Senior Commercial Finance Partner

Publicis Groupe · Cape Town

Company description

Publicis Groupe Africa is a leading marketing, communications, and business transformation network operating across 36 African countries, combining creativity, technology, and local insight to deliver integrated client solutions.

The Groupe is positioned at every step of the value chain, from consulting to execution, combining marketing transformation and digital business transformation.

The Senior Commercial Finance Partner is a senior commercial leadership role, responsible for partnering with agency leadership to shape business strategy, drive profitable growth, strengthen operational performance and embed disciplined financial decision-making across the relevant business units.

Overview

Location:

Cape Town (preferred).

To work in the office as per the Business Units they are responsible for with a minimum of 3 days in the office per week.

Reporting To:

Commercial Finance Director, Communications Practice

Reporting to the Commercial Finance Director, with a dotted line to the Managing Director for the relevant Agency/Business Unit, the Senior Finance Commercial Partner acts as a senior strategic advisor and commercial leader. The role translates the Agency/Business Unit strategic plan into clear commercial priorities, driving revenue growth, improving contribution margin, strengthening forecast discipline and ensuring that commercial decisions support Groupe targets and long-term business performance.

The role requires senior stakeholder influence and the ability to challenge, guide and align teams across the shared service centre, Agency/Business Unit leadership, regional finance, client services, talent and operations. The Commercial Partner is expected to move beyond reporting and control, actively identifying opportunities, shaping decisions and driving measurable business improvement.

The Senior Commercial Finance Partner upholds the company’s core values while building a high-performing, commercially focused and accountable finance culture that enables better decision-making and gives the business confidence to move forward.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Senior business partner and strategic commercial advisor
Commercial growth, profitability and business performance leadership
Controlling, budgeting, forecasting and internal control functions
Financial management, operational excellence and transformation
Finance team leadership, capability building and accountability
Senior commercial and operational support to the Financial Director for the Communications Practice
Assist the Financial Director with strategic finance priorities & coordination of key commercial actions across the Communications Practice

Business Partner

Partner with the Agency/Business Unit Managing Director to execute business strategies.
Act as a senior commercial advisor to the Managing Director and leadership team, providing clear, evidence-based recommendations that support growth, margin improvement, investment decisions and operational focus.
Assist the business with pricing, client contract management, supplier management, resource planning and all other financial and operations issues.
Support business in negotiations by providing financial information (pricing, cost of resources and teams, targeted profitability); working and dealing directly with clients as and when necessary.
Assist with RFP’s to protect the company’s interests and help close the deal with all pitches.
Provide finance training to the Client Services team for job management, client management, and revenue forecasting.
Work with the business to monitor new business growth pipeline and client health assessment.
Proactively identify commercial opportunities and risks across clients, scopes, pricing models, resourcing and delivery, ensuring leadership has the insight required to make timely and informed decisions.
Client Reporting
Catalyst for change – efficiencies, standardization, quality, operational agility and automation. The finance team should be the shining example of that.
Advises on the business situation, increasing revenue, reducing costs and accelerating cash collection from clients
Helps to define the most optimal way to deliver services to ensure quality service to clients and profitability for the Groupe: Lead commercial conversations with confidence, influencing senior stakeholders to adopt improved ways of working, stronger financial discipline and decisions that move the business forward.

Budgeting and internal control functions

Aware of and track risk and advise leadership team on an ongoing basis of status and recommended course of action.
Budgeting, monthly forecasting and handling of all analyses/comments to be provided to the Agency/Business Unit Leadership team.
Monitoring client profitability and working with the business to address any low-margin or non-profitable clients
Ensuring compliance with the Publicis Groupe operational and financial policies and processes including the use of standard toolsets and methodology, in accordance with the Publicis Corporate Policies
Compliance with FMC requirements defined by the Groupe Internal Audit
Working with the Job & Revenue Teams in managing the working capital improvement including the reduction of overdue receivables and of WIP, the acceleration of the billing process & the analysis of cash generation.
Work with the Payroll Finance Team and Talent Team on Employee related matters including approval of hires and contracts.
Improve forecast accuracy and commercial accountability by embedding clear ownership, disciplined review rhythms and early escalation of material risks and opportunities

Financial Management

Organize the Finance function to achieve smooth running of the day-to-day Finance operations providing relevant and effective support to the business teams
Instituting and/or maintaining sound financial processes and systems to facilitate optimum control and accurate time charging, as well as tracking of all jobs, to improve cash flow; overall, to improve the speed and accuracy of billings, the profitability of time cost-based work, and the rapidity of client payment.
Accurate and on-time production of monthly management accounts.
Use financial insight to challenge performance, identify value-creation opportunities and translate complex information into practical actions for leadership and client teams.

Finance Team People management

Manage the Business Unit Finance Team and ensure clarity of objectives within the team and consistency in ways of working.
Ensure that all members of the finance team receive appropriate professional and job training and support those taking external professional qualifications.
Motivates and manages the team to achieve excellent job performance.
Responsible for completing or supporting others complete the annual performance appraisal within the finance team.
Ensure that the finance team integrates with other teams in the business.
Build stronger commercial finance capability within the team by coaching team members to move beyond processing and reporting, with a clear focus on insight, accountability and business impact.

Qualifications

Previous Work Experience

10+ years’ experience in a similar position, within a Marketing/Advertising industry.
Knowledge of Excel, financial systems and business software.
Understanding of financial modelling, business case development and performance metrics.

Theoretical Knowledge

Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, or related field (Honours or CIMA/CA(SA) preferred).
Knowledge of Excel, financial systems and business software.

Competencies

Financially astute: Proven experience of managing P&Ls. Has been responsible for providing on-going accurate and meaningful financial information, propose business solutions which will allow the Agency Lead and management team to understand the business performance and take the appropriate decision to run the business.
Commercial acumen: Demonstrated expertise in executing strategic initiatives that align with business objectives. Possesses a keen ability to assess market trends and opportunities, driving growth and competitive advantage.
Talent oriented: Has successfully partnered with Divisional HR Head in managing headcounts, personnel costs, supporting HR reporting, restructuring initiatives and leading cross functional transformation.
Operational Hands on, the person is deeply operational, understanding not only how to build strategies but working with the teams to execute them smoothly.
Excellent communication and stakeholder management: Proven ability to communicate financial insights and strategic recommendations clearly and persuasively to various stakeholders, including senior management, external partners and international matrixed organisation. Skilled at fostering strong relationships and collaboration across departments.
Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple priorities: Thrives in fast-paced environments, effectively balancing competing demands and deadlines. Exhibits resilience and adaptability, ensuring high-quality outcomes under challenging conditions.
Strategic leadership and business influence: Operates credibly at a senior level, influences leadership decisions and provides constructive commercial challenge that supports sustainable growth, stronger margins and improved operational performance.
Growth mindset and value creation: Proactively identifies opportunities to improve revenue, margin, client profitability, pricing discipline and working capital, while balancing commercial ambition with sound financial governance.
Change leadership and transformation: Leads change with confidence, improves processes, embeds standardised ways of working and uses data, systems and automation to create a more agile and effective finance function.
Sound judgement: Demonstrates maturity, discretion and confidence when handling complex commercial matters, challenging assumptions and advising senior stakeholders on decisions that affect business performance.

Additional information

Publicis Groupe Africa is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits any forms of Discrimination or Harassment. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all our employees in line with our Employment Equity Plan.

All appointments will be based on qualifications, experience and best fit but preference will be given to candidates from designated groups. Interested candidates must please submit a concise CV. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Should you not hear from us within 2 weeks after submitting your application, please consider your application as unsuccessful.