Finance Data Analyst Africa

About the role

The Finance Data Analyst Africa leads the automation, harmonization and benchmarking of CSD, sustainability, sourcing costs and operations across Africa, and coordinates the monthly closing, budget and forecast processes for all divisions. The role sits within the chocolate and cocoa industry, covering the whole supply chain from bean sourcing to cocoa product selling, and spans the financial and operational results of all business units across Africa, including grinding and export entities.

Key responsibilities

• Lead consolidation of production, sustainability, sourcing costs and activity KPIs across Africa, and coordinate cost benchmarking across divisions
• Collect key financials for monthly closing and gather site inputs (purchases, grinding, sales, stocks, etc.), and collect CAPEX needs
• Lead the forecast process and consolidation of actuals versus targets, and harmonize reporting of costs and KPIs
• Coordinate the annual budget implementation and drive continuous improvement of processes, systems and reports, including automation opportunities
• Develop and deploy standardized tools and processes using approved solutions such as Power BI
• Collect data from country FP&A teams on budget, forecast, variance analysis, business cases and profitability analysis
• Act as a sparring partner to the FP&A Manager Africa, turn complex data into business recommendations and build dashboards for stakeholders
• Work independently with teams across multiple countries, and lead benchmarking across sites (SG&A, factory, sustainability and supply chain costs)

Required profile

• Master's degree in Business Administration with a specialization in finance, accounting or a similar field
• Minimum 6-7 years of experience in FP&A, business controlling, financial analysis, finance business partnering or data analytics applied to finance
• Multi-country experience in Africa highly desirable
• English business proficiency
• Experience in the cocoa industry is a nice-to-have

Required skills

• High proficiency in MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)
• Knowledge of finance tools (SAP, FINANCE ERP, group reporting tools such as BW, BOFC, Tagetik) is an advantage
• VBA, Power Query, Power Pivot or Power BI is an advantage
• Strong understanding of cost accounting, financial reporting and KPIs (working capital, cash management, direct profit, EBIT, ROIC)
• Strategic thinking, coordination and organization skills, and ability to work under pressure and manage ambiguity