Commercial Finance Analyst

Background of the Company

Lindt & Sprüngli (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd (Lindt SA) started operations in May 2011 and forms part of the Lindt & Sprüngli group of companies. With more than 150 employees, Lindt SA is based in Cape Town with strong regional presence in Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth and a network of 15 Lindt retail stores.

As a global leader in the premium chocolate sector, Lindt & Sprüngli looks back on a long-standing tradition of almost 175 years which takes its origins in Zurich, Switzerland. Today, quality chocolate products by Lindt & Sprüngli are made at 12 owned production sites in Europe and the USA. The products are distributed by 28 subsidiary companies and branch offices, in around 500 Lindt shops and cafés, and also via a comprehensive network of more than 100 independent distributors around the globe.

Position Purpose

Responsible for working with various departments at Lindt South Africa and assisting with day-to-day queries, analysis on sales/profitability, providing support as well as producing information to enable management to make key decisions. Responsible for elements of the month-end process, budget process, and financial forecasting.

Key Responsibilities (include but are not limited to the following):

1. Review the forecast monthly by brand, channel and customer in collaboration with sales leaders, supply chain & planning;
2. Support the Finance Manager and Head of Commercial Finance with month-end reporting, budget and forecasting processes, and ad-hoc reporting requirements and IT related projects;
3. Support the Director of Sales and Key Accounts team via business partnering, analysis, opportunity assessments and quarterly performance reviews;
4. Develop and maintain accurate customer and brand contribution statements and evaluate the financial data to provide meaningful insights to management;
5. Assimilate financial data into valuable information to create daily, weekly, and monthly reporting of pertinent financial information to all departments and key stakeholders;
6. Ensure all pricing and promotions for customers are reflected accurately in SAP;
7. Monitor monthly promotional and operating expenses in comparison with Budget and latest estimates;
8. Monitor new product launches and sales in comparison with targets;
9. Analyze promotional ROI performance and suggest recommendations;
10. Partner with the Head of Supply Chain and Senior Planner to assess the effectiveness of current processes and to suggest and implement improvements;
11. Assist product managers with the costing for new product development;
12. Financial modelling and price simulation analysis;
13. Administrator for the business intelligence warehouse (IBM Cognos);
14. Work closely with cross-functional teams, including sales, marketing, and operations, to understand their financial needs and provide proactive and reactive support to achieve business objectives;
15. Provide accurate views on risks and opportunities.

Qualifications, Experience & Skills Required:

1. Educated to degree level or equivalent. Degrees in Finance, Statistics and Economics considered to be an advantage.
2. Experience in the area of Accounting/Controlling or internal/external audit with strong wholesale and marketing interest.
3. Experience in financial analysis, budgeting, and forecasting within a commercial setting.
4. Proficient in financial modeling and advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel.
5. SAP experience considered to be an advantage.
6. Proficient at Microsoft Office – Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
7. High caliber of professional interpersonal skills, with excellent analytical, conceptual, and communication skills (both oral and written).
8. Performance driven, tenacious and goal orientated.
9. Strong communication, networking & influencing skills.
10. Innovative problem-solving ability and can facilitate change.
11. Able to lead cross functional teams both internally and externally.
12. Proven ability to conduct complex, quantitative, and statistical analyses complimented with qualitative inputs from multiple sources to draw conclusions and make recommendations.
13. Ability to think outside the box when searching for solutions to problems.
14. Highly numerate with excellent analytical skills and attention to detail.
15. Well-organized and able to set priorities and clear targets.
16. High degree of flexibility.
17. Able to grow with the level of responsibilities and with the size and structure of the business.