Head of Finance CS Africa at Bayer

Main Purpose:


Africa offers exceptional opportunities for learning, growth, and impactful leadership - this role is built for a finance leader who wants to shape performance and strategy across multiple markets and teams. As Head of Finance Africa, you are the primary finance partner to the Division Head of the Country Cluster, steering business performance through rigorous planning, sharp commercial insights, and decisive resource allocation.
You will lead and develop a network of country Finance Business Partners (FBPs), set standards for business steering, and ensure we deliver against our financial commitments with transparency, discipline, and strategic courage.
Serve as the primary point of contact for financial performance steering to the Division Head of the Country Cluster.
Act as a core member of the Country Cluster Divisional Management Team, interfacing with local, regional, and global Finance functions.
Deliver reliable financial steering across planning, forecasting, target setting, resource allocation, deviation analysis, and mitigation planning.
Enable fact-based decision-making across strategic and operational topics—especially field sales, key accounts, local licensing, customer marketing, and pricing/commercial strategy.
In addition, the role is an active member of the EMEA Finance Leadership Team, contributing beyond regional responsibility to help shape the future of the Finance function across EMEA.
This includes co‑leading the evolution of finance capabilities, leadership practices, and operating models in line with enterprise priorities:
Leading virtual, cross‑border organizations, setting direction and alignment across geographies, cultures, and time zones
Advancing Finance in an AI‑enabled environment, leveraging automation, advanced analytics, and digital tools to increase insight, speed, and decision quality
Driving agility, impact, and speed in financial steering and decision support while maintaining strong governance
Acting with a strong enterprise mindset, optimizing outcomes beyond local or functional silos


Key Tasks & Responsibilities:


Performance Steering & Value Creation: Own end-to-end financial steering for the Africa cluster: operational/financial plan alignment, target setting, resource allocation, variance root-cause analysis, and corrective actions. Provide forward-looking insights that improve decisions on growth, profitability, and cash (e.g., scenario planning, trend/benchmark analysis, and external comparisons). Translate strategy into executable financial plans and ensure performance tracking is consistent, timely, and decision-useful.
Business Partnering to Commercial Leadership: Partner closely with the Division Head and leadership team to drive strategic and operational agenda and ensure performance delivery against targets. Act as Controlling Business Partner for commercial operations, with a strong focus on: Commercial strategy & execution (including pricing and margin management)Planning and forecasting excellence. Financial governance and accountability. Bring "sparring partner" energy: challenge assumptions, raise the bar on business cases, and ensure trade-offs are explicit and well understood.
Leadership of the Finance Business Partner Network: Lead and develop the team of Finance Business Partners in countries, building a high-performance culture and clear ways of working. Define and enforce standards for business steering, including cadence, analytics, performance dialogues, and decision frameworks. Coach leaders and teams in using finance as a lever for better decisions—balancing control with agility.
Risk, Opportunity & Governance: Identify, pursue, and manage key business risks and opportunities, ensuring appropriate mitigation, escalation, and follow-through. Strengthen financial governance across planning, forecasting, and performance management to improve predictability and accountability.
Cross-Functional & Enterprise Collaboration: Provide the financial basis and insights to enable business steering—supporting topics such as product launches, marketing decisions, price strategy corridors, and performance transparency through relevant P&Ls/KPIs. Interface effectively with regional and global Finance functions to align standards, reporting, and decision support.


Key Working Relations:


Country Cluster Division Head
Country CFOs
CS Regional & Country Finance BPs
Country Division Heads & Commercial Leads
Country Controlling and other Finance/FACT functions
Divisional Regional & Global Finance Functions
Regional Marketing / Commercial Operations
EMEA Finance Leadership Team


Qualifications & Competencies:


Strong business partner with excellent commercial acumen
Skilled in understanding, conceptualizing, and analyzing business and financial trends
Proven ability to influence, network, collaborate, coach, and lead effectively
Demonstrates agility, creativity, and a strong sense of ownership in problem-solving
Over 10 years of experience in financial and functional management roles with commercial finance accountability, including 5+ years in leadership positions;
Deep cultural awareness and sensitivity for Africa
A membership of registered professional Accounting body.