Commercial Manager

Rainbow is recruiting for a Commercial Manager to join our Western Cape Team . The main purpose of the role is to provide management accounting and commercial support and insight regarding regional agricultural operations. To manage the commercial aspects of contract growers in the region. This position is based in Worcester.

Minimum Requirements
BCom (Hons) / CIMA or Qualified CA (SA)
5 - 7 years management accounting experience (articled or otherwise), people management and some exposure to processing or manufacturing environments

As a Commercial Manager, the job holder is expected to:
Make all commercial decisions in support of operations that fall within the ambit of responsibility.
Immediately solve all operational and commercial problems within the ambit of responsibility
Identify and implement limited innovations, particularly those that will lower costs

Duties and Responsibilities

Annual Budgeting and Quarterly/Monthly Forecasting
Coordinate the annual budgeting and quarterly forecasting processes for the regional agricultural operations in accordance with the national time scheduling and guidelines.Consolidate regional Agriculture budgets and forecasts.
Ensure completion and reasonableness of departmental budgets and forecasts.Ensure completion of regional Agriculture capex budgets, including collation of information and liaison with operations.Report key performance indicators on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.
Report financial performance of the regional agriculture function on a monthly basis in the agreed format that will include commentary on key performance areas.Calculate returns on investment for proposed budgeted capital projects in order to assist management with the prioritisation of capex, and ensuring that capital budgets are aligned with Group allocations of funds.Report the budgets and forecasts according to the formats supplied by National Office.Interpret the final outcome of the budgets and forecasts ensuring that they reflect the strategic objectives of the business and initiating changes where necessary.

Product Costing and Margin Improvement
Maintain a close working relationship with the National Management Accounting team to ensure that the standard cost of various products are accurately maintained on the MACS system by the national team. Continuously analyze and audit the standard costs of products to ensure that they are accurately maintained and that they reflect the cost of the production processes. Continuously benchmark the standard cost of feed. Analyze variance reports of actual cost vs. standard cost on a monthly basis and highlight variances to management. Maintain a close working relationship with the regional sales team highlighting cost changes in order for them to proactively take corrective action to optimize margins. Track product and customer profit margins by using standard monthly

Cost Control
Analyze costs against budget/forecast and investigate variances on a monthly basis. Continuously consider cost saving opportunities or areas where waste/inefficiencies can be eliminated and influence corrective action by line management. Review and authorize contract grower payments. Set egg prices for the farm shop. Set and document egg and depleted breeder prices.

Capex Management
Identify capex opportunities to unlock profit of the operations within the context of Group capex requirements and strategy. Prepare and follow up on capex motivations. Prepare post capex reviews. Review capex applications and ensure ROI requirements are met. Comply with capex applications and procure to payment processes (payments must comply with approved bills of work).Evaluate capex vs. maintenance decisions by applying company guidelines and accounting practices.

Stock Control
Investigate raw material and finished goods stock variances and take corrective action. Assess the stock control procedures on a continuous basis ensuring proper internal controls.

Information and Data Management
Ensure team members accurately and regularly capture data into the information system to enable access to reliable data and reporting for trend analysis and decision making. Share relevant data with management teams to enable reliable business decision making.

Monthly and Annual Financial Reporting/Review
Analyse cost centre cost variance reports. Assist Agriculture managers to optimize efficiencies. Review daily, weekly and monthly KPI reports ensuring accurate and timeous information .Measure, analyze and explain KPI fluctuations and variances. Report on strategic commercial scenarios. Prepare stock movements summaries. Review cycle costing and feedback to the Agriculture team. Review preliminary GL reports to ensure accurate cost allocation.

Functional Strategy into Action Contribution
Work in conjunction with the Regional Commercial Executive, Regional Agriculture Executive and the Regional Director to co-create the regional strategy, based on a 1 to 5 year view of requirements. Communicate operational capacity required over both the medium term and longer term plan, required asset utilization and capex requirements for Agriculture processes accordingly.Work closely with the cross functional teams to ensure the delivery of an integrated supply chain benefit. Suggest improvements to annual functional Strategy into Action plan and participate in the compilation of the regional finance teams contribution to the plan.Ensure that the agreed SIA is implemented through team targets and that these targets align cross functionally within area of responsibility.

Ancillary Support
Participate in region-specific projects that require financial input. Attend capex meetings to ensure financial aspects of capex projects are timeously adhered to.

Staff Management
Lead and develop staff within the context of the Labour Relations Act, Employment Equity Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Skills Development Act.Monitor staff performance and provide regular feedback.Manage staff activities, ensuring service levels are met and protocols are adhered to.Coach and support staff where necessary to achieve objectives.Manage staff leave and general time management issues in line with organisational deliverables and standards.Manage and deliver on succession plans to enable the development of a future generation of leaders and specialists and ensure optimal turnover and retention levels are maintained.Champion staff training and development through the utilisation of available training opportunities or contributing to the development of new training solutions in collaboration with national training specialists.Conduct regular performance appraisals with subordinates.Establish sound staff and labour organising and communication structures and systems.Lead the team towards meeting the strategy and targets through regular communication and utilisation of the full organisational talent management tool set.Drive employment equity within the team to ensure that diversity is achieved at all levels and that statutory targets and requirements are met.Develop and manage high performance multidisciplinary teams in order to solve problems within the commercial arena.Conduct regular meetings and ensure that records are kept and shared across the team and that action plans agreed to within team meetings are delivered upon