Head of Finance (Interior Design)

Role Overview

This position owns the financial agenda for the organisation's African operations, working alongside the Managing Director and the wider leadership team to keep the business profitable, cash-generative and well governed as it expands. Day to day it combines hands-on commercial finance — project economics, pricing, working capital, tax and reporting — with strategic oversight of the region's HR and administration functions, so that money decisions and people decisions move together. The role matters because growth across several markets only holds when capital, risk and controls are managed with one consistent hand.

Key Responsibilities

• Set the regional financial direction: define how capital is allocated, where returns come from, and translate performance data into clear advice for leadership on investments, risks and expansion opportunities.
• Own the commercial numbers behind projects — costing, pricing, tender and bill-of-quantities review, supplier contract scrutiny and negotiation support — and step in early when margins on a job begin to erode.
• Run the planning cycle end to end: budgets, forecasts, long-range modelling and management reporting across projects, business units and countries, with analysis that identifies where revenue, cost or efficiency can realistically be improved.
• Manage treasury and working capital: cash-flow forecasting, liquidity, receivables, payables and inventory, plus banking relationships and funding facilities, keeping project cash cycles as short as possible.
• Build and maintain the control and governance environment, including risk management spanning financial, operational, commercial, compliance and people-related exposures, and adherence to applicable accounting standards and regulation.
• Provide financial oversight of procurement and supply chain — stock valuation and controls, supplier financial health, and active reduction of leakage, waste and cost overruns.
• Direct tax, audit and regulatory compliance across every jurisdiction in scope: statutory filings, audit outcomes, cross-border transactions, foreign exchange and transfer pricing, and relationships with auditors, tax authorities, regulators and banks.
• Lead the Finance, HR and Administration teams, covering recruitment, mentoring, succession, performance and engagement, while standardising policies, procedures, controls and reporting so all regional offices operate to one playbook.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics, business administration or a closely related field.
• A completed professional qualification — CPA (K), ACCA or equivalent — is mandatory.
• A master's degree in finance, business administration or a related discipline is preferred.
• 10–15 years of progressively responsible finance experience, including at least 5 years in a senior leadership role.
• Background in a project-driven sector such as construction, interior fit-out, engineering, manufacturing, retail or equipment distribution.
• Demonstrated experience running finance operations across multiple countries, ideally within East Africa or comparable regional markets.
• Previous accountability for HR, administration or shared-services functions alongside finance.
• Confidence operating at board and executive level, advising senior management and communicating financial insight to non-finance audiences.
• Working knowledge of regional tax, employment, labour, statutory and governance requirements, with the cross-cultural and change-management skills to lead teams across jurisdictions.

Why Join / What This Role Offers

• A genuinely broad mandate: financial leadership of the region combined with strategic oversight of HR and administration, rather than a narrowly defined finance remit.
• A direct working relationship with the Managing Director and senior leadership on strategy, investment and expansion decisions.
• The chance to build organisational capability — developing teams, standardising regional practice and shaping how the business scales.
• Exposure to multi-country, multi-jurisdiction operations, including cross-border transactions, foreign exchange and transfer pricing.
• Responsibility for strengthening governance, controls and risk management at a point where those foundations determine how far the business can grow.