Business Analyst - Office of the Group Managing Director

Introduction

South Africa's premier supplier of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Cleaning Chemicals, Paper Products, Industrial Consumable Supplies and Workwear is looking for a Business Analyst - Office of the Group Managing Director, to join their successful team.

Scope

This is a chief-of-staff role carrying a business analyst title. The holder is the Group MD’s second pair of hands on the thinking, not primarily on the diary.

Roughly

• 60–70% analysis, reporting and project follow-through — branch and category performance, margin and mix analysis, lead-time and process diagnostics, preparation of group flash commentary and BCP-facing packs, chasing exco commitments to closure.

• 20–30% agenda and governance — running the MD’s operating rhythm, preparing him for BCP, board and customer engagements, ensuring nothing agreed in a meeting quietly dies.

• 10–20% classic PA work — diary, travel, inbox triage, gatekeeping. Real, but not the centre of gravity.

Duties & Responsibilities

Executive reporting

• Prepare and quality-assure the monthly group flash commentary and BCP-facing packs to a fixed structure and page limit.

• Own the calendar and the data-gathering behind them.

Performance analysis

• Branch, category and rep-level analysis of sales, gross margin, mix and expenses.

• Explain variances in one page, not twenty slides.

Process diagnostics

• Root-cause work on operational lead times and order flow — quote-to-invoice, open order ageing, factory throughput — with quantified recommendations.

Project follow-through

• Track every commitment made in exco and MD-level meetings to a dated close-out. Escalate slippage early.

Commercial support

• Build the analysis behind pricing, campaign, tender and customer-profitability decisions.

Governance and preparation

• Ensure the MD walks into every engagement with the right pack, the right numbers and the right two questions.

Executive administration

• Diary, travel, inbox triage and gatekeeping, at a standard that never becomes the MD’s problem.

Desired Experience & Qualification

Qualification

Essential

• A completed three or four-year degree in a numerate discipline — BCom, BSc, engineering, actuarial, statistics, economics.

Preferred

• Honours, CA(SA), CIMA, industrial engineering, or a part-time MBA or postgraduate diploma in progress.

Experience

Essential

• Three to five years post-graduation in an analytical, commercial, consulting or finance role.

Preferred

Exposure to a multi-branch, multi-site or distribution business.

Technical

Essential

• Advanced Excel. Confident building an executive slide pack.

• Able to work with raw system extracts.

Preferred

• Power BI or Tableau, SQL, Power Query, ERP reporting experience.

Behavioural

Essential

• Self-starting, resilient under pressure, comfortable challenging senior people with evidence, absolutely discreet.

Preferred

• Prior experience working directly to an executive or partner.

Practical

Essential

• Valid driver’s licence and own transport. Willing to travel domestically.

Preferred

• Valid passport and willingness to travel to Eswatini and Zambia.

Language

Essential

• Business-level English, written and spoken, to executive standard.

Preferred

• A second South African language.

Non-negotiables

• Numerate to a professional standard. Can decompose a margin movement into price, volume and mix without being prompted.

• Writes for an executive. One page, conclusion first, no adjectives doing the work of evidence.

• Advanced Excel as a working tool, Pivot tables, lookups, and enough Power Query or SQL to handle a system extract without asking IT.

• Self-starting. Can take a three-line brief, come back with a one-paragraph interpretation and a checkpoint date, and then deliver.

• Discreet. Will sit inside every sensitive conversation in the business, including remuneration, restructuring and disputes.

• Willing to be on a branch floor and in a factory, not only in a spreadsheet.

Package & Remuneration

R600K - R850K CTC per annum

Interested?

Should you not receive a response within 14 days of applying, please consider your application unsuccessful.