Overview

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Job Position: ACT Expertise Lead

Job Location: Nigeria (Remote)

Africa Controllership Team – The Team

  1. The Africa Controllership Team (ACT) Expertise Lead has a passion for improving stewardship across Africa and provides an independent view on the health of the business internal control environment.
  2. They act with objectivity as the conscience of the business, seeing the bigger picture & holding the mirror up whilst moving between controls, accounting & value-based topics.
  3. The ACT Expertise Lead focuses on Financial Reporting matters and leads the Africa (initially only West Africa) Controllership agenda, mainly through monitoring controls (including documentation), identifying and driving improvement opportunities, training, sharing best practices, and supporting the country Controllers to prioritize stewardship matters.
  4. As well as performing independent monitoring of control operation, the role leads on the formal Sarbanes-Oxley controls testing (FCA), which may include engaging and directing third parties to perform some controls testing.
  5. The role works extremely closely with the country Controllers to jointly ensure the highest quality of control operation, documentation, accounting compliance and stewardship standards.
  6. The ACT Expertise Lead also works closely with the Unilever centres of excellences (including Operating Centre and Commercial Experience ‘ComEx’ teams) and has visibility of controls operated by ComEx (or by third parties for ComEx). The role is the first point of contact with the Unilever global central accounting and controls team (Group Chief Accountants Department ‘GCAD’) for all accounting matters.
  7. The ACT Expertise Lead has the primary relationship with local external auditors for all in scope countries and must approve the external audit methodology for each country to ensure it is optimal based on, and utilizing, the centralization of Unilever control operation and audit work performed in these countries.
  8. The role participates in key external audit meetings and ensures 1) smooth audit planning / progress; and 2) audit observations are adequately and sustainably resolved.  Additionally, the role works with the Africa Internal Audit and Corporate Audit teams to support their work, monitor progress and track follow up actions.
  9. The ACT Expertise Lead connects with the environment outside Unilever to identify and initiate programmes to drive world-class stewardship initiatives.  They also support programmes around financial process efficiency to eliminate, simplify, automate and/or centralize transactional activities.
  10. The National Finance Directors (NFDs) are responsible for risk management, appropriate accounting/reporting and adequate controls.
  11. This role writes a monthly report summary of actions / findings to each country NFD and leads a discussion with them at least quarterly to enable them to implement these responsibilities.
  12. As the escalation / approver for judgmental accounting matters, the role also seeks out and challenges any accounting they observe that could be judgmental, incorrect or inaccurate and ensures/maintains comprehensive documentation of such matters.

Job Description

  1. The ACT Expertise Lead supports the Africa Controller with other Africa-wide stewardship matters including Business Risk Assessment ‘BRA’ exercise, reporting to the Africa Leadership Team ‘ALT’, and ad hoc initiatives including training.  Within the risk management context, the role may facilitate the country Leadership Teams in creating and updating Standard Operating Procedures ‘SOPs’.
  2. The role line manages two direct reports to achieve the ACT objectives.

Job Responsibilities
Overall accountability:

  1. The role leads the Africa Controllership Team to achieve the objectives/purpose of the team as set out above (and subject to change by agreement with the Africa Controller).
  2. Within this remit, it is expected that the role will deliver the following:

Monitoring of Control Operation:

  1. The role is fully responsible for designing and implementing the control monitoring activities and will delegate as they decide.  Within this, the role will directly do the monitoring of:
    • Over 1/3 of the ACT activities to review countries’ Global Framework ‘GFCF’ controls operation
    • Over 1/3 of the ACT activities to review countries’ GFCF documentation standards (through an online tool eGRC lite)
    • Over 1/4 of the ACT activities to review countries’ non-GFCF control operation and documentation
  2. The ACT provides controls expertise and advice as needed across Africa and is also responsible for management and maintenance of the eGRC lite tool.

Controls testing:

  1. The role leads the independent testing of controls, based on the scope determined each year by the Unilever global central accounting and controls team (Group Chief Accountants Department ‘GCAD’), in accordance with the Financial Controls Assessment ‘FCA’ Unilever testing standards (derived from Sarbanes-Oxley section 404).  This may include engaging and directing third parties to perform some controls testing.

Tracking issues and audit observations:
The role ensures all key stakeholders have regular/ongoing access to the status of stewardship issues and audit observations identified.  This includes:

  1. Corporate Audit actions
  2. External Audit observations
  3. Africa Internal Audit actions
  4. FCA observations

Communication/reporting:

  1. The role ensures key stakeholders, including the National Finance Directors, are fully informed of the activities undertaken and findings observed.
  2. In effecting this responsibility, the role holder determines the optimal communication to be used but it is likely this will involved at a minimum a monthly summary report.
  3. This should be high quality and well written so that users can clearly understand and determine the consequences.

Reporting:

  1. The ACT is responsible for pensions, payroll and insurance activities including accounting and reporting by the in-scope countries as well as directing external providers.

Other:

  1. ACT represents Finance at the Africa Financial Flexibility ‘FinFlex’ discussions, which focus on tax and treasury related matters including risk management and dividend planning.
  2. ACT also lead the Local Table of Authorities process, ensuring it is updated regularly and communicated successfully.
  3. The role supports the Africa Controller with other Africa-wide stewardship matters including: Business Risk Assessment ‘BRA’ exercise, reporting to the Africa Leadership Team ‘ALT’, and ad hoc initiatives including training.

Key Interfaces:

  1. All functions within Unilever Africa
  2. Africa Finance Controllers (currently West Africa only)
  3. Unilever ComEx
  4. External Auditors
  5. National Finance Directors (currently Nigeria, Ghana & CDI)

Job Requirements

  1. A Chartered Accountant and Member of a Professional Body (in-country Accounting Certifying body) with at least 3 – 5 years’ experience in a similar role and FMCG environment.
  2. Qualified and experienced to perform Sox testing, audit, internal control, corporate governance, and financial reporting.
  3. Excellent Communication – written and verbal.
  4. Strong leadership & Senior stakeholder management skills

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

Tagged as: Accounting