Lead Finance Reporting and Data Analyst, Pretoria

Lead Finance Reporting and Data Analyst - (FIN-L7.3) Job title: Lead Finance Reporting and Data Analyst

Category: Finance

Contract type: Permanent (Employee), Full Time

Zutari: Co-creating an engineered impact.

Zutari is a multinational buildings, infrastructure engineering and advisory firm with over 90 years of experience across Africa and the Middle East. We partner with clients across the full infrastructure lifecycle, delivering digitally driven solutions that shape schools, stadiums, dams, bridges, and the systems that connect them.

We are enablers of progress, transforming ambition into impact and infrastructure into opportunity. Every role in Zutari contributes to building sustainable futures that extend far beyond the projects themselves.

What kind of talent do we pursue? We employ people with the right attitude and a positive mindset, who are motivated by doing the right thing, getting things done and share a sense of urgency. People who have an impact in our teams and broader community. People who think differently and connect with those around them to co-create new opportunities and leave a meaningful legacy.

The Lead Finance Reporting and Data Analyst is a well‑rounded and key member of the Finance team, delivering reliable financial reporting, insights and analytics while progressively taking on greater independence, complexity, and accountability across the team's broader mandate. Designed with a deliberate succession pathway in mind, this position calls for a rare combination of deep technical proficiency, sound commercial judgement, and the interpersonal influence required to inspire trust across a complex, fast‑paced organisation. This role sits at an important developmental juncture — bridging the foundational execution focus of the analyst and the strategic leadership expectations of the senior role.

At its core, the role is accountable for the delivery of accurate, timely, and insightful financial analysis and reporting— spanning comprehensive monthly reporting packs, group‑wide management insights, and assisting with executive‑level support for the Board and EXCO. The incumbent will serve as a critical bridge between the Finance and Business Intelligence functions, translating nuanced financial requirementsinto structured data specifications and bringing them to life through impactful, decision‑ready dashboards and reports built across Power BI, SQL, SSRS, and Vantagepoint.

Beyond reporting, the role carries meaningful responsibility for the integrity and governance of financial data— leading rigorous validation and testing processes across the data warehouse to ensure accuracy, completeness, and alignment with business requirements. Custom report development, deep‑dive data analysis, and the delivery of actionable insights to senior stakeholders are central to the day‑to‑day mandate.

The position further extends into business partnering, supporting budgeting and forecasting cycles by preparing robust data foundations and guiding operational teams in interpreting financial information to produce coherent, well‑reasoned plans. Underpinning everything is a strong commitment to continuous improvement — staying ahead of analytics best practices, championing innovation, and consistently raising the standard of the organisation's reporting capability in service of better business outcomes.

Role responsibilities Strategic Financial Reporting&Analysis

Co‑ordinate and lead the end‑to‑end preparation and perform reviews of all monthly Group management reporting packages, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and assist with insightful commentary that drives executive decision‑making.

Prepare the more complex and technical reporting and develop automations for such niche reporting.

Support analytical deep dives for the Board and EXCO, identifying trends, risks, and opportunities within financial and operational data and providing meaningful insights from the complex analysis.

Continuously improve the Group's suite of financial reports, helping to establish reporting standards and frameworks for the team to operate within.

Lead ad‑hoc strategic analysis and financial modelling assignments, translating complex, ambiguous business questions into clear, actionable insights for senior stakeholders.

Review and critically evaluate reporting outputs produced by the team before presentation to leadership, ensuring a consistently high standard.

Data&Reporting Development– Architecture and Governance

Take the lead in drafting the finance specification process for BI development projects, taking full ownership of translating complex business and financial reporting requirements into detailed, structured specifications for the BI warehouse team with minimal oversight from the Data&Reporting Specialist.

Own the specification and development of reports and dashboards in the company ERP system (Vantagepoint) and drive the end‑to‑end process from scoping to implementation.

Oversee and govern the end‑to‑end UAT (User Acceptance Testing) process for all new data and reporting developments, designing test plans for the finance team, reviewing team testing outputs, managing defect tracking, and making sign‑off decisions.

Conduct and lead deep‑dive data validation exercises across information sources, identifying root causes of discrepancies and driving resolution with the BI and operational teams.

Architect and develop advanced, visually compelling Power BI dashboards and reports, setting the design and usability benchmark for the team, focusing on enterprise‑level, insightful reporting for a wide range of business users.

Evaluate and challenge data warehouse architecture and design decisions from a finance logic perspective, ensuring solutions are fit for purpose and aligned with business requirements.

Write and review SQL/DAX queries from the databases and PowerBI and build reports within the accounting package (Vantagepoint), providing peer review to more junior members.

Actively lead elements of the team's continuous improvement agenda, identifying opportunities to automate manual processes, enhance reporting tools, and adopt best practices in Power BI and analytics.

Support and drive data governance within the finance reporting environment, establishing and enforcing standards for data quality, consistency, and integrity.

Lead the testing of ERP improvement roll‑outs to ensure continued accuracy of reports.

Lead the drive for efficiency and automation not only in the reporting team and environment but also in the wider finance team and business.

Commercial&Business Partnering

Review business proposals and costings submitted across the Group, providing rigorous commercial acumen assessment and written recommendations to management on financial viability and risk. Reviews will be for projects across the company regardless of geography, taking into account the complexity of tax and PE structures.

Proactively engage with operational teams and business unit leaders as a trusted finance business partner, challenging assumptions and providing strategic financial counsel.

Identify commercial risks and opportunities through data analysis and clearly articulate findings and recommendations to non‑financial stakeholders.

Support the development of business cases and business resources, including financial modelling, scenario analysis, and sensitivity testing.

Budgeting&Forecasting Leadership

Take ownership of defined components of the Group budgeting and forecasting processes, ensuring data is accurately prepared, well‑structured, and delivered on time.

Contribute to the development and maintenance of budgeting and forecasting templates and reporting tools, identifying and implementing enhancements where opportunities arise.

Engage operational teams confidently and independently, guiding them through the interpretation of financial data and supporting the construction of coherent, well‑reasoned budgets and forecasts.

Support and maintain rolling forecast models and variance analysis frameworks that provide the business with forward‑looking financial visibility.

Independently perform and present detailed variance analysis between actuals and budgets/forecasts, clearly articulating key drivers and implications for management review.

Assist the Data&Reporting Specialist to develop junior members of the finance analytics team, providing technical guidance, reviewing work, developing business acumen, and building capability across Power BI, DAX, SQL, and financial analysis.

Act as the deputy to the Data&Reporting Specialist, progressively taking on broader ownership of team operations, stakeholder relationships, and strategic priorities.

Contribute to the development of team processes, standards, and documentation, ensuring knowledge is structured and transferable.

Support the department head in resource planning, project prioritisation, and managing competing demands across the team's workload.

Take clear ownership of personal technical and professional development, actively building toward the Senior Analyst level across all areas of the role.

Demonstrate a proactive, solutions‑oriented disposition — identifying challenges, driving improvements, and contributing to the team's performance and culture without waiting to be directed.

6-8+ years post articles in a finance and/or data analytics environment.

Familiarity in writing SQL queries; experience with SSRS report writing will be …