Senior Financial Manager

SUMMARY:
Are you a commercially minded finance leader who wants to see your numbers translate directly into business performance?
Our client is a fast-paced, growing 10-site vehicle repair group seeking an experienced Senior Financial Manager to take ownership of the finance function and become a key strategic partner to the Managing Director.
This is a hands-on, high-impact role for a finance professional who enjoys being close to the operation, understanding what drives profitability, challenging performance, and turning financial information into practical business decisions.
If you thrive in an environment where finance isn't just about reporting the numbers — but about improving them, this could be the opportunity for you!

POSITION INFO:
As Senior Financial Manager, you will provide financial leadership across the group. Leading the finance function and delivering accurate, insightful monthly management accounts and executive reporting. Providing the MD with weekly financial and operational dashboards covering revenue, gross profit, WIP, debtors, insurer recoveries, productivity, margins and cash flow. Driving branch-level profitability analysis, identifying underperformance and recommending corrective action. Managing rolling cash-flow forecasts, working capital and cash discipline across the group. Monitoring and improving WIP, job cards, invoicing delays and completed-but-not-invoiced work. Taking ownership of debtor collections, insurer recoveries, short payments and aged balances. Analysing labour recovery, productive hours, efficiency and overtime to identify opportunities to improve branch performance. Protecting margins through effective monitoring of parts, paint, consumables, supplier pricing, credits and write-offs. Identifying margin leakage, cost risks and operational inefficiencies and partnering with branch and workshop managers to address them. Leading budgeting, forecasting, business cases, supplier reviews, capex proposals and branch performance reviews. Maintaining strong financial controls across banking, creditors, debtors, payroll, stock, approvals and financial processes. Ensuring audit, tax, statutory, POPIA, insurer and internal policy compliance. Leading, developing and mentoring the finance team, creating a culture of accuracy, accountability and continuous improvement. Supporting the implementation and governance of technology, workflow, reporting and AI-enabled tools that improve operational and financial visibility. You'll be measured on your ability to: Drive profitability Provide clear visibility of gross profit and EBITDA across all 10 branches and identify opportunities to improve performance. Strengthen cash flow Maintain accurate weekly cash-flow forecasting and improve working capital, collections and insurer recoveries. Improve operational performance Use financial data to identify opportunities around WIP, labour recovery, productivity, parts margins and cost control. Give the MD clarity Deliver concise, decision-ready reporting that highlights risks, opportunities, exceptions and recommended actions. Strengthen controls Ensure robust financial governance, approval disciplines, reconciliations and compliance across the group. Build a high-performing finance team Develop a capable, accountable team with strong processes, cross-training and succession cover. What We're Looking For We are looking for a commercially astute and hands-on finance professional who can operate comfortably between the finance office, the MD's desk and the branches. You will ideally have: A relevant BCom \/ Finance \/ Accounting qualification. CA(SA) Advantagous Strong experience in financial management, management accounting, reporting and commercial finance. Experience managing finance across multiple branches, sites or business units. Strong Excel, ERP, reporting, dashboard and data-analytics capabilities. Proven experience with WIP, working capital, debtors, cash flow and profitability analysis. The confidence to challenge branch performance constructively and hold stakeholders accountable. Excellent communication skills and the ability to turn complex financial information into clear commercial recommendations. A hands-on, energetic and solutions-driven approach.