Finance Lead

Africa Finance Lead
Feltham, London

What You'll Do
You will be responsible for P&L management for the overall Cisco’s business in the Africa theatre covering all 54 countries and 11 offices.
The role operates across multiple countries, as well as all of Cisco’s business segments and technology architectures, which requires a high degree of innovation and agility.
You will be the senior finance leader in the region. You will work with and influence the Africa executive team in all areas of financial performance and drive innovation within the organization to enable the maximization of growth and profitability. You will also be responsible for ensuring the operating environment adheres to defined corporate compliance and controls as well as Cisco wide company policies.

Who You'll Work With
The Sales & Services Finance organization partners with Cisco’s business leadership and their teams to optimize the go to market strategies and maximize long term profitable growth.
S&S Finance Executives participate and support key decision making on resource allocation and investment. Priorities will be based around maximizing profitable growth, accelerated analytics to drive portfolio and profitability views into the field sales, drive productivity and alignment across the organization, expand the breadth of financial expertise and leadership for rapidly changing global marketplace and ensuring that we transact business and operate to the ethical and business standards associated with Cisco.

Who You Are
You are trusted advisor and partner to the General Managers and their leadership teams through participation in business planning, account planning, reporting, controls and compliance. In your role you will:
• Lead the process around the development of the Annual Plan
• Drive the P&L management within the fiscal quarter and over a rolling 15 month cycle including forecasting and planning of quarterly, annual and long range plans
• Ensure strict adherence to key compliance, business controls and policies required to execute business in line with Cisco’s ethical standards
• Serve as a consultative business partner to client groups on broad or complex business issues, influence and innovate Sales strategies & validate the go-to-market including providing financial guidance to the Sales organization
• Drive the critical deals analysis and shaping of complex transactions and ensuring that all business is transacted in line with standard business policy and practice as defined by Cisco
• Lead, develop and build the Sales & Services Finance team with a focus on Talent Development
• Influence change across broad areas of Cisco, by working with and leading a number of key initiatives

In order to be successful in the role you should posses the following skills:
• P&L Management
• Finance leadership expertise combined with business partnering
• Understanding of multi-country regions, tax/legal structures and credit in emerging markets
• Solution driven with the ability to deal with ambiguity and complexity to drive quick outcomes
• An understanding of developing markets, cultural understanding and sensitivity would be beneficial
• Strong background in controls and compliance. Previous working experience in Big 4 firms is an asset

Why Cisco
We connect everything: people, processes, data, and things. We innovate everywhere, taking bold risks to shape the technologies that give us smart cities, connected cars, and handheld hospitals. And we do it in style with unique personalities who aren’t afraid to change the way the world works, lives, plays and learns.

We are thought leaders, tech geeks, pop culture aficionados, and we even have a few purple haired rock stars. We celebrate the creativity and diversity that fuels our innovation. We are dreamers and we are doers.

We Are Cisco.