Financial Controller

Responsibilities:

Financial Leadership and Team Oversight:

• Own the finance function end-to-end: set priorities, standards, and deadlines for Finance Officers and interns, and hold the team accountable to them.
• Review and sign off on all work produced by Finance Officers before it reaches the CEO — the CEO should receive finished, reconciled output, not drafts.
• Build the finance team's capacity over time so routine reporting and reconciliation require minimal Controller-level intervention.

Financial Reporting and Accounting:

• Maintain complete, accurate and up-to-date books of account in line with IFRS (or IFRS for SMEs, as applicable).
• Prepare monthly, quarterly and annual management accounts, including income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement and supporting schedules.
• Own month-end and year-end close, including reconciliations of bank accounts, receivables, payables, inventory and intercompany balances.
• Prepare statutory financial statements and serve as the primary liaison for external auditors through to sign-off.

Budgeting, Planning and Analysis:

• Lead the annual budgeting process across departments and consolidate into an organisational budget.
• Monitor performance against budget, produce variance analyses, and flag risks and opportunities to management proactively — not only on request.
• Build and maintain cash flow forecasts; advise the CEO directly on funding requirements and working capital management.
• Provide financial analysis to support pricing, new initiatives, business cases and investment decisions.

Treasury and Transaction Processing:

• Manage banking relationships, bank accounts and payment authorization processes.
• Oversee accounts payable and accounts receivable, including vendor payments, customer invoicing and debt collection, delegating execution to Finance Officers while retaining accountability for accuracy.
• Supervise payroll preparation and ensure accurate, timely disbursement of staff salaries and related deductions.
• Review and approve staff advances, retirements and expense claims in line with policy.

Compliance and Statutory Obligations:

• Ensure full compliance with Nigerian tax legislation, including Companies Income Tax, VAT, Withholding Tax and PAYE, and manage filings and remittances to FIRS and the relevant State Internal Revenue Service.
• Manage statutory remittances and returns for pension (PenCom), NSITF, ITF and any other applicable schemes.
• Ensure CAC annual returns and other regulatory filings are made on time.
• Own relationships with tax authorities and handle queries, assessments and audits.
• Controls, Systems and Governance
• Design, document and enforce financial policies, procedures and internal controls; identify and close control gaps proactively.
• Maintain and improve the accounting system and chart of accounts; drive automation and process improvement across the finance function.
• Oversee the fixed asset register, inventory records and asset verification exercises.
• Ensure proper documentation and audit trails for all transactions, and that these hold up under external audit or investor scrutiny.

Business Partnering:

• Partner with departmental and regional leads on budget management, procurement decisions and cost control.
• Present financial performance and recommendations directly to executive management and, where required, the Board or investors.
• Support donor, grant or investor reporting requirements where applicable.

Requirements:

• Minimum of a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics or a related discipline.
• Minimum of 4 years' progressive experience in finance and accounting, including demonstrable ownership of financial reporting and statutory compliance.
• At least 3 years in a supervisory or team lead capacity, managing other finance staff.
• Chartered accountant status (ICAN, ACCA or ANAN) required.
• Sound working knowledge of FIRS and Nigerian tax and regulatory requirements.
• Proficiency with accounting software (e.g. QuickBooks, Sage, Zoho Books, Odoo or similar) and advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
• Proven track record of preparing management accounts and managing an audit process end-to-end, with minimal oversight.

Advantageous:

• Experience in a structured growth-stage organisation, ideally in distribution, FMCG, or logistics.
• Exposure to grant, donor or investor reporting.
• Experience implementing or upgrading an accounting system.

Key Competencies and Attributes:

• Strong analytical skills and a high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Sound judgement and unquestionable personal integrity in handling organisational funds.
• Ability to lead a small team and to explain financial information clearly to non-finance colleagues.
• Self-starting and organised, with the ability to work to deadlines with limited supervision.
• Discretion in handling confidential information.
• Comfortable setting standards and holding a lean team accountable to them.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Management accounts delivered within 2 working days of month end.
• Zero penalties or interest arising from late or inaccurate statutory filings.
• Clean external audit with no material findings.
• Budget variances explained and reported monthly.
• Cash flow forecast accuracy within an agreed tolerance.
• Debtor days maintained within target.