Senior Financial Controller
Why Siyazisiza Trust?
Siyazisiza Trust is a South African non-profit organisation committed to strengthening rural livelihoods, improving food security, and enabling inclusive economic participation for smallholder farmers. Through integrated farmer support programmes, the Trust delivers agricultural extension services, capacity building, infrastructure support and market access initiatives across multiple provinces.
Our work is grounded in accountability, sound governance and responsible stewardship of donor and organisational resources. As the Trust continues to grow, we are strengthening our finance function to support sustainable organisational growth, effective financial governance and compliance with donor, statutory and regulatory requirements.
Based at our Johannesburg Office, we are seeking an experienced, technically strong and values-driven Senior Financial Controller to join our Finance & Administration team. Working closely with the Finance Director, this role provides operational leadership across the Trust's finance function, ensuring accurate financial management, robust internal controls and high-quality financial reporting that enables informed organisational decision-making.
Role Overview
The Senior Financial Controller is the operational leader of Siyazisiza Trust's finance function and serves as the Finance Director's principal support in managing the Trust's day-to-day financial operations. The role is responsible for ensuring the integrity, accuracy and effectiveness of financial accounting, payroll administration, treasury management, budgeting, financial reporting, donor compliance and statutory obligations. Working under the strategic direction of the Finance Director, the incumbent translates financial strategy into operational excellence through robust financial controls, sound governance practices and continuous process improvement.
The Senior Financial Controller provides technical leadership within the finance team, supports organisational decision-making through accurate financial information and analysis, and ensures that the Trust maintains full compliance with donor funding agreements, statutory legislation, accounting standards and organisational policies.
Based in Johannesburg, the role works collaboratively with colleagues across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga to strengthen financial governance, organisational sustainability and responsible stewardship of donor and organisational resources.
Primary responsibilities:
Financial Accounting, Treasury & Operational Financial Management - The Senior Financial Controller leads the Trust's operational accounting function, ensuring the accurate processing of financial transactions, maintenance of the general ledger, banking and treasury activities, supplier payments, reconciliations, journals and cash management. The incumbent maintains complete, accurate and audit-ready financial records while ensuring strong internal financial controls and the effective stewardship of organisational resources.
Payroll Administration, Financial Compliance & Statutory Reporting - The incumbent manages the end-to-end payroll function, ensuring accurate payroll processing, statutory submissions and compliance with all applicable employment and taxation legislation. The role maintains confidential payroll records, oversees payroll reconciliations and ensures timely submission of PAYE, UIF, SDL and other statutory obligations.
Financial Planning, Budgeting & Management Reporting - Working closely with the Finance Director, Programme Managers and budget holders, the Senior Financial Controller supports the preparation of annual budgets, donor budgets and financial forecasts. The incumbent prepares monthly management accounts, monitors expenditure against approved budgets, analyses financial performance and provides meaningful financial insights that support organisational planning and decision-making
Financial Governance, Internal Controls & Risk Management - The Senior Financial Controller maintains and strengthens the Trust's financial governance framework by implementing effective internal controls, ensuring segregation of duties and promoting compliance with organisational policies, donor funding conditions and recognised governance principles. The role identifies financial risks, recommends mitigation strategies and supports continuous improvement across financial systems and processes.
Donor Compliance, Audit & Financial Stewardship - The incumbent ensures the accurate financial management of donor-funded programmes by monitoring expenditure against approved budgets, preparing donor financial reports and maintaining comprehensive audit trails. The role coordinates financial audit preparation, supports internal and external audits and ensures compliance with donor agreements, statutory requirements and organisational policies.
Financial Systems, Assets & Continuous Improvement - The Senior Financial Controller maintains the integrity of the Trust's financial and payroll systems, oversees fixed asset management and identifies opportunities to improve financial processes, reporting and automation. The role supports procurement compliance, business continuity and organisational efficiency through ongoing systems improvement and financial innovation.
Leadership, Technical Support & Organisational Collaboration - The incumbent provides technical leadership, coaching and day-to-day guidance to finance colleagues while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement. Working closely with the Finance Director and Management Team, the Senior Financial Controller contributes to organisational planning, financial sustainability and strategic decision-making across the Trust.
Essential Qualifications, Experience and Operational Requirements
The successful candidate will bring a strong combination of technical accounting expertise, operational finance leadership and governance experience appropriate to support a growing donor-funded organisation.
A. Qualifications
* Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Accounting, Financial Management or related discipline.
* Completed SAICA articles or equivalent professional training.
* Strong grounding in financial accounting, payroll administration and financial reporting.
* Postgraduate qualification in Accounting, Finance or Taxation.
* Experience within an NGO, donor-funded or public benefit environment.
* Exposure to external audits and donor audits.
* Professional registration such as AGA(SA), CA(SA), SAIPA or CIMA will be advantageous.
B. Experience
* 5–8 years' progressive experience in financial accounting, financial control or finance management.
* Proven experience managing end-to-end payroll administration.
* Experience in month-end and year-end financial reporting.
* Experience preparing for and supporting internal, external and donor audits.
* Advanced proficiency in accounting systems, payroll systems and Microsoft Excel.
* Experience supporting senior finance leadership.
* Experience working within donor-funded programmes.
* Experience supporting multi-project or grant-funded environments.
* Experience implementing financial controls and governance frameworks.
C. Operational Requirements
* Based in Johannesburg with the ability to support finance operations across multiple locations.
* Willingness to travel occasionally to project sites and the KwaZulu-Natal office.
* Strong analytical, organisational and problem-solving skills.
* High level of integrity, professionalism and confidentiality.
* Ability to manage competing priorities and strict reporting deadlines.
* Commitment to continuous improvement and service excellence.
Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate is a technically accomplished finance professional who combines strong accounting expertise with operational leadership and sound governance principles. They have extensive experience managing financial operations within complex organisations and demonstrate exceptional attention to detail, analytical capability and professional integrity.
They possess a strong understanding of donor-funded financial environments, statutory compliance and financial governance and are committed to maintaining the highest standards of accountability, transparency and ethical financial management.
The successful candidate is equally comfortable managing day-to-day financial operations and contributing to strategic financial planning. They are a collaborative leader who supports organisational decision-making through accurate financial information, meaningful analysis and practical solutions while continuously strengthening financial systems, controls and processes.
How to Apply
Interested candidates are invited to submit a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a brief cover letter outlining their suitability for the role to [email protected].
If you do not receive feedback within 30 days of the closing date, please consider your application unsuccessful.
All personal information submitted will be processed in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and used solely for recruitment purposes. Siyazisiza Trust reserves the right to verify qualifications, employment history, and references as part of the selection process.
Siyazisiza Trust is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from suitably qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds.
Pay: From R540 000,00 per year
Work Location: In person
