Head of Finance

Stellenbosch / Cape Town

R1,000,000 – R1,400,000 per year

Complete financial ownership in a thriving luxury group

Role Overview

An established luxury retail and distribution group representing internationally recognized premium brands is seeking a Head of Finance to join their team in Stellenbosch. Operating a high-value inventory model with consistent year-on-year growth, the business offers a rare opportunity to step into a flat organizational structure with true executive impact.

Reporting directly to the Managing Director, you will take full ownership of the end-to-end finance function, modernize systems, and lead a 5-person finance team. Your mandate spans multi-branch stock valuation, foreign currency purchasing, financial controls, and commercial decision support across both retail locations and service operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Prepare monthly management accounts with detailed commentary, annual financial statements, quarterly forecasts, and rolling cash flow models.
• Oversee unit-level landed costing, inventory valuations, count protocols, and margin analysis across all branches and sales channels.
• Manage treasury operations, daily cash flow, foreign currency exposure, forward exchange cover, and customs clearing functions.
• Own the ERP environment (Sage 200 Evolution), maintaining general ledger integrity while automating manual processes using SQL and Power BI.
• Ensure full regulatory and tax compliance, including VAT, income tax, provisional returns, and FIC Act obligations.
• Provide commercial analysis for supplier negotiations, distributor economics, new branch business cases, and board reporting packs.
• Lead and mentor a 5-person finance team, maintaining strong internal control frameworks across all operating locations.

Qualifications & Experience

• Qualified Chartered Accountant (SA), or CGMA with 6+ years of post-qualification experience, including 3+ years leading a finance team.
• Proven finance leadership experience within multi-branch retail, wholesale, or distribution environments handling high-value serialized inventory highly advantageous.
• Practical expertise in foreign currency purchasing, forward cover, customs valuation, and landed costing models beneficial.
• Technical proficiency with ERP environments (specifically Sage 200 Evolution) alongside SQL and Power BI reporting tools.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a hands-on, operational capacity without reliance on corporate delegation layers.

Salary & Benefits

• R1,000,000 – R1,400,000 CTC per year