Financial Director

Reports to: Group CEO

Working hours: Standard South African business hours, with flexibility for UK and US overlap

ABOUT THE ROLE:

Cloudbox is looking for a Financial Director to join our leadership team in Cape Town. This is a senior, hands-on finance role with ownership of financial control and compliance across the three Cloudbox entities in South Africa, the UK and the US. You will report to the Group CEO and lead our finance team.

You will own statutory reporting, tax, audit and compliance, and provide the management accounts, forecasting and cash flow visibility that leadership needs to make decisions. In your first months you will be closely involved in the detail of how the finance function runs today, then move into a leadership and oversight role as processes and ownership are put on a firm footing.

OUR CLIENTS:

Cloudbox serves hedge funds and regulated financial services firms in New York, London and beyond. These are demanding clients with high expectations of their suppliers, including financial governance. Your work makes sure Cloudbox is as well run behind the scenes as the service we deliver to them.

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

Statutory Reporting and Tax

• Own statutory financial statements and annual filings across all three entities
• Own corporate tax, VAT/sales tax and payroll tax compliance in South Africa, the UK and the US
• Own intercompany arrangements and transfer pricing documentation
• Make sure intercompany billing between the three entities is raised accurately, agreed and settled on time

Audit and Compliance

• Run the annual audit process for each entity and resolve findings
• Maintain a Group compliance calendar and make sure no deadline is missed
• Manage external accountants, tax advisers and auditors in each jurisdiction
• Keep the control environment strong enough for regulated clients to rely on

Management Reporting

• Produce monthly management accounts for the Group and each entity
• Own the rolling financial forecast and the cash flow forecast
• Give the Group CEO and regional leaders clear, timely financial analysis

Data, Analytics and Profitability

• Be the finance interface to data and analytics, owning the finance definitions the business relies on
• Make sure customer-level and product-level behavioural and profitability analysis ties back to the financials
• Challenge analysis that does not reconcile, and turn profitability insight into forecast and board input

Spend Control

• Own the company card and expense policy, and make sure every transaction and supplier invoice is evidenced and correctly accounted for
• Own vendor onboarding checks and approval limits, and review card reconciliations and payables for exceptions

Board and Shareholder Reporting

• Own financial reporting to the board and shareholders, including the financial content of board packs and the quarterly shareholder report
• Present Group financial performance, forecast and cash position, and answer board and shareholder questions

Leading the Finance Team

• Lead and develop the finance team, with the Financial Manager reporting to you
• Get hands-on in the first months to understand how the function works, then hand day-to-day control back against documented procedures
• Review and sign off month-end close, reconciliations and filings

WHAT THIS ROLE IS NOT:

• Regional P&L ownership
• Pricing and client decisions
• Procurement
• Systems and data engineering

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR:

Essential

• CA(SA) or an equivalent professional accounting qualification
• At least 10 years’ post-qualification experience
• At least 5 years’ experience in a multi-entity finance environment
• Senior experience leading a finance function, with direct ownership of statutory reporting, tax and audit
• Experience managing compliance across multiple legal entities and more than one jurisdiction, including intercompany billing and consolidation
• Strong management accounting, forecasting and cash flow skills
• Experience working with data and analytics teams on customer or product profitability, and reconciling analysis to the ledger
• Experience preparing and presenting financial reporting to a board or shareholders
• Experience leading and developing a finance team
• Clear, confident communication with a CEO, auditors and regulators
• Comfortable being hands-on in the detail while building towards a leadership model

Advantageous

• Experience of UK and US statutory and tax requirements, alongside South Africa
• Experience in managed services, technology or professional services businesses
• Experience of financial services clients and their supplier due diligence expectations
• Familiarity with Xero or similar cloud accounting tools and a Microsoft-based working environment
• Experience of intercompany and transfer pricing arrangements