JOB PURPOSE STATEMENT
Supporting the Head of Finance and Administration, this role is the chief steward of Loop DFS’s financial systems and strategy, collaborating with Loop DFS’s management functions, vendors, IT Applications and Group Finance in the planning, designing, development, implementation and administration of the group’s financial system strategy to facilitate accurate access of financial information to Executive, Management, Board and other stakeholder such as the regulators for timely decision-making.
The role will provide direction, vision and leadership in the development and implementation of strategies for leveraging the use of technology to support financial management activities and operations. The role ensures that IT systems embrace established best practices for financial reporting including data-flow to Business Intelligence infrastructure required for data analysis.
The role will manage Enterprise Information Assets from capture to usage, within the individual data management capability areas developing & being an Implementing partner of the Enterprise Data Strategy.
The position also promotes commercial excellence in serving the Digital Business by proactively engaging with Business Heads and providing guidance/advice on relevant matters. This role ensures the information systems and solutions within the finance and strategy eco-system meets the changing business requirements of group.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES)
Financial (30%)

Lead the provision of useful financial insights to help make better decisions about formulating and executing strategy, and provide guidance and analysis to executive and operational management to improve results.
Provide specialized technical analysis of business initiatives such as new investments, feasibility studies, capital management and competitor financial analysis
Responsible for budgets related to financial and related systems
Identifying, driving and quantifying process and cost efficiencies through automation, process improvement and enhanced decision-making.
Understanding the financial data needs of the organisations and providing data that enable different users make informed decisions about their businesses.
Oversee management of financial data, data base mining, preparation of executive dashboards and quarterly competitor analysis.
Partner with IT Department in developing and maintaining financial system governance policies and procedures.
In partnership with IT Department, provide strategic and tactical knowledge in the development of a multi-year financial system roadmap
Provide multi-platform support for access to data at anytime and anywhere
Manage financial data integrity and perform financial data auditing.

Internal Business Processes (30%)

Lead in shaping systems strategies and lead teams responsible for reporting, development, testing, and daily operational support of financial systems.
Embed finance’s considerations in the development and implementation of the group’s system strategy and improvement plan;
Entrench finance considerations in the process to Identify, evaluate and select financial systems that enable and streamline internal business processes, support data-driven decision-making, and optimize the end user experience.
Develop/maintain the Department Policies & Procedures and service level agreements (SLAs) ensuring these are always up to date
Develop and implement systems for collating and analyzing financial and operational data to provide relevant management information and reports to specified stakeholders.
Design and Implement a financial Data Management Framework (FDMF), leading to standardization, improved & timely decisions and derived business insights
Work with the EDM team to develop the semantic layer, metadata, data marts, enterprise data warehouse (“EDW”) Business Warehouse (“BW”) report and report definitions.
Work in conjunction with IT to implement the organizations systems development life cycle methodology and service-oriented architecture (“SOA”).
Provide program management and project management support on key finance system implementations and major enhancement projects.
Define, manage and participate in implementation and upgrade of Bank systems especially affecting General Ledger, Revenue assurance and Reconciliation process.
Evaluate and implement new technology to automate current manual processes with the objective of increasing departmental accuracy, efficiency and productivity.
Application of sound analytical judgment to identify trends, suggesting and implementing improvements to the existing controls, procedures and systems to bolster fraud prevention.
Develop and implement systems for collating and analyzing financial and operational data to provide relevant management information and reports to specified stakeholders.

Internal Customers (20%)

Develop and oversee processes for analysing business (internal & external) requirements; Identify enterprise solutions through implementation of new and existing information systems.
Monitor, track status and provide updates to stakeholders on key finance systems support operations, issues and service level metrics.
Key liaison and point of contact for management of vendors, software contracts, support renewals and consulting contracts.
Solution lead on cross-technical implementation and support activities in and around finance systems
Ensure financial systems are operating as intended, remaining available to end users to support their work; respond to unexpected service disruptions with appropriate urgency and judgment.
Coordinate with respective project managers and third party resources on projects and implementations
Manage project deliverables and resource allocations between core and project activities.
Chief custodian of GL chart of accounts “mapping” and databases to support the financial management activities.
Maintain business partnerships with client departments, locations and regions to keep informed of new business initiatives.
Understand, represent, and prioritize, the needs of Finance & Strategic Planning Unit process owners and system stakeholders in the governance of financial and related systems, working in partnership with IT department and other and other stakeholders.
Influence product design through building and maintenance of strong working relationships with software suppliers and product managers.
Leverage effective tools to ensure maximum uptime and effective use of resources.
Manage finance systems to deliver new functionality for new and existing products, develop business requirements specifications.

Leadership & People Development (20%)

Identify and interpret the impact of financial system changes on stakeholders and provide strategic and tactical input into the change management plan.
Manage relationships between people, processes and technology to ensure the successful implementation of system implementations and upgrades.
Contribute to the development and implementation of a financial systems and reporting training program.
Manage the training and provide deployment assistance to the broader team as part of the upgrade / deployment process
Promote a team environment and provides work direction and guidance including coaching, professional development, and training for the team.
Provide thorough documentation on Financial systems processes and integration points
Provide visibility to Executive on technology enhancements as well as any gaps in security or compliance
Regularly review people performance to trigger feedback and prompt actions to ensure objectives for individuals and team.
Ensure collaboration amongst the staff with other members of Loop DFS and with other relevant stakeholders for cultivating collective responsibility to achieve business goals.
Create a culture of continuous learning, and the development of others, to build a high performing organization with the ability to attract and retain top talent.

JOB SPECIFICATIONS
Academic:

University degree in business related studies or equivalent.
MBA in Finance, Strategy or Business Administration will be an added advantage.
Professional accounting (CPA-K or ACCA) or IT qualification and relevant accreditations.

Desired work experience:

Seven years post-qualification (accounting) experience in a medium to large corporate organisation.
Competence in the use of SAP, T24 and Boss Systems.
Demonstrated work experience with both Excel and computerized accounting systems;
Demonstrated work experience running complete project lifecycle;
Strong math, analytical and technical skills; highly organized and customer service oriented;
Experienced with financial systems and applications
Experience in the financial services industry or banking sector.