Chief Accountant / Assistant Finance Manager

Job Title: Chief Accountant / Assistant Finance Manager Industry: Construction Materials / Ready-Mix & Precast Concrete Reports To: Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Location: On-site / Corporate Office Job Purpose The Chief Accountant / Assistant Finance Manager oversees daily accounting operations, financial reporting, cost control, and financial compliance for the concrete business. This role serves as the bridge between day-to-day accounting operations and executive strategic planning, ensuring tight control over raw material procurement, fleet and equipment depreciation, project job costing, and cash flow optimization. Key Responsibilities: - Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements in accordance with IFRS / local GAAP. - Lead month-end and year-end closing processes, ensuring accurate accruals, provisions, and revenue recognition. - Analyze financial variance against budgets and operational forecasts, delivering actionable insights to senior management. - Oversee the management of fixed assets, maintaining fixed asset registers for batching plants, transit mixers, concrete pumps, and heavy equipment. - Monitor and analyze unit costs for concrete mix designs, cement, aggregates, chemical admixtures, and fuel. - Track batching plant operational costs, delivery logistics, equipment downtime, and maintenance expenses. - Implement inventory valuation and reconciliation controls for raw material stockpiles (silos, aggregate yards). - Perform continuous batch-to-dispatch reconciliation to identify raw material variance and yield loss. - Manage accounts receivable (AR) and credit control, working closely with sales and project managers to enforce credit terms with contractors and developers. - Manage accounts payable (AP), negotiating payment terms with suppliers and sub-contractors to optimize cash outflow. - Monitor daily cash position, project short-term cash flow needs, and manage bank reconciliations and credit facilities (LCs, LGs, overdrafts). - Oversee tax compliance, including VAT/GST filings, corporate tax calculations, and withholding tax obligations. - Serve as the primary point of contact for external and internal auditors during annual audits. - Ensure strict internal controls across procurement, sales invoicing, weighbridge logging, and payroll. - Supervise and mentor the accounting team (accounts clerks, AP/AR specialists, cashier, plant accountants). - Optimize ERP utilization (e.g., SAP, Oracle, MS Dynamics, or industry-specific dispatching/batching ERPs like Command Alkon). Required Qualifications & Skills: - Education: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance. - Professional Certification: CPA, ACCA, CMA, or CA qualified preferred. - Experience: 10–15 years of progressive accounting experience, with at least 8–10 years in a senior accounting role. - Proven track record within the concrete, ready-mix, precast, building materials, or construction manufacturing industry. - Technical Expertise: In-depth knowledge of cost accounting, job costing, and inventory control systems in manufacturing/processing environments. Advanced proficiency in ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, MS Dynamics) and Microsoft Excel.