New Jobs Natural Extracts Industries Ltd (NEI), Finance Lead

FINANCE LEAD

Background

Natural Extracts Industries Ltd (NEI) is pioneering the sustainable, natural flavour
manufacturing industry in Tanzania, starting with vanilla and other flavour extracts. The company works in all areas from cultivation, to post-harvest processing, value-add manufacturing and international sales and marketing. The smallholder outgrower network currently integrates over 4,500 vanilla farmers from Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Morogoro, Mbeya and Kagera regions, and through this sourcing model NEI aims to deliver a long term socioeconomic impact of ~50% increase in annual income per smallholder household. The company also works with farmer groups in Mbeya and Tanga regions for cocoa beans sourcing, and has plans for several joint venture opportunities in several other regions. Current products include: liquid flavours, such as extracts from vanilla, orange, cocoa and coffee; and solid flavours like vanilla pods, cocoa powder and nibs. The company has been widely recognised, including awards from the Nestle Creating Shared Value Prize and Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund. It is embarking on a high growth trajectory, particularly in expanding its production capacity, supply chain and product diversification which has created this position.
Role responsibilities

The Finance Lead will be responsible for the following activities:

Overall responsibility and accountability for the Finance Team, who conduct financial accounting for the company, including branches and subsidiaries, per International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which will be done by recording all the company transactions on an ERP system (KPI.com) and keeping orderly physical (hardcopy) and scanned (softcopy) files of all relevant records;
Overall responsibility and accountability for financial controls and management, ensuring the finance team does:
Controlling of inventory and stocks, including raw materials and general inventory orders, record keeping and warehousing; and conducting monthly inventory physical audits, explaining differences and accounting for these in the ERP system;
Reconciling bank statements every month;
Maintaining the fixed asset register;
Managing relationships with banks and the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA);
Managing financial assets and Company investments;
Managing payroll and consultant payments, and other regular payments including TRA (PAYE, WHT, SDL, VAT) and other regulatory bodies like NSSF/PPF, WCF, TBS, TFDA, OSHA, NEMC, District Councils, etc.;
Preparing monthly, quarterly and annual financial statements/reports (including those for the Board of Directors);
Coordinating with the auditor to prepare annual statements and submitting the same to TRA;
Assisting the Sales Team with reconciling invoices on a weekly basis, managing aged receivables, and other finance-related needs as may arise;
Ensuring value-for-money and cost-effectiveness, across all aspects of the company including production and procurement, and which may include internal audits;
Ensuring financial, labour and other regulatory compliance and general risk management (excluding topics on health, safety, environment and manufacturing):
Staying abreast of updates on government policies and legislation, particularly monitoring publications on Tanzania’s Official Gazette and publications from prominent auditors;
Assisting in the preparation of general paper work for submission to government entities, parastatal organisations, investors, donors and other parties, as may be needed by NEI;
Ensuring all assets are insured against appropriate risk;
Managing the accountants and bookkeepers within the Finance Team to perform with excellence and without errors:
Petty cash box (using the imprest methodology), M-Pesa accounts, online banking transfers, preparing cheques, and general cash disbursements/payments, recorded using payment vouchers;
Preparing employee payroll, processing consultant invoices, and payments to casual workers, including verification of tasks completed and control checks;
Managing general office needs, such as procurement of telecommunication and other related services;
General physical record keeping of all financial matters (e.g., purchase orders/invoices, payment vouchers, bank statements, asset registers, EFDs and receipts, etc)
Collecting on customer debts as per the aged receivables report;
Managing the Company mobile telephone line;
Follow, without exception, all work instructions, health/safety rules and quality control measures as per the Company’s Quality Management System, including all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs);
Furthering the company mission: to become a leading African manufacturer of premium natural flavour products for the home baking and commercial kitchen markets, while providing sustainable, increased income for smallholder farmers;
Adhering to and instituting the company values of Professionalism, Ambition and Teamwork;
Any other duties as may be required from time to time by the management team or the Directors.

Desired skills

The Finance Lead will have the following qualifications and competencies:
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Accounting (this is a requirement and no candidates will be considered without this), with:
Deep knowledge of International Financial Accounting Standards (IFRS) and accounting within a manufacturing context (e.g., allocations for bill of materials, cost of goods sold, input/output VAT, etc.)
Membership to the National Board of Accountants and Auditors (NBAA) with
CPA/ACPA certification;
At least 5 years of experience as an Accountant, Auditor or Financial Controller, preferably within manufacturing and agribusiness companies;
Experience managing foreign investors and/or donor grant management a strong plus;
Ability to negotiate with contractors, follow correct procurement procedures and to quantitatively analyse pricing;
Ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both oral and written, in Swahili and English;
Highly skilled (to an advanced level) in computer productivity packages such as Microsoft Office, Google Apps and ERP systems;
Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment and be sensitive to foreign culture;
Ability to work independently, with limited supervision;
A passion for social impact.