Finance Officer

Purpose of the Role

Under the authority of the Head of Cocoa Sustainability and the supervision of Finance Manager, the Finance Officer supervises and develops the activities of general and analytical accounting within the framework of SYSCOHADA and USGAAP.  He will oversee all Cocoa Sustainability reporting to customers and lead the Cocoa Sustainability Finance and Accounts team under his control. Be part of the budget preparatory process activities. Ensure that cooperative premium is paid on time as per the MOU signed with the cooperative, Be responsible for Cocoa Sustainability P&L with explanation of all variances. Actively participate in customer meeting. Always prepared to handle both Internal and External audit related to Cocoa Sustainability.

Key Responsibilities

• Take an active part of annual budget preparation works.
• Share at Managing the savings made by program and by Customer every end of the month
• Provide leadership on Statutory Accounting involving local F/S (Bilan, financial statements)
• Budgets monitoring: ensure corrective and preventive actions are timely and accurately disclosed to the program execution in charge and to the Global Outspan Finance Team
• Provide leadership on periods end close process involving MIS statements analysis and disclosure.
• Respond to hierarchy and group queries within the required deadlines
• Detailed monthly analysis of all cost and actions initiated against variances
• Ensure the follow up of the effective payment of the program premiums (establishment of the premium statements of each cooperative after consideration of prefinancing done by ofi; maintenance of a dashboard of premium unpaid incl reasons why, aiming to close the financial year with 0 outstanding regarding due premiums)
• Monitor the digital payment system (Wave and MTN) to ensure that on a monthly basis the balances are zero  .
• Strictly respect the quarterly/annually reporting timelines for the financial reports, as agreed with the respective customers
• Regularly monitor all expenses vs budgets and report all variances. In the case of social infrastructures funded by the customers ensure that we have a contract in place before the execution of the project.
• Ensure continuity of funding necessary for the smooth operation of project activities and optimize cost; Communicate to the Treasury a regular status of provisional budget of disbursements for proper management of working capital
• Participate in all the specific management work desired by the hierarchy.

Expertise Required

• Strong knowledge of financial accounting principles (IFRS, GAAP).
• Expertise in preparing and analyzing management accounts, budgets, and forecasts.
• Proficiency in financial reporting tools and ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Microsoft Dynamics).
• Ability to conduct root cause analysis and recommend corrective actions
• Experience in leading budgeting and forecasting cycles.
• Skilled in developing proposal and grant budgets, including donor compliance.
• Ability to align financial planning with strategic business goals.
• Advanced analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex financial data.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy in financial analysis and reconciliations.
• Ability to identify trends, variances, and opportunities for improvement.
• In-depth understanding of local tax, audit, and regulatory requirements.
• Experience supporting internal and external audits.
• Knowledge of financial risk mitigation strategies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to present financial reports and insights to senior management and external stakeholders.
• Skilled in preparing budget narratives and financial justifications.

• Proven ability to build and maintain relationships with internal teams, partners, and donors.
• Experience in coordinating with HQ finance teams and external auditors.
• Collaborative approach to working with cross-functional teams (e.g., Plant Science, Agronomy).
• Process Improvement & Efficiency

Competency Required

• Continuous improvement mindset with a focus on streamlining financial processes.
• Experience in developing and implementing financial controls and tools.
• Ability to enhance productivity through automation and best practices.
• Technical Proficiency
• Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP, financial modeling).
• Competence in using accounting software and financial systems.
• Build strong controls around accruals, provisions, incentives.
• Take an active part in ensuring a good financial oversight for the external funded projects such as RESTORE USAID-funded, WICC (Women Initiative in Cocoa Communities) SOCODEVI-funded, IAP (Income Accelerator Project) Nestlé-funded, Bananas Plantains Project for FFA improvement)
• Ensure that all Cocoa Sust. data entries are booked using WBS, this will ensure that all reporting are monitored and analyzed using the SEED platform (Sustainable Enterprise Excellence & Digitization) to ensure accuracy and timely reporting regarding the Sustainability Project Implementation
• Take the lead of all audits controls and controlling monitoring process of the Cocoa Sustainability Department and ensure that field activities expenses are audited at least once a year
• Review, edit and finalize explanatory budget narrative to accompany budget in proposal or modification.
• Lead on engagement with partners on their budgets and review partner budgets.
• Ensure proposal and modification budgets are reviewed and submitted according to internal timelines and customers/donors submission deadlines.
• Liaise with dedicated colleagues at Olam HQ to ensure proper recovery of expenses incurred as per budgets agreed.
• Actively works to resolve internal/external audit findings.
• Track the company’s financial status and performance to identify areas for potential improvement (incl P&L regular follow up).
• Seek out methods for minimizing financial risk to the company.
• Oversees and improves IOUs process accordingly to the company policy.
• Provide insightful information and expectations to senior executives to aid in long-term and short-term decision making.
• Provide necessary and adequate support to Plant Science teams (agronomy and Agroforestry) for smooth and intime deployment of projects and activities.

Qualifications and Skill Required

• Education: University degree in Finance, Accountancy, or related fields
• Effectiveness and capacity to manage all reports in less than one year (MIS-BRM-AP-NIS-CHECKED)
• Familiarized with controlling monitoring.
• Flexible, adaptable, and available
• Communication skills and ability to communicate to various audience.
• Energetic people person, motivational and self-starter
• A good knowledge of English is an indispensable condition.
• Have skills in Microsoft Office software (Word / Excel / PowerPoint) and accounting (ideally SAP) Good command of Microsoft Outlook
• Sense of organization, responsibility, and openness.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Facilitation and problem-solving skills
• Ability to work independently.
• Fluency in both French and English