Finance Generalist Director West Africa

CEVA Logistics provides global supply chain solutions to connect people, products and providers all around the world. Present in 170 countries and with more than 110,000 employees spread over 1,500 sites, we are well on our way to achieving our vision: to be a Top 5 global 3PL.

We believe that our employees are the key to our success. We want to engage and empower our diverse, global team to co-create value with our customers through our solutions in contract logistics and air, ocean, ground, and finished vehicle transport. That is why CEVA Logistics offers a dynamic and exceptional work environment that fosters personal growth, innovation, and continuous improvement.

DARE TO GROW! Join CEVA Logistics, and you will be part of a team that values imagination, encourages boldness and exemplarity, and is committed to excellence in everything we do. Join us in our mission to shape the future of global logistics as we become a global leader in the logistics industry. As we continue growing at a fast pace, will you “Dare to Grow” with us?

At CEVA, we believe that logistics is a people business, that’s why we create an environment of trust and team spirit - we encourage initiative and we empower our talent to grow in their careers.  We are supply chain experts and live and breathe it every day. We offer a broad range of services in Contract Logistics, Air, Ocean and Ground management thanks to our 78,000 employees, operating in more than 160 countries. At CEVA, we are passionate about our work and the value we deliver to our customers and as a company, we are growing at a fast pace - do you Dare to Grow with us?  

YOUR ROLE

Responsible for keeping the accounting of the perimeter and the performance management of the WAF (countries), and being the legal representative for the same perimeter, the position assumes:

• Being responsible for the organization’s overall financial plans and policies along with its accounting controls & practices
• the conduct of its relationship with local banks, auditors and other financial institutions
• Ensuring compliance with company financial policies and procedures, with company business rules (CBR) as well as applicable government regulations
• Granting and accountable of the best performance (qualitative / quantitative) of finance department, including the relationship with the shared service centers, regional transactional accounting management, and regional and GHO finance control
• Manage functionally business control local business controller, interact and involved / link efficiently with product management, for ensuring accurate accounting positions and proper steering of the results.
• Regarding the legal representation of an entity, duty to communicate appropriately to the relevant bodies, and take actions accordingly to the mandate(s) 

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?

Main areas of focus and accountability of the role – detail in order of importance the main areas of accountability of the role:

1.Accounting Efficiency

Manage cash flow, monitor and control costs, identify and mitigate financial risks, and support continuous improvement in financial systems and processes.

Ensure that proper and accurate accounting records are anticipated, prepared and maintained in accordance with the Company’s financial policies and ensure that appropriate and effective controls are in place and monitored. Maintain integrity of accounting/reporting systems while implementing changes to impose efficiency of processing according to group policies and processes, and improving availability of management information

Maximize the performance of the finance department from both qualitative and quantitative aspects, which assumes (but not exhaustive) to minimize & control net working capital through effective and creative cash management, supplier payment timeliness, relationship with shared service centers, optimization of the cost per item processed (AR/AP/RTR), best use of the tools available, by defining and driving local opportunities as well as leveraging global initiatives

Develop, train, lead and retain direct reports, provide career development opportunities through training and quality management activities

2.Business Leadership

Ensure that the financial information necessary for use by the operating management, business controlling, and executives is prepared and presented to a consistently high and understandable standard, incl. business insights, recommendations, and corrective action proposals, in alignment with the verticalization of the company

Maximize the cash generation from operations. Step in to resolve areas of poor performance, process deficiencies or challenging customers

Collaborate with Financial Accounting & Control, Finance Planning & Analysis, and manage functionally Business Controlling, to ensure local and group accounting practices, statutory and group reporting and compliance are fully aligned with the various phase expectations i.e budgets, actuals and forecasts

Manage functionally and provide strategic financial support to the business control teams dedicated to each product, and ensure a close relationship with product management, contributing to business decisions and growth initiatives

3.Compliance & Legal representation

Serve as the legal representative of the company within the country, ensuring that the legal entities are in continuous compliance with all statutory, regulatory, tax, and other external and internal operating and reporting requirements to which the companies are subject, as well as compliance with local laws and regulations, and acting as the official signatory on legal and financial documents as required

Oversee the preparation and presentation of accurate and timely financial reports for the entity(ies) and all products, ensuring compliance with local and international accounting standards, regulations, and internal policies

Other accountabilities:

• Lead the preparation and submission of ICAP business plans for top management approval.
• Implement a forward focused mentality to drive performance – taking actions to realize opportunities and manage out identified risks.
• Ensure full focus of the business controllers on the business partnering role, in all regards from the regular finance phases (outlook preparation, budget, month end close), and all business decisions. The communication is expected from finance to the product with finance providing business insights and supporting analysis, as well as from the product to finance from an accounting accuracy perspective.
• Ensure specific accounting treatments, estimates & judgments, and complex accounting issues are properly anticipated, accounted and correctly documented.
• Flag, communicate and report challenge areas of potential non-compliance to the relevant stakeholders
• Manage internal and external finance & accounting audits and ensure appropriate internal control framework is in place at a local level in conjunction with Regional Accounting teams.
• Help define and support the integration of the business across Europe (CEVA/CCIS/Nord Sud/++), and more largely company projects. Actively influence the optimal systems, process and organizational design solution. Oversee implementation and stabilization finance & accounting of new set-ups.
• Ensure robust interactions between Product Operations locally and with services provided by SSC’s and other external suppliers managed by finance if applicable.
• Support the Regional Finance & Accounting teams in the delivery of major projects and/or ad-hoc studies.
• Support the digitalisation and standardization of Finance organization, processes, and tools.
• Drive and / or support perimeter changes such as acquisitions, mergers, creation and closing of entities when required in coordination with the head office.
• Mobilize, communicate, influence, structure, onboard and follow up for ensuring all the deliverables related to the position are achieved.
• Added value driven tangible metrics (qualitative and quantitative) shall drive any decision, support the prioritization of the efforts, and shall be measured and communicated in an adequate format and frequency depending on the stakeholders
• Ensure that commercial and supplier contracts optimize the position of CEVA, by review of critical points related to statutory, regulatory, tax, and other external and internal operating and reporting requirements and indicating/addressing them to BD, OPS and other functions, prior to signing.
• Provide proactive and creative financial advice and solutions for strategic business decisions, and insight on opportunities for new projects and ways to increase profitability and the performance of the company to enable the development, implementation and success of the country financial and product strategies.
• The WAF Finance Director must comply with group accounting reporting expectations by ensuring that group policies and group deadlines are met. He is also in charge that the entities under his responsibility complies with all local relevant financial laws and regulations, including tax reporting and filing requirements.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

Education & Qualifications

Essential            

Advanced diploma in accounting [to be specified based on geographies

Minimum 10 years in accounting management position covering all accounting aspects (AR, AP, RTR, local tax, financial control), in companies of similar size and profile.

Logistics industry

Desirable: 

Knowledgeable on the 3 core products of the logistic market (Freight Forwarding, Ground, Contract Logistics)

Specialist Knowledge & Skills:      

Essential:

Rigour & reliability

IFRS Gaps

Financial Control

Process oriented

Solutioning & continuous improvement oriented

Business acumen

Fluent in English 

Desirable:

Tooling: JD Edwards, SAP, OneStream, Kyriba, Get Paid, Medius, Anaplan

Others: Lean Six Sigma or similar

Interpersonal & Communication Skills:   

• Management, by motivating, and keeping a team involved and focused
• Capacity to adapt quickly in a changing environment
• Ability to organize and anticipate
• Going to micro to macro, and communicating accordingly

WHAT DO WE HAVE TO OFFER?

With a genuine culture of recognition, we want our employees to grow, develop and be part of our journey. It is our goal that you will be compensated for your hard work and commitment, so if you’d like to work for one of the top Logistics providers in the world then let’s work together to help you find your new role

ABOUT TOMORROW

We value your professional and personal growth. That’s why we share plenty of career opportunities for you to thrive within CEVA. Join CEVA for a challenging career.

As a global organization, and as part of the CMA CGM Group, diversity is critical to our business success; only when we can reflect the cultures, languages, behaviors and local knowledge of our customers, we can succeed. By employing people with different experiences and abilities, we expand our knowledge and increase our creativity and innovation.

Please note: Legitimate CEVA Logistics recruitment processes include communication with candidates through recognized professional networks, such as LinkedIn or via an official company email address: firstname.lastname@cevalogistics.com. We recommend that you do not respond to unsolicited business propositions and/or offers from people with whom you are unfamili