Commercial Controller - Africa at GE Nigeria

GE (NYSE:GE) drives the world forward by tackling its biggest challenges. By combining world-class engineering with software and analytics, GE helps the world work more efficiently, reliably, and safely. GE people are global, diverse and dedicated, operating with the highest integrity and passion to fulfill GE’s mission and deliver for our customers.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Commercial Controller - Africa

Job ID: 3183370
Location: Nigeria
Job Function: Finance
Business Segment: Healthcare Finance

Role Summary

• The Commercial Controller role for the Africa business is a vital bridge between the financial reporting teams and customer facing teams for all product deliverables.
• The successful candidate must bring to GE Healthcare a strong history of technical expertise blended with a practical ability to deal with the real-world challenges.
• The role requires a flexibility and dynamism that matches the energy and focus of our sales teams.

Essential Responsibilities

• Day to day support for the Africa Controller for all commercial and technical aspects of the business and secondary point of contact for the six sub-regional Controllers to build capacity
• Point person for the CFO and the sub-region Business Finance Managers so they are informed of changes in the accounting processes and policies and that they receive high service levels and training from Controllership team
• Responsible to build and maintain strong relationships with the Commercial & Operational teams across Africa and be viewed as the ‘go to’ person for financial decision-making on technical items
• Being a mentor & coach to other team members to develop the future finance talents and continued focus on creation of a team that is strong on execution and passionate about their roles
• Forging strong relationships with the Shared Service Operations teams and other centers of excellence to ensure timely, accurate Financial Reporting for the commercial accounts on the balance sheet.
• Build strong links with the Commercial Finance team and liaise closely with the Commercial center of excellence in Europe to review commercial deals and manage revenue recognition reporting, notably where complex technical accounting requirements are involved (including multiple deliverables of equipment, service and software, multi-year arrangements including refreshes and optional upgrades, arrangements with financing and leasing components, including extended payment terms and familiarity with Government contracts)
• Own the relationship and provide support on commercial policies and revenue recognition in line with US GAAP to key business stakeholders, including Business Operations, Commercial Operations (Tenders & Offering and Sales), and Commercial Finance
• Create awareness with Commercial & Business Operations on Commercial policies through recurrent trainings on critical skills, new information, hot topics in both English and in local language where appropriate
• Drive accurate revenue recognition and orders reporting in line with US GAAP and GE Healthcare policies, being comfortable to take positions where commercial information is subjective or in some cases incomplete, while maintaining compliance with appropriate policy or standards
• Review non-standard terms and conditions in line with the GE Healthcare Commercial Contracting Policies and advise on accounting impact. Be engaged in modelling those terms prior to negotiations and offer alternative solutions that optimize accounting whilst remaining within the compliance framework
• Bring a demonstrated problem-solving track record for challenging issues that do not fall within normal or predictable accounting rules while retaining the highest level of compliance and documentation for a robust audit trail
• Ensure accurate accounting for all commercial activities including but not limited to; concessions, penalties, guarantees, bad debt reserves, deferred charges, contract assets and deferred revenue
• Lead process improvements, standardizations and drive change across the region to take advantage of significant opportunities and manage material risks arising from complexity, rapid growth and the unpredictability of the emerging markets
• Review Commercial related Balance Sheet accounts for unusual or aged items, providing Controllership oversight and Governance to the Business leadership
• Key participant in annual pre-close, quarterly CFO risk reviews and monthly controllership reviews with senior management
• Drive consistent and effective policies and procedures during monthly/quarterly close process including GE Corporate Data Request submissions, representation letters & adjusting entries
• Ensure accurate and timely statutory & management reporting, by supporting the process and liaising closely with auditors to ensure all deliverables are submitted timely, at a high standard

Qualifications/Requirements

• Technical competency under US GAAP and an ability to assess differences to non-US accounting standards is a priority in this role and while the Africa Commercial Controller will be a technically sound and commercial experienced individual, the candidate must be able to consult with other GE Healthcare resources across the world to leverage the power of the team’s combined knowledge to get the right results and maintain compliance and uphold the highest levels of integrity.
• The Commercial Controller will support the Africa Controller on a day to day basis and be responsive and supportive of the Africa CFO and their Commercial organisation as they grow the business.
• Identify potential risks and opportunities and communicate effectively by writing reports and technical papers to present a workable solution
• Proactively lead adherence to GE GAP compliance policies in conjunction with the legal and compliance organisations
• Identify potential risks and opportunities and communicate effectively by writing reports and technical papers to present a workable solution
• Proactively lead adherence to GE GAP compliance policies in conjunction with the legal and compliance organisations
• Monitor the Internal Controls and ensure controls are designed appropriately for the changing business landscape. Critically examine potential issues where financial risks & opportunities may be identified
• Research and advise on complex technical accounting issues and work closely with financial and operational leadership to pro-actively assess and manage financial risk.
• Partner with GE Corporate Audit Staff and GE Healthcare Monitoring organisations for internal GE compliance reviews and effective control management. Drive closure of open audit issues as appropriate to the role and proactively work to prevent future issues from eventuating. An ability to create project plans and drive those through the matrixed organisations is imperative to success. This is not a sole-contributor role but an influencing and change management leader.
• Qualified Accountant (ACCA/ACA/CIMA/CPA/CFA) with Big 4 accounting firm experience & demonstrated experience and understanding of applying this to Multi National Organisations,
• Graduate with BA/BSc or MBA in Finance with 10 - 15 years of progressive accounting & finance experience in Multi National Organisations, including developing operating plans and assessing commercial operations.

Desired Characteristics

• Demonstrates proficiency in U.S. GAAP, local GAAP and authoritative accounting literature (i.e. FASB pronouncements)
• Leadership experience in a Global business environment and experienced in leading teams, both directly and indirectly and experience of working effectively in a matrixed environment
• Integrity: accepting and adhering to high moral, ethical, and personal values in decisions, communications, actions and when dealing with others
• Multi-country accounting/controllership experience
• Ability to travel within the Africa region as required (anticipated to be less than 10% of time) and therefore a demonstrated ability to network and interact effectively across a distributed team and across regional and global timezones.
• Capable of forging strong relationships with finance and non-finance colleagues, both junior and senior, local and international,
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to communicate complex business issues in a clear/concise manner and to address challenges with confidence in a candid and transparent manner
• Strong analytical skills: able to clearly link financial results to operational performance drivers, generate alternatives and drive positive change
• Strong systems skills and aptitude across ERP, business intelligence tools and commercial tools
• Clear thinking/problem solving: successfully led projects/process improvements within operations/finance functions; able to quickly grasp new ideas or identify failure points in old processes
• Adaptable/Flexible: being open to change in response to new information and in different or unexpected circumstances
• Confidence/Assertiveness: strong influencing skills across business functions and ability to ‘hold the line’ in the face of commercial pressure
• Fluent in English, written and spoken

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online