SUMMARY:
Somerset West. A leading Western Cape fruit exporter is appointing a Financial Manager to partner closely with the CEO, FD and operational teams to drive financial discipline, visibility and decision-making across the operational value chain. This is an ideal opportunity for a newly qualified CA(SA) who wants to move beyond pure reporting and become commercially and operationally involved in a fast-paced, seasonal agri environment.
POSITION INFO:
Key Responsibilities
Operational Finance Partnering
- Act as the finance partner to operations and packhouse management, supporting performance and decision-making.
- Travel to the packhouse weekly to engage with operational teams, validate information, and support operational reporting.
- Develop and maintain operational dashboards and management reporting (throughput, yields, labour/packing costs, variances).
- Support budgeting, forecasting and seasonal planning, aligned to operational realities and export requirements.
- Analyse operational costs and variances; identify inefficiencies, risks and improvement opportunities.
- Strengthen financial controls and processes across operational workflows (approvals, cost tracking, documentation, reconciliations).
- Support profitability analysis (product/pack formats, cost-to-serve, supplier/service provider impacts) where applicable.
- Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives across finance and operations.
Governance Support (Company Secretarial)- Maintain company secretarial administration and governance documentation as required (records, meeting packs, minutes/resolutions, statutory filings), in collaboration with the CEO/FD and external advisors where applicable.
General / Ad Hoc- Support the CEO and FD with operational projects, reporting packs and decision support as required.
- Uphold strong confidentiality, integrity and professionalism.
Minimum Requirements- CA(SA) qualification – essential (newly qualified / early post-articles welcome).
- Strong analytical capability and ability to translate financial data into operational insights.
- Comfortable working on-site and building relationships with operational teams.
- Strong Excel and reporting skills; ERP/accounting system exposure advantageous.
- Valid driver’s licence and willingness to travel to the packhouse.
- Based in the Western Cape or willing to relocate.
Experience Advantageous- Audit/assurance articles with exposure to operations-heavy clients (manufacturing, logistics, agriculture, FMCG).
- Exposure to costings, operational reporting, internal controls or process improvement.
- Any experience in agri-business, exports, packhouses, or seasonal operations.
Personality & Fit- Hands-on, practical and curious — enjoys understanding “how the business runs” on the ground.
- Proactive and solutions-driven; able to work independently and manage priorities in season.
- Strong stakeholder management — comfortable engaging with both executives and shop-floor/packhouse teams.
- High integrity and strong attention to detail.
Measures of Success- Improved operational reporting and decision-making visibility.
- Stronger cost control, clean data flows and effective operational financial controls.
- Insightful analysis and practical recommendations that improve efficiency and margin.
- Governance/secretarial admin handled reliably and on time.
