Accounting Finance

QUALIFICATIONS

More than ••••• years of work experience in Marketing Communications, Financial Reporting and General Management.

Diligently maintained unparalleled responsiveness to critical business needs, ensuring first-rate customer satisfaction through continued communication and sustainable value generation. I seek to understand the competitive environment and customer needs and align my approach and outputs accordingly.

Excellent leadership, interpersonal skills, organizational, communication, research, strategy formulation, problem solving, business modelling and ISO based documentation skills.
Marketing Communications: Successfully positioned various entities in the market through multidisciplinary approach to building brand equity. Full collateral and digital marketing delivery. Extensive media relations and public relations experience across live and pre- recorded radio and printed mediums. Singlehandedly, achieved $•••••mil of media cover in ••••• > in-house. Pivotal role played in averting ••••• recession based disaster.
Financial Reporting and Analysis: Expert with strong working knowledge of IAS and IFRS. Adept at identifying measurement bases of key business drivers that are determinants to the successful implementation of agreed business strategies. Numerous successful investor relations and financial PR initiatives in South Africa and Dubai. Previously Group Financial Manager of listed company in South Africa.
Strong corporate legal background. Diverse experience in driving ethics through organisations and suppliers utilising user-friendly and easily understandable Codes and communication initiatives. Developed internal controls and mechanisms in accordance with best business practice policies based on Sarbannes Oxley.
Have successfully developed and implemented changes and enhancements to business processes through project driven approaches. Designed and implemented ISO •••••, ••••• and ••••• based methodologies, policies and procedures, while overseeing the training and alignment of stakeholders.

Professional degrees and certifications include:

Rand Afrikaans University BComm(Law), majoring in Financial Accounting
Gordon Institute of Business Science MBA
Estate Agency Board Certification

SKILLS

Marketing Strategies and Campaigns
Corporate Communications
Creative Team Leadership•••••Product Positioning and Branding
Web and Print Content Development
Focus Group and Market Research
Development of Training Materials
Sales Collateral and Support
Public & Media Relations
Accomplished writer, editor, and public speaker.
•••••New Product Launch and Development
Perception Monitoring
Contract management
Conversant in Afrikaans and French.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Al Faraa Integrated Construction Group, Al Ain, UAE September ••••• to May •••••
Group Communications Manager (Head of marketing communications)

Communications strategy:
Developed and implemented communications strategy against measurable targets
o Build corporate advantage in the market
o Align all components of value chain across all subsidiaries and business units
Budget of around •••••million per annum
Responsible for all stakeholder relations
o External (media, consultants, communities and CSI, suppliers, government, potential employees and competitors)
o Internal (employees and subcontractors on sites
Responsible for all marketing and brand management
Responsible for investor relations with the main focus on funding from banks
Developed functional tools and systems in department to enable effective delivery. First functional department in group to implement ISO••••• practices

Investor relations:
Developed investor relations key messages
Compiled group annual reports
Developed and implemented communications strategy for funding houses

External communications:
Number of group affiliated companies •••••
Number of group affiliated brands •••••
Utilized integrated marketing communications approach
Managed all public relations campaigns
Managed and branded Al Faraa Foundation CSI arm of business
Brand and corporate image protection
Managed all creatives, bookings and advertising campaigns
Updated and rebranded all collaterals including brochures, websites, company profiles, technical prequalifications and corporate gifts.
Compiled ••••• different corporate videos in-house
Management of all social media and digital marketing requirements

Internal communications:
Number of staff approx •••••,••••• across ••••• nationalities in three countries
Developed and implemented group intranet and expanded intranet functionality to support human resources, admin and communications ERP functions
Developed and rolled out internal branding across various technical and non technical functions, such as safety, quality, human resources, career development planning
Developed internal mascot to drive communications initiatives through a focus on storyboards due to diversity of languages, literacy and cultures in the organization
Developed and implemented corporate communications for key internal stakeholders
Implemented daily news review and Annual Al Faraa Family Festival aimed at mass internal audiences
Compiled and distributed internally oriented publications such as newsletters, intranet, notices (in soft copy and on notice boards), celebratory cards and project news


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (CONTINUED)

Lusitania Food Products, Cape Town, South Africa July ••••• to August •••••
Branch management / Group financial management/Manufacturing management
Managed Hermanus Processing and Retail branches with around ••••• staff and 3 million Rand ($•••••,•••••) turnover per month.
Various marketing activities aimed at improving image of one of largest employers in Hermanus
Updated production initiatives based on Eli Goldratt throughput model.
Implemented intensive management collaboration sessions
Implemented various controls aimed at managing outflows of cash
Managed to deliver best branch performance in 5 years
Concluded various long term and lucrative contracts which contributed to improved bottom line of the branch.
Extensive involvement in industrial relations ( highly unionized operation)
Participated in programs with Productivity South Africa
Extended procurement capabilities to source through backward integration initiatives.
Delivered on improved cash flow management by centralizing the payments system from the branches to Head Office and implementing the organizations first ever creditor and supplier management policies.
Developed and implemented nationally oriented credit management approach and aligned the business to the ethos and requirements of the National Credit Agreements Acts
Brought books that were 4 months behind up to date in time for interim audit and results publications.
Implemented first ever staff sales commission statement and analysis model enabling better operational management of sales at branch level.
Delivered first group level salary reconciliations, General ledger reconciliations and analysis model that is drawn directly from the ERP system.
Redesigned account groupings on ERP system to enable high level roll up and low level transactional analysis at the same time.
Delivered first group budget
Delivered first ever Group Consolidation model (was done by previous auditors)
Worked very closely with group IT manager to deliver better solutions for the group and managed countless daily system issues that negatively impacted operations
Developed extensive knowledge to be able to train and support staff at the lowest levels in the organization.
Delivered SENS, commentary and published results to the JSE and markets.
Responsible for accounting function of King Consolidated Holdings and report directly to the Board of Directors
Realigned business financial reporting across the country to IAS and IFRS requirements.

Express Air Services, Cape Town, South Africa April ••••• to July •••••
Senior Consultant
Employed full time and until August ••••• on a freelance basis.
Conducted full competitive strategy analysis using resource based approach
Assisted Financial Director with and compiled strategy for IT, finance and business support services
Developed performance measures
Developed business proposals in order to obtain Reserve Bank authorization to repatriate funds to Tanzania and Kenya in order to set up operations. Immediate approval obtained.
Completed various deliverables in respect of Zimbabwe hyperinflationary accounting and business solutions to ease the operational risk to Express Air Services
Reviewed and provided extensive input on various shareholder agreements ranging from the Chinese through to Africa

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (CONTINUED)

Built analysis model for the Finance Department
Wrote commentary for Board Pack and other reporting requirements
Developed procedures and policies as well as implemented a fully integrated automated payments system
Redesigned and implemented creditor payment and cashbook procedures
Assisted the company in preparation for audit
Implemented new procedures to improve productivity within the finance and administration department.

South African Towing and Recovery Association Johannesburg, South Africa
January ••••• to December •••••
Corporate Officer / CEO
Strategic planning - environmental scanning, organizational diagnosis, solution development and implementation utilizing managed resource approach. Built industry models relational to pricing. Consulted to clients to harness and align strategic imperatives.
Strategic management and implementation Supply chain, HR, knowledge management, operations, marketing and communication and aspects of external environment;
Full financial reporting function including internal auditing.
Full back office function including managed projects involving internal and external parties, centralized all business operations in the face of many challenges, grew business turnover from ••••• million to 6 million Rand ($•••••,••••• to $•••••,•••••) per annum in three years.
Full operations functions Sourced and developed in-house software applications and programs to facilitate development and compilation of nationally fully verified industry databases and business process, which were specifically designed to enable clients and members to hook on and thus enjoy external economies of scales. SQL and •••••.
Full company secretarial functions in terms of compliance with the Companies Act and the Code of Good Corporate Governance in terms of King 2 - Redrafted Memorandum and Articles of Association to align with current business imperatives, drafted and implemented Business Code of Ethics
External strategic management - Negotiations, projects, initiatives and relational development with a myriad of stakeholders
Marketing and Corporate communications - Public relations, internal and external communications and market positioning; digital and social media, Website and corporate branding; Conferences, exhibitions, Corporate Social initiatives and road shows; Media relations press queries, news desk, radio and print; industry spokesperson and guest speaker at various events
Legal services and advocacy - Drafting of contracts; Preparation of bundles for litigation purposes; Preparation of submissions to Ministers of Parliament and attendance to special committees so convened; Lobbying of various governmental departments; Direct involvement with industry transformation initiatives driving BEE and EE.
Human resource management and training full function including CCMA and Labor Department interaction
Business and marketing intelligence gathering collection of highly sensitive information on industry participants; Various operations with enforcement authorities aimed at the eradication of corruption and unethical business practices in the industry

Telekom SA Limited Pretoria, South Africa October ••••• to January •••••
External Reporting Manager
Sourcing of information from business experts; Validation and definition of information; Identification of core stories for investor markets
Compilation of portion of MDA (Management Discussion and Analysis) section in Prepsctus
Provision of comfort to external auditors, lawyers and other key players involved in the IPO process in New York and in South Africa
Validation of entire Prospectus issued in South Africa and in New York
Management of and resolution of queries; Provision of detail analysis
Co ordination of inputs from all internal and external participants in the IPO process
Validation of international analyst presentations
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (CONTINUED)

Review of and provision of inputs on the reports written by investment bankers prior to publication and release
Collation of information for due diligence of Telkom by auditors, lawyers, analysts and investment bankers
Compilation of financial section of quarterly Board Pack for Board of Directors
Assurance of accuracy of compilation of financial reports compiled in accordance with SA GAAP, IAS and consolidation of Telkom Group financial reports
Review of performance of subsidiaries and joint ventures; High level commentary and variance explanation
Benchmarking of Telkom against international peers.
Performance and efficiency measures (key ratios)
Resolution of queries by Board of Directors
Co-ordination of and participation in revenue re-modeling project
Detail analysis of income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements
Identification of business drivers and impact on financial results


EDUCATION

MBA (thesis not marked), Gordon Institute of Business Science, Johannesburg, South Africa •••••
BComm (Law), Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, South Africa •••••
Majoring in Financial Accounting.
Distinction for Financial Accounting 1B and Macro Economics

CERTIFICATIONS:

Estate Agent Certification Estate Agency Board •••••


AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Brait Scholarship for MBA student ••••• •••••
Acceptance as full member by The Institute of Directors ••••• •••••
Drama performance at the State Theatre••••• •••••
Telkom Managers Star Award ••••• •••••
Merit award for the Kempton Park Eisteddfod••••• •••••
Best Senior Award Annirand Day House, Rand Afrikaans University •••••