Senior Manager: Reconciliation

JOB DESCRIPTION:  

As the Senior Manager of Reconciliation, you will play a pivotal role in building a credible, reliable and robust reconciliation practice for the organization, overseeing the reconciliation processes and ensuring the accuracy of financial data for our clients while maintaining the single source of truth on all portfolios assigned to them. This role requires a deep understanding of financial operations, excellent leadership skills, and the ability to drive process improvement initiatives.

This role will report to the Head of Reconciliation and Settlement and will manage a team of 4.

Key Relationships: 

Settlement & Reconciliation Product Leads, Head of Finance (East Africa Hub) & Head of Finance, (West Africa Hub).

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Manage daily, weekly and monthly reconciliation to ensure accuracy and visibility of the cash position of the business at the designated cadence and prepare management reports on the status of reconciliations
• Implement Account Ownership and Reconciliation Policy and maintain detailed knowledge of recon procedures, risks, systems and processes to effectively manage and oversee the recons process and liaise with key stakeholders to resolve queries.
• Conduct an investigation of all long outstanding exceptions to understand underlying causes and liaise with the relevant stakeholders in resolving unmatched items.
• Regularly perform audits of the reconciliation process to ensure adherence to set procedures and identify gaps and areas for improvement, and where required follow up on long outstanding exceptions and monitor high-risk/high-value items to ensure that all exceptions are resolved in a timely manner.
• Monitor all accounts and perform spot-checks regularly to check for any anomalies that may arise during the reconciliation processes.
• Manage exceptions in the recon process by liaising with relevant teams to resolve disputes and ensure exceptions are resolved in a timely manner. When required, conduct spot checks and resolve any escalated queries in a timely manner.
• Provide training and on-the-job guidance to team members to build capability, enhance skills to perform day-to-day duties and ensure strict adherence to SOPs.
• Review and validate stakeholder recommendations and implement viable changes to optimize relevant processes and procedures.
• Stay up to date and understand the best practices in the same and related industries to ensure Cellulant reconciliation procedures are up to par and best in class at all times.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

Must have experience:

• At least 8 years experience in accounting with 5 years of experience managing reconciliation within a financial institution (preferably a bank) and a thorough understanding of digital payment services, processes and procedures.
• Knowledge of the foreign exchange market, processing cross-border payments and management of multiple currencies within a digital ecosystem, as well as an understanding of the risks associated with managing transactions in multiple jurisdictions.

Experience that will count in your favor: 

• Previous experience setting up a reconciliation team from scratch.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex financial data.
• Knowledge of regulatory and compliance requirements in the financial industry.
• Strong project management skills.

Nice to have experience:

• Proficiency in reconciliation software and tools.
• Experience in the financial services industry is highly desirable.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance/ Accounting.
• CPA-K Certification.

SKILLS:

• Financial Accounting.
• Reconciliation Process & Procedures.
• Data Management.
• Stakeholder engagement.
• Change management.
• Decision making.
• Leadership and team management experience.
• Coaching skills.
• Detail-oriented with a commitment to accuracy.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES: 

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Adaptability and learning agility.
• Grit.