Commercial Finance Director, Nigeria

Commercial Finance Director, Nigeria

• Application Deadline: 18 September 2025
• Department: Finance
• Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time
• Location: Nigeria

Description

Great People Work Here. 

How would you like to be part of exciting innovation pipelines, working with incredible international teams all dedicated to the evolution of a proud 300-year-old brand?

TwiningsOvo, International Markets (IM), operate across 100 exciting global markets, coming together to create the next generation of exquisite tea & Ovaltine ranges.  Our teams operate in highly entrepreneurial commercial environments, suited to those who love business challenges and want to have a significant impact.

Here in IM, you’ll develop cross-cultural leadership skills quickly, leading projects across diverse, inclusive, and multi-cultural teams.  If you’re a team player, dedicated to your craft, you’ll be sure to grow personally and professionally, taking advantage of the incredible career opportunities across our global TwiningsOvo network.

The Commercial Finance Director, Nigeria is a senior role responsible for strong commercial finance leadership in support of Nigeria market’s ambitious growth plans.  The role will ensure delivery of financial targets and provide proactive commercial finance challenge and support across functions.  The incumbent must work with high influence and collaboration to create and deliver plans that add real value.  The role has accountability for challenging and supporting the development and delivery of sustainable growth plans, developing powerful data-driven insight, and driving out inefficiency.  

This role will lead strategic business analysis and reporting for the Nigeria Commercial business.  It is crucial that the FD-commercial manages financial resources with an appropriate balance of maximizing returns and minimizing risks in line with Nigeria’s long term business strategy.  The outcome of which enables effective management decision making to achieve business goals.

Key Responsibilities

Business Performance Management

• Ensures delivery of the Nigeria Market’s annual financial targets.  Maintains a solid grip on short-, medium-and long-term sales and profit delivery. Closely monitor business performance versus benchmarks (forecast/expectation) on a “live” basis
• Determine, measure and report the KPI’s required to ensure Nigeria Market is on track to achieve strategic goals.
• Identifies mission-critical projects and ensures appropriate measurable KPIs and milestones, assesses performance against these, and engages the organisation in corrective action.  
• Proactive management of in-year Risks and Opportunities to achieving financial targets: sales, profits & working capital.  Identifies R&O, engages and drives the business to maximise opportunities and minimise risks. Devise and present options to mitigate projected variance to financial targets.
• Delivers excellent stakeholder management with a ‘no surprises’ approach.
• Accountable for financial budgeting and forecasting, working in conjunction with the Country GM, marketing and commercial leads to ensure financial forecasts are based on robust assumptions and revised as appropriate (and in a timely manner)
• Accountable for the timely preparation, reporting and analysis of financial performance each period:
• Insightful analytical reporting of performance across the full P&L
• Analysis of the key commercial drivers of performance including PVM, investigating and holding team accountable for P&L variances 
• Manages FX and inflation impact, driving appropriate corrective action.

Commercial Finance Business Partnering

• Provide business partnering that helps the business make better informed decisions by carrying out fast and accurate analysis of, and commentary on, key business drivers and parameters that impact future profit and revenue.
• Be a business partner to the Country GM, providing analysis, advice, support, challenge, including validating of assumption, and providing ‘what if"-type of analysis on expenditure and investment proposals.
• Enhance the quality of fact-based decision making, through insightful analysis of commercial and marketing data (E.g. IMS, Secondary sales, Nielsen, Kantar etc.) leading to actionable recommendations. 
• Maintain a close understanding of the business drivers of financial performance and ensure clear, consistent and timely communication to both team and stakeholders to drive timely and accurate decision making. 
• Partner with leadership teams in marketing, commercial to drive initiatives to transform the effectiveness of our sales and marketing programs.
• Provides proactive commercial finance challenge and support, requiring in-depth business understanding and strong grip on performance, and the development of collaborative, constructive relationships across the business, whilst maintaining independence and objectivity.
• Drives the efficiency and effectiveness of both marketing and trade spend.  Champions best practice ROI process and behaviours.  Evaluates opportunity through a variety of lenses, develops KPI’s and mechanisms for measurement and leads pre- and post- ROI analysis.  
• Plays a critical role in route to market projects. Provides robust financial analysis & evaluation, leads due diligence, supports decision making, liaises directly with partner on financial set up, plays the role of critical friend in negotiation.
• Proactively identifies ‘value driver’ opportunities (including pricing, brand value engineering, 3rd party product costing, overhead efficiency) and provides the appropriate financial analysis and support in their realisation.  Looks across the full value chain (retailers, wholesaler, KBP, distributor, and supply chain) to develop opportunities for joint value creation. 
• Leads financial analysis for NPD and other innovation, ensuring the full P&L impact is correctly understood, and identifies benefits from recent NPD activities (together with any implications for future projects)
• Provide insightful commercial analysis in all aspects of the markets’ strategies, including: 
• Build productive relationships with stakeholders based on credibility, trust, and integrity. Ensure clear and compelling communication of financial information of the BU to key stakeholder to ensure understanding and engagement.
• Pricing
• Market spend ROI and choices (trade, consumer promotions, advertising)
• New product development
• Cost engineering- product cost
• Distributor management & route to market models

Strategy 

• Analyse the financial health of the business, assess its growth potential, and help develop strategies to mitigate risks and maximize profitability.
• Research and build business plans with the Nigeria Commercial market’s leadership to unlock growth opportunities in the Nigerian market across regions and channels and create new commercial strategies.
• Support the Country General Manager in monitoring market and existing customers risk and opportunity trends with the aim to defining path to growth and identifying future revenue opportunities.
• Lead & develop the 5-year strategic plan along with Country General Manager
• Manage the production of the company’s growth strategy including financial evaluation, recommendations and negotiation with potential collaborations. 
• Proactively read and advice on economic situation in Nigeria to ensure management takes the right decision for the business real time.

Financial analysis, planning and reporting.

• Lead the provision of accurate, timely, high quality financial analysis, planning and reporting that supports Nigeria market’s long term business plan and annual operating and capital budgeting.
• Partner, support, and challenge team leads on performance management, commercial & financial strategy and the creation and execution of strategic plans (5YP and Budget). Ensure robust assumptions and track actual delivery.
• Collate, monitor, analyse and educate on value drivers (“Metrics/KPIs”) and other BU commercial and financial information to drive insight and action that can drive business growth (Must be curious
• Lead the generation of accurate monthly sales forecasts (S&OP) and quarterly sales forecasts (financial year re-forecasts) working smoothly with AAVA (distributor) and operations/production team.
• Oversee the detailed process of accruals and provisions (A&P, discounts, FX, Overheads) related to the Nigeria commercial market.
• Own the monitoring and analysis of variances vs plan: to create business understanding; to communicate and manage expectation and to form the basis of corrective action where required.
• Lead team to track and analyse distributor information and KPIs (in-market sales, stock levels, margins etc.)
• Liaise with the Africa finance hub to manage accurate day-to-day accounting, transaction processing and monthly reporting as required.
• Lead communication of planning and reporting to Africa and IM via required information submission (financial statements, required analysis, e.g. casuals) and insightful presentations to Country GM
• Ensure a set of analytical resources, reports and methodologies are in place to enhance decision making support in Nigeria commercial business.
• Generate management reports, analyse financial trends, calculate the monetary effects of potential business decision and advise Country GM

Stewardship (control and compliance)

• Ownership of Nigeria market P&L, including all budgets, forecasts and management reporting
• Lead Cost control and budget compliance - trade spend, A&P, overheads.
• Regularly review and create analytical assessments of various business aspects including evaluating return on investment. Ensure all commercial activities meet or improve on budget, cost, volume and efficiency targets for short and long-term plans of the market.
• Lead the development and maintenance of regular reporting packages, including monthly/quarterly forecast and customer/order information.
• Lead management rhythm with key stakeholders to review the status of the projects and to update the pipeline.
• Responsible for managing the financial risks and opportunities for the BU.
• Responsible for presentation of business and financial information simply and clearly to ensure stakeholders are adequately informed and engaged.
• Ensures Nigeria Commercial’s transactions and contracts comply with all financial, tax and other regulatory policies and procedures, either as defined by ABF/TwO, by local legislation or best business practise. 
• Responsible for compliance with the Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABC) agenda, ensuring appropriate process is followed and monitoring in the Nigeria Commercial Business
• Accountable for managing credit risk. Ensure that payable and receivable positions in the Nigeria commercial business are in line with agreed credit terms.
• Overseeing expense approval processes in BU; tracking expenses; understanding and communicating variances

Finance Leader and driver of continuous improvement

• Be an effective leader of the Nigeria commercial finance function as well as an effective organizational senior leader and a key member of TONL leadership team. 
• Recruit and retain the right finance talent, take ownership of finance talent development.
• Increase financial capability of non-finance team members through ongoing coaching and influencing.
• Ensure finance professionals respond to the continually expectation of TONL organization through individual coaching and mentoring.
• Look outside for new ideas and best practices. Constantly look to understand potential gaps between our performance/processes and others. 
• Ensure that best practices are commonly applied in the finance function.
• Supporting the Africa FD to establish the right culture and engagement in the Africa Finance Team
• Support the Nigeria Commercial Business’s relationships with business partners and stakeholders.
• Proactively anticipate the changing dynamic of the financial shape of the country and business to enrich business planning.

Skills, Knowledge And Expertise

• Minimum of 15 years experience working in multinational Fast Moving Consumer Goods (“FMCG”) Company
• Minimum 3 years experience with one of the big 4 accounting firms. 
• Fully Qualified accountant (ACA, CIMA, ACCA)
• Experience of managing and leading high performing teams 
• Experience of working with stakeholders with different cultural backgrounds and managing key business advisors such as bankers, tax consultants and auditors.
• Very well organised and pro-active – acute sense of time management and prioritisation
• Adaptable, flexible approach and can thrive and problem solve in an ambiguous environment.
• Vision and strength of character to change things for the better
• Tenacious, perseverance in the face of obstacles, seeking imaginative ways to overcome.
• Highly self-aware, understanding clearly their own strengths and development areas.
• Impeccable honesty and Integrity
• Demonstrable technical ability both in finance and IT (Excel and MIS systems) 
• Collaborative and adaptive of style to be able to engage, influence and persuade. Be able to work with and engage many different cultures and personalities and interests to deliver the best output for the business.
• Be able to step back from the detail to appreciate a wider situation and the implications that may occur.

Benefits

• Yearly bonus based on personal contribution and financial performance 
• Yearly Salary Review 
• Housing Allowance 
• 25 days annual leave, increasing when you reach 3 years of service 
• Birthday day off 
• Health & Medical Insurance
• Onsite canteen with subsided lunches 
• Monthly Team Recognition Awards
• Access to LinkedIn Learning 
• Access to ABF Networking, connect, collaborate, and grow across the ABF Group.