Head of Finance / Chief Financial Officer

About the Organisation

Organisation Context

The client is an impact-driven, vertically integrated livestock and beef business operating across the full value chain, from ethical livestock sourcing and climate-smart feedlot finishing to fodder production, processing, value-added meat products, branded retail and planned export growth. The organisation is transitioning from a founder-led enterprise into a professionalised, data-driven and investor-ready business with stronger systems, controls and governance.

Why This Appointment Matters

• The organisation is building the institutional backbone required to support blended finance, investor due diligence and long-term growth.
• The finance function will play a central role in making margins, costs, working capital and operational performance visible in real time.
• The business is implementing an ERP-enabled operating model in which financial discipline, data quality and transaction capture are critical to decision-making.
• The successful candidate will help create IFRS-compliant reporting, robust internal controls and segment-level insight across a complex production-to-retail value chain.
• This is a hands-on leadership role for a finance executive who can operate strategically while building systems from the ground up.

Job Summary

• The Head of Finance / Chief Financial Officer will be the institutional architect of the organisation’s finance, reporting, controls, ERP and business systems.
• The role is responsible for IFRS-compliant financial reporting, including biological asset accounting, and for producing accurate segment-level management accounts.
• The successful candidate will build a dynamic cost model that traces value from livestock procurement through the feedlot, processing, inventory, sales channels and final margin.
• The postholder will oversee finance operations, working capital, tax compliance, audit readiness and investor due diligence support.
• In the first phase of growth, the role also provides oversight of HR, IT and administration to create a single, disciplined institutional backbone.
• This appointment requires a commercially sharp, systems-minded finance leader with experience in complex agricultural, food processing or FMCG environments.

Financial Reporting, Compliance and Control

• Produce monthly management accounts within 15 days, including consolidated accounts, segment-level P&Ls, balance sheet, cash flow, KPI dashboard and budget-versus-actual commentary.
• Ensure compliance with IFRS requirements relevant to livestock, property, inventories, leases and processing operations.
• Lead annual audit preparation and maintain a strong audit-ready discipline across the organisation.
• Maintain full tax and statutory compliance, including corporate tax, VAT, payroll-related deductions and all relevant filings.
• Design and enforce internal controls across procurement, payments, banking, inventory, fixed assets, expenses and segregation of duties.

Value-Chain Finance and Commercial Insight

• Develop robust farm, sourcing, feedlot, processing and retail finance models that show cost, yield and margin at each stage of the value chain.
• Track procurement costs by market, region, season and livestock category, with daily reconciliation of digital payments and transport cost allocation.
• Build and maintain a dynamic cost-of-goods model covering purchase cost, transport, feed, veterinary inputs, labour, overheads, processing and product-level margin.
• Provide per-location retail performance insight, including POS reconciliation, shrinkage control, margin management and commercial credit oversight.
• Support management decision-making through clear financial analysis, operational dashboards and forward-looking scenario modelling.

ERP, HR, IT and Capital Raise Support

• Champion the ERP platform as the single source of truth and ensure all departments capture transactions accurately and within agreed timelines.
• Oversee IT and administration, including ERP configuration, infrastructure, connectivity, cybersecurity, backups, office administration and data quality.
• Provide oversight of HR systems, contracts, onboarding, payroll administration, statutory deductions, training coordination, policies, staff records and labour compliance.
• Lead annual budgeting by segment, quarterly rolling forecasts and disciplined working capital management across livestock purchases, feed inventory, meat inventory, receivables and payables.
• Support the capital raise process through financial modelling, investor due diligence responses, virtual data room population, covenant monitoring and drawdown planning.

Experience and Qualifications

• At least 12 years’ finance experience, including five or more years as CFO, Finance Director or equivalent senior finance leader.
• Strong background in agribusiness, food processing, FMCG, manufacturing or another complex production-to-retail environment.
• CPA(K), ACCA, ACA or equivalent professional qualification is required; CFA or MBA would be advantageous.
• Demonstrable IFRS expertise, including biological asset accounting, inventory treatment and reporting disciplines relevant to processing and production businesses.
• Hands-on ERP experience with systems such as Odoo, SAP or Oracle, including financial module configuration and process design.
• Experience in retail finance, POS reconciliation, shrinkage control, multi-location P&L management and commercial margin analysis.
• Experience supporting institutional investor due diligence, capital raising, three-statement financial modelling, DCF analysis or project finance modelling.

Leadership Profile

• A systems builder who can create processes, controls and reporting discipline in a fast-scaling organisation.
• Commercially astute, with the ability to translate operational realities into clear financial insight and better management decisions.
• Comfortable working close to the ground, engaging with operations, procurement, production, retail and leadership teams.
• Highly data-driven, with a strong belief in disciplined transaction capture, dashboard-led performance management and evidence-based decision-making.
• Credible with boards, auditors, lenders, development finance institutions and other institutional stakeholders.
• Ethical, rigorous and resilient, with the judgement to manage fraud risk, cash-intensive processes and compliance expectations.

Key Performance Indicators

• Monthly management accounts delivered within 15 days, with clear segment-level reporting and no material restatements.
• Clean external audit opinion within the first audit cycle.
• Cost-of-goods accuracy maintained within agreed tolerance between ERP records and physical realities.
• Daily reconciliation of sourcing payments and timely resolution of exceptions.
• Retail shrinkage controlled below agreed thresholds across locations.
• Working capital managed effectively across inventory, receivables and payables.
• Tax, payroll and statutory compliance maintained on time and without avoidable exposure.
• ERP financial integrity maintained through complete bank reconciliation and no aged unreconciled balances.

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