Commercial Finance Manager, Cape Town

The Senior Finance Manager will lead the finance function for key operational business units, providing strategic financial leadership, commercial insight, and operational support within a fast-paced contact center environment. This role goes beyond traditional finance and requires a commercially astute leader who can partner closely with Operations, Workforce Planning, HR, and Client Services to influence decision-making, improve profitability, and drive operational performance. The successful candidate will combine strong technical finance capability with proven people management and stakeholder engagement experience.The ideal candidate is a confident and influential finance professional with strong leadership capability and approximately 2–3 years of management experience leading finance teams or direct reports. Key Responsibilities

Financial Leadership&Management: Lead and oversee the full finance function for the designated operational business units Manage month-end reporting processes, reconciliations, journals, and financial controls Review and present monthly management accounts with meaningful commercial commentary Ensure compliance with internal controls, governance standards, and financial policiesOversee operational expenditure, cost centre management, and cash flow planning Drive continuous improvement within finance processes and reporting Budgeting, Forecasting&Strategic Planning: Lead the annual budgeting and forecasting process across multiple operational divisions Prepare rolling forecasts, including revenue, staffing costs, productivity metrics, and overhead analysis Partner with Operations and Workforce Planning to model staffing requirements, shrinkage, overtime, attrition, and capacity planningProvide strategic recommendations based on forecast trends, risks, and opportunities Support long-term planning and commercial decision-making initiatives Commercial Business Partnering: Act as a trusted finance business partner to senior operational stakeholders Translate complex financial information into clear and actionable business insightInfluence operational decision-making through data-driven recommendations Challenge assumptions constructively while maintaining strong stakeholder relationships Support key business decisions relating to staffing models, pricing, service delivery, and operational efficiency Provide insight into operational KPIs, including:FTE cost per seat Occupancy and AHT variance Attrition and absenteeism cost impact Campaign and client profitability Productivity and utilisation metrics Commercial Finance&Analysis: Analyse client contracts and various billing models (per seat, per call, and fixed vs variable) Evaluate commercial performance across campaigns and business units Support pricing reviews, contract renewals, and new business proposals Lead scenario modelling and profitability analysis for operational initiativesIdentify opportunities to improve margins, efficiencies, and financial performance Leadership&Stakeholder Management: Lead, mentor, and develop junior finance team members Manage and support finance staff performance, development, and delivery Build strong cross-functional relationships across Finance, Operations, HR, Workforce Management, and Client Services Present financial performance, forecasts, and strategic recommendations to senior leadershipCommunicate financial concepts confidently to both finance and non-finance stakeholders Required Skills&Experience

Technical Skills: Strong background in financial management, FP&A, and management accounting Advanced budgeting, forecasting, and commercial analysis capability Strong financial modelling and analytical skills Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, SUMIFS, XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP, and modelling) Experience with ERP/financial systems, such as SAP, Oracle, Sage, or similarLeadership&Business Partnering Skills: Proven leadership capability with approximately 2–3 years’ people management experience Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills Ability to operate strategically while remaining hands-on Strong commercial acumen and operational understanding Excellent communication and presentation skillsAbility to simplify complex financial information for operational teams Industry Experience: Previous experience within a contact centre, BPO, shared services, or operationally intensive environment strongly preferred Strong understanding of operational metrics, such as occupancy, AHT, shrinkage, productivity, and workforce planning advantageousQualifications: CA(SA) / CIMA preferred 6–8 years' relevant finance experience in commercial finance, FP&A, or management accounting Minimum 2–3 years’ management or team leadership experience Please note: the following promotional content has been removed as it is not part of the job description: For more exciting Finance vacancies, visit the company website, apply process instructions, and unrelated contact statements.For more information, contact: Angelique Jardim Specialist Recruitment Consultant

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