Finance Business Partner (6 month contract)
REF: KK700
Market Related Salary
Cape Town CBD, Western Cape
Our client is recruiting for a Finance Business Partner who will be based in their HR, Engineering & Technology cost centres. The successful candidate will act as a trusted financial advisor to the HR and Engineering leadership teams — translating financial data into strategic decisions, holding the business accountable to its cost commitments, and ensuring every rand spent on people and technology is deliberate, justifiable and drives value.
RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:
Business Partnering & Strategic Advisory:
Serving as the primary finance contact for the Chief People Officer (CPO) and VP of Engineering
Translating complex financial data into clear, actionable insight that non-finance leaders can act on with confidence
Challenging cost proposals, headcount requests, and investment cases
Proactively identifying financial risks and opportunities across both cost centres
Budgeting & Forecasting:
Owning the full annual budget process for HR and Engineering cost centres — from zero-based build to final CFO/board submission
Owning end to end budget process for Staff cost for the Company
Delivering rolling monthly re-forecasts with clear variance commentary
Maintaining a 12-month forward view of headcount cost including salary increases, benefit changes, and planned hiring
Modelling scenario outcomes (e.g. hiring freeze, team restructure, cloud cost spike) to support rapid decision-making
Headcount & People Cost Management:
Owning the HR cost centre P&L end-to-end: salaries, incentives, benefits, recruitment fees, L&D spend and contractor costs
Maintaining the authorised headcount register and reconciling it against actuals monthly
Partnering with HR to model the financial impact of salary review cycles, retention schemes and new organisational structures
Tracking and reporting on people cost per FTE, cost-to-hire, and L&D spend as a % of payroll
Engineering & Technology Cost Management:
Owning the Engineering cost centre P&L: engineering salaries, cloud infrastructure (AWS/GBQ/GCP), software licences, tooling and third-party development costs
Partnering with engineering leads to ensure cloud and infrastructure spend is allocated correctly (Opex vs Capex), forecasted accurately and optimised continuously
Driving Capex discipline — reviewing and tracking capitalised development costs in line with IFRS standards; ensuring the asset register is current
Building unit economics visibility: cost-per-deployment, infrastructure cost as a % of GMV, cost per active user
Flagging technology cost anomalies early and working with engineering to resolve them
Reporting & Financial Control:
Producing monthly management accounts and cost centre packs for HR and Engineering
Preparing variance analysis with clear narrative: budget vs. actual vs. prior year, with root-cause explanation
Maintaining a robust accruals and prepayments schedule
Supporting internal and external audit processes by maintaining complete, auditable cost centre documentation
Projects & Ad Hoc Analysis:
Building financial models for organisational restructures, outsourcing decisions, build-vs-buy evaluations and new technology investments
Supporting integration workstreams with HR and Engineering cost analysis as required
Contributing to the Group FP&A function — share best practices, support automation initiatives and help improve financial reporting quality across the Group
REQUIREMENTS:
CA(SA)/CIMA
2–5 years post-articles experience, with at least 2 years in an FP&A or finance business partnering role
Demonstrable experience managing large, complex cost centres (R100m+ preferred)
Exposure to technology or people cost centres — understanding of cloud cost models, Capex vs Opex treatment, and payroll structures is a strong advantage
Experience in e-commerce, retail, or high-growth tech businesses preferred
Advanced Excel / Google Sheets modelling — you can build a zero-based budget from scratch without a template
Comfortable working with BI tools (Looker, Power BI, or equivalent) to pull and interpret data independently
Working knowledge of ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, or similar); experience with Workday or HRIS data is a bonus