrective actions timeously.
• Review and monitor SLAs with internal customers and external service providers
• Ensure internal controls and internal financial controls are designed appropriately and are effective throughout each financial year, in order to support regulatory reporting such as JSE listing requirements
• Ensure there are processes and tools in place to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of controls, and that these are monitored periodically
• Drive a culture that enables the business and customer focus
• Ensure that there are systems and capabilities in place to enable accurate, complete, authorised and valid transactions, ensuring compliance to MTN SA/ MTN Group policies, and relevant accounting standards and best practices
• Ensure that all finance operational processes, procedures and policies are in place, updated and adhered to the execution of operations
• Ensure effective financial period end close
• Responsible for managing the external audit process
• Ensure clean external and internal audit findings
• Ensure controls are in place and are effective to minimise fraud
• Ensure the shared services organisation is able to provide services to MTN SA and MTN group in the most cost-efficient manner
• Identify operational risks and proactively develop and manage mitigation plans
Asset Accounting
• Oversees the asset accounting function – provide strategy, framework and guidance for Inventory management, fixed assets and lease management to ensure real time reporting and adequate controls
Finance Operations (systems, processes, and procedures)
• Provide strategy, guidance and support to ensure financial control procedures are operationalised in all spheres of the business
• Liaise with other areas of the business to discuss system changes to ensure optimal functionality of the system
• Generate proposals for processing improvements and new technologies to suit the needs of the department, improving processing efficiencies and the control framework.
• Ensure process delivery with expected service objectives and quality
• Take ownership for end-to-end process and service delivery
• Solve escalated operational issues and act to prevent it in future
• Bring constructive, challenging ideas to drive Process standardisation and take ownership of the agreed actions
• Identify Business Improvement and Optimisation opportunities that will result in improvement of process performance.

• Ensure that benchmarking is conducted with other companies and organisations within and outside the industry.
• Oversees the effective functioning of Procure to Pay and Cash book payments, Payroll and Operational Banking
Sub-Ledger Close and General ledger
• Ensure the audit of all sub-processes is maintained out of the financial operations organisation
• Provide strategy, guidance and framework for the sub-ledger and general ledger
Inter-company transactions (local and international)
• Provide the framework for intercompany transaction to ensure all intercompany transaction are in line with policies, and supported by loan agreements where applicable
• Ensure tax requirements are adhered to for intercompany transactions
• Drive adherence to OPCO policies in terms of systems, processes and procedures.
• Ensure recovery of intercompany balances owing to MTN SA
• Ensure all strategic projects that involve MTN Group Operating Companies are supported by approved cross charging models and agreements where SA is a counterparty
• Ensure that all intercompany transactions processes, procedures, and policies are in place, updated and adhered to. support to the agents
• Partner with the Accounting team to research and respond to commissions inquiries CC
Compliance
• Provide strategy, guidance and framework for internal financial control, governance, risk management and compliance.
• Take responsibility for ensuring that appropriate risk management processes, policies and procedures are in place and are effective, for the broader finance organisation
• Support the CFO in automated reporting to Exco, Audit Committee and Board on the financial control environment and other matters as and when required
• Take responsibility for the JSE attestation on Internal Financial Controls for year end reporting or as and when required
• Take responsibility for ensuring the accuracy of the accounting and control information contained in the organisation’s accounting systems
• Support the CFO & Executives in developing and delivering the organisation’s financial and business strategy
• Continuously review financial, control and management information systems and procedures, implementing improvements across the organisation in consultation with the CFO & Executive
• Update, review and document the organisation’s financial policies and procedures
• Ensure accuracy of financial and related information held outside the finance systems, such as by HR, membership, or in programme budgeting systems
• Ensure the development of a framework to conduct data quality audits
• Design and implement overall governance frameworks, definitions, and controls over financial BI environments
• Ensure controls are in place and are effective to minimise fraud
• Review MTN exposure to operational risk now and in the future, and advise accordingly
• Take accountability for Controls Self Assessments in the broader Finance organisation
• Facilitate the resolution of all internal and external audit points across the business
• Support running and completion of external audits
• Ensure that all automatically generated tax returns required by the authorities are submitted timeously and accurately
• Ensure that legal and regulatory correspondence is provided timeously to the relevant stakeholders, supported by AI/Cognitive accurately and complete and timeous SARS & legal correspondence.
• Timeous SARS payments
Operational effectiveness enhancement Projects – FinOps
• Determine, document, and review requirements for projects within the scope of the FinOps value stream or impacting processes and systems
• Develop and ensure the execution of agreed projects
• Drive the implementation, tracking, monitoring and compliance of Projects
• Manage project and initiative risks
• Perform post implementation review of projects

• Perform benefit realisation reviews of implemented projects.
Tax Strategic Planning & Advisory
• Design and co-ordinate the organisational Tax Strategy
• Ensure that the Tax team provides valuable Tax advice to the business through business partnership.
• Ensure that Tax is a part of business decision making by providing required insights.
• Enable the team to identify Tax saving opportunities for the organisation.
• Assist in the development of tax optimisation projects and implementation of tax strategies to ensure effective tax planning.
• Provide faster insights-driven advisory on tax implication of projects, contracts and transactions.
• Ensure the provision of project decision support driven by effective policies and procedures.
• Provide automated advice on Tax implications from projects for EBUs.
• Provide inputs into business planning through Tax planning insights.
• Evaluate potential tax impacts of business decisions.
• Ensure upskilling on Tax legislation through capacity enhancement and ensure timely advice on Tax implications from changes in legislation.
• Optimised tax planning
Reporting
• Ensure that all automated tax reported amounts are valid, accurate, complete and reported in the appropriate periods
• Ensure the accurate and timeous reporting of group total contribution amounts
• Develop the Tax team as a Centre of Excellence to ensure seamless service delivery
• Ensure Automated provisional tax computation
• Ensure real-time reporting to tax authorities
• Ensure an automated end to end income tax reporting process (incl. computations, provisioning and returns).
• Ensure automated SARS Reconciliations & journals
• Enable automated indirect tax computation enabled by advanced analytics
Risk Management
• Ensure the maintenance of a Tax register and that this is updated continuously
• Oversee the performance of Tax data analysis for risk identification
• Enable the updating / Maintaining of PPPs
• Ensure proactive Risk identification and register maintenance enabled by advanced analytics
• Ensure compliance with MTN SA tax policy
Technology & Data
• Ensure that the Tax Technology tool in use is configured, maintained and updated accordingly
• Enable Tax Data Analysis
• Oversee the automated end-to-end tax reporting process
• Oversee the automated end-to-end tax compliance process
Stakeholder Engagement
• Build collaborative relationships with key stakeholders to understand their requirements
• Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders to ensure business performance management and business analysis needs are understood and supported.
• Communicate relevant progress and achievements to stakeholders on a regular basis to manage their expectations.
• Ensure that all deployed business capabilities are successfully adopted by our stakeholders.
• Develop comprehensive change management strategies, approaches and plans that are tailored to effectively transition through change.
• Support the financial control teams on issue management, improving controls and understanding on AP and AR processes, discussing, and changing as required to business change.
• Drive the training and rollout of tax updates and policies that affect the respective regions.
• Oversee the provision of timeous and accurate reports to governance structures
• Ensure that input into legislative decision making is business led from the MTN SA team.

• Ensure timeous updates on Tax legislation to relevant stakeholders
• Ensure that Reports(i.e. exposures, interest, et. al.) are automatically generated to MTN SA governance structures
• Ensure workflow-based support for SARS queries
International Tax
• Ensure timeous file submissions for reporting
• Ensure appropriate benchmarking is performed for transfer pricing purposes
• Ensure accurate and timeous reporting of reportable irregularities
• Reporting of reportable arrangements
• Ensure automated Tax computation in respect of CFCs
• Enable faster, standardised determination of Tax implications for cross-border transactions

Supervisory / Leadership / Managerial Complexity: Refers to the responsibilities for directing, guiding, motivating, and influencing others.

• Provide team leadership including providing targets and measures of productivity
• Manage performance of colleagues, including their training needs. Define the divisional KPAs and KPIs that will be cascaded down to each area.
• Provide management direction and development support and responsibility for the performance management of the finance team.
• Recruit, develop and retain people with outstanding skills, qualifications, and potential
• Accountable for a customer centric culture and shift to legendary service provision
• Build best skilled talent by identifying and developing new leaders for the respective environment
• Employee relations and collaborative teamwork
• Manage Employment Equity and diversity
• Coaching and guidance of subordinates
• Build professionalism, loyalty, and commitment to the organisation
• Communicate actively and effectively resolving any potential conflicts that may arise
• Living the MTN Brand – influence employees’ behaviour
• Display an understanding of the strategic nature of effective leadership in the organisation
• Performance management and identification of training needs
• Ensure the team is well supported, properly trained and managed effectively.
• Plan resources for the team, recruit right people, on-board them in the new role
• Handle underperformance timely and effectively and recognise good performance and reward best people
• Plan succession, develop best people in the pipeline for leaders or experts
• Break the communication silos and foster team collaboration
• Effectively manage changes in the team
Required Skills & Capabilities e.g. teaching, report writing or specific skills/abilities such as computing or the ability to work without supervision
• Ability to design and implement effective finance operational strategies
• Expertise in Direct and Indirect Tax compliance and reporting
• Ability to drive large scale and complex change
• Entrepreneurial drive, willingness to take responsibility, high ambition, and the ability to achieve goals collaboratively
• Excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills to effectively collaborate with internal and external stakeholders
• Effective and excellent report writing skills
• Understanding of Business Process Ownership (BPO)/ERP/System Integration and how to procure these systems
• Adept management of executive teams and encouraging buy in to the shift in focus and culture
• Experience in working within the Tech, Media, and Telecoms Industry
• Ability to plan, organise and prioritise workload, including co-ordinating with others and ensuring that statutory and other deadlines are met.
• Work as part of a team and independently to deliver a common goal or objective
• Ability to deal with difficult situations and make decisions on the best course of action
• Excellent technology skills including ERP, Automation and Cognitive Tools, Reporting Tools, etc.

• Proficiency in relationship building, networking, persuasion, and influential skills. Excellent verbal, written communication, and negotiation skills
• Change Management
• Decisive and can prioritise
• Able to coach less experienced colleagues to improve their learning curve
• High attention to detail and ability to adapt to change/flexibility
• Experience with Oracle. Ensure that correct systems are available for staff to perform duties
• Work better and smarter for cost savings
• Explore innovative ways to automate as much as possible. Cognitive Automation; Automation – RPA (assessment and design); Machine learning
• Find ways to provide a faster and more effective service – initiate special projects
• Benchmark across the industry as well as and other industries, which will facilitate the input of strategic insights into new developments
• Establish sound relationships with banks
• Steward & Operator
• Data Management (incl. big data)
• Understanding big data tools and technology
• Monitoring and visualisation of Drivers & KPIs
• Process assessment and redesign
• Lean, Business Process Re-engineering
• Proficiency in Tax Strategy implementation
• Understanding of Accounting for Tax
• Knowledge of Tax Modelling
Key Metrics
• Performance manage framework
• KPIs implemented
• Costs control and efficiency savings
• Compliance to company procedures and legislative requirements (where applicable)
• Customer satisfaction (360° evaluation)
• Internal financial controls effective
• Business cash-flow requirements are met
• Liaising with auditors on all matters as applicable
• Accurate and timeous payment of staff and suppliers
• Effective policies and procedures for financial control
• Ensure that correct systems are available for staff to perform their duties

Job Requirements (Education, Experience and Competencies)

Education:
• CIMA or CA(SA) – NQF level 7
• Post graduate tax qualification (Masters in Tax)
• MBA/ Masters advantageous
• Membership of an Accounting- or financial regulatory body

Experience:
• Experience in leading finance operations/ shared services (at least 5 years) with last 3 years working with Board/ exco/senior management, in the relevant sector/ industry as per relevant role
• 8+ years in corporate, indirect, withholding tax, and international taxes
• 6+ years in tax strategy implementation, planning support, and project management
• People leadership experience in a shared services environment
• Experience in leading large transformations
• Experience in creating and executing strategy
• Experience working in a global/multinational enterprise (understanding emerging markets advantageous)

• Worked across diverse cultures and geographies
• Obtained varied experience/ experience in different areas of the business
• Excellent people management skills in a high-volume finance processing environment
• Experience of managing and delivering change in operational finance environment, able to operate at pace in a fast-changing complex environment to manage competing priorities effectively
• Expert in Performance management using KPIs, SLAs and how to monitor end-user satisfaction
• Experience of building and maintaining effective and complex stakeholder relationships and networks, including the ability to quickly build quality relationships with an ability to influence at very senior level
• Inspiring leadership, with the ability to build teams and provide direction harnessing the talents of people and creating an inclusive, ambitious, outward-facing and professional work environment
• Previous experience and proven track record of new process design and system implementation for a centralised finance function, including automation of processes
• Previous experience and proven track record to create and maintain robust controls within centralised finance operations
• Passion for automation and building efficient processes
• Excellent communication and writing skills
• Attention to detail
• Control/Risk oriented mindset