Head, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP & A) - Ghana

Job Title: Head, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP & A) - Ghana

Industry: Banking

Location: Ghana

Salary: GHS 900K – GHS 1.1M per annum per annum + Benefits

The Opportunity

Our client, an established international banking and financial services institution, is seeking an experienced Head of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) to lead its financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, management information and performance analysis activities.

The successful candidate will provide leadership across financial planning and modelling, business performance, capital and profitability analysis, management reporting and strategic decision support.

This is a senior finance leadership role requiring a strong combination of banking knowledge, technical FP&A expertise, commercial judgement, data analytics and the ability to partner effectively with senior management and business leaders.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Planning, Budgeting & Strategic Forecasting

• Lead the annual budgeting process, working closely with business and functional heads to develop robust financial projections.
• Lead the preparation and continuous enhancement of the Bank's budgeting and forecasting models and processes.
• Coordinate periodic forecasts and the development of the three-year strategic financial plan.
• Translate strategic objectives into measurable financial plans, targets and performance indicators.
• Review and constructively challenge assumptions submitted by business areas to ensure plans are commercially realistic and financially robust.
• Undertake scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis to support strategic and management decision-making.

Financial Modelling, Pricing & Profitability

• Lead the development, maintenance and enhancement of financial models across the Bank.
• Develop and enhance product profitability and pricing models, ensuring appropriate consideration of funding costs, capital consumption, risk and return.
• Oversee cost-allocation methodologies, Funds Transfer Pricing (FTP) and Risk-Adjusted Return on Capital (RAROC) analysis.
• Support business units in evaluating product, customer and business-line profitability.
• Provide financial modelling and analysis for new products, strategic initiatives, investments and business cases.
• Ensure financial models remain robust, relevant and aligned with the Bank's strategic and commercial objectives.

Capital Planning & Performance

• Support and provide financial leadership to capital planning and management activities.
• Undertake capital modelling, stress scenarios, capital allocation analysis and return-on-capital assessments.
• Analyse capital utilisation and provide management with insight into opportunities to optimise capital deployment.
• Work closely with Finance, Treasury, Risk and business teams on the financial implications of capital and balance-sheet decisions.
• Provide appropriate analysis and management information to support relevant capital and management committees.

Management Information & Executive Reporting

• Lead the production and continuous enhancement of weekly, monthly and quarterly financial and management information packs.
• Provide high-quality reporting and financial insight to senior management and relevant management committees.
• Develop and enhance dashboards for monitoring financial performance, profitability, costs and capital usage.
• Perform detailed variance analysis of actual performance against budget, forecast and prior periods.
• Identify key business drivers, emerging trends, risks and opportunities and translate these into actionable management insights.
• Ensure management information is accurate, timely, relevant and decision-oriented.

Business Partnering & Commercial Finance

• Act as a trusted finance partner to senior management and business leaders across the Bank.
• Work closely with business units to strengthen financial planning, management information and commercial decision-making.
• Provide constructive financial challenge and insight to support delivery of business objectives.
• Analyse revenues, margins, operating expenses and profitability across relevant products and business areas.
• Support management in identifying and delivering revenue enhancement and cost optimisation opportunities.
• Lead the production and review of cost-management reporting, working with managers to identify sustainable cost savings and efficiency opportunities.

Balance Sheet, Market & Macroeconomic Analysis

• Analyse monthly revenue performance and key balance-sheet trends.
• Assess the impact of interest rates, foreign exchange movements, inflation and other macroeconomic indicators on financial performance and forecasts.
• Work closely with Treasury and other stakeholders to understand funding costs, margins and balance-sheet dynamics.
• Provide forward-looking analysis of economic and market developments and their potential financial implications for the Bank.

Data Analytics, Business Intelligence & Automation

• Drive the development and enhancement of automated dashboards and management information using business intelligence tools.
• Improve financial data flows, data quality and the integration of information from multiple sources.
• Champion greater automation of recurring FP&A, management reporting and analytical activities.
• Utilise data and analytical tools to provide deeper insights into business performance and capital utilisation.
• Promote continuous improvement in the Bank's financial analytics and reporting capabilities.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Lead, develop and mentor the FP&A team, establishing high standards of analytical and commercial performance.
• Build effective relationships with senior management and key internal stakeholders across the Bank.
• Present complex financial analysis and recommendations clearly and concisely to senior decision-makers.
• Work collaboratively across Finance, Treasury, Risk, Operations, Technology and business functions.
• Liaise effectively with relevant regional, group or international stakeholders where required.
• Promote strong financial discipline and accountability throughout the organisation.

Governance, Controls & Continuous Improvement

• Establish and maintain appropriate controls across budgeting, forecasting, modelling and management reporting activities.
• Ensure FP&A processes operate within applicable internal policies, regulatory requirements and financial-control frameworks.
• Maintain appropriate documentation and governance over financial models and management information.
• Support internal and external audit requirements relating to FP&A activities.
• Continuously identify opportunities to improve processes, models, reporting and the quality of financial decision support.

Candidate Profile

The successful candidate should demonstrate:

• Significant FP&A, finance business partnering, management accounting or financial performance experience within banking or financial services.
• Strong understanding of banking products, financial statements, balance-sheet dynamics, capital and profitability.
• Demonstrable experience leading budgeting, forecasting and strategic planning processes.
• Strong financial modelling capability, including experience with pricing, profitability, cost allocation and capital-related models.
• Knowledge of Funds Transfer Pricing (FTP), RAROC and capital allocation methodologies.
• Experience undertaking variance, scenario and sensitivity analysis.
• Strong management information, data analytics and business intelligence capabilities.
• Ability to translate complex financial and operational data into clear commercial insight.
• Experience preparing and presenting financial information to senior executives and management committees.
• Strong commercial judgement, leadership and stakeholder-management capability.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Experience with banking products, particularly trade finance, would be advantageous.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, Business or a related discipline.
• A recognised professional qualification such as ACCA, CIMA, ACA/ICA Ghana, CFA, FRM or equivalent is strongly preferred.
• An MBA or other relevant postgraduate qualification would be advantageous.

Technology & Analytical Skills

• Advanced Microsoft Excel, including financial modelling, Power Query, PivotTables, data models and data connections.
• Strong working knowledge of Power BI, including dashboard development and data transformation.
• Knowledge of DAX and SQL would be advantageous.
• Demonstrable ability to work with large and complex datasets and improve data quality, reporting and automation.

Experience

Ideally 10+ years of relevant professional experience, with substantial experience in FP&A, finance business partnering, management accounting or financial performance management within banking or financial services.

Candidates should either be operating at senior management/head-of-function level or be exceptional Senior Managers/Deputy Heads with the breadth and leadership capability to step into a Head of FP&A position.

Personal Attributes

• Highly analytical with a structured and methodical approach to problem-solving.
• Commercially astute and strategically minded.
• Proactive and inquisitive, with a continuous-improvement mindset.
• Strong leadership and influencing skills.
• Able to constructively challenge senior stakeholders.
• Confident communicator with executive presence.
• Able to translate complex financial information into concise and actionable recommendations.
• High levels of integrity, judgement and attention to detail.

Remuneration

An indicative gross annual base salary of GHS 900,000 – GHS 1,100,000 is envisaged, depending on experience, seniority and overall fit.

The overall package will be aligned with the successful candidate's experience and the organisation's remuneration framework.