Finance Business Partnering Manager - South Africa

About the role

M-KOPA | Finance Business Partnering Manager Translating Numbers into Business Impact You've spent years being the most commercially fluent person in the room. Now lead a team of people who are. You're a qualified finance leader who's moved well beyond technical execution. You translate complex financial data into decisions that actually land. You've built credibility with senior stakeholders not because you report numbers, but because you know what they mean — and what to do about them. You're good at what you do. Your team respects you. But here's the question: when was the last time the scale of what you were working on actually matched the scale of what you're capable of? Why M-KOPA. Why now. M-KOPA is one of Africa's most consequential fintech businesses — not by aspiration, but by evidence. We've unlocked more than $2 billion in credit for customers who had no prior access to formal financial services. We serve 7 million customers across our markets, 55% of whom are accessing financial products for the first time in their lives. Eighty-six percent report a measurable improvement in their quality of life. Seventy percent use what we provide to generate income. We're not a mature business in maintenance mode. We're a business in motion — scaling deliberately from 7 million toward 10 million customers, building the financial infrastructure and leadership depth that growth demands. That's why we're hiring. Not because something broke, but because something is working, and we need the people to carry it forward. This is one of those moments. The role: Finance Business Partnering Manager This is a senior leadership position sitting within M-KOPA's Group Finance Business Partnering function, reporting to the Group Head of Finance Business Partnering. You'll lead a team of Finance Business Partners embedded across M-KOPA's cost centres and operating markets — coaching them, developing their commercial capability, and setting the standard for what excellent partnering looks like at scale. But this isn't a pure people management role. You'll also operate as senior Business Partner in your own right, providing strategic financial counsel to leaders across commercial, operations, and technology. You'll challenge and support simultaneously — bringing rigorous financial analysis, scenario modelling, and forward-looking insight to decisions that shape how this business grows and where it invests. What your days will actually look like: You'll run planning and budgeting cycles with your team, ensuring submissions across all cost centres are commercially grounded and defensible under scrutiny. You'll develop performance frameworks — dashboards, KPIs, variance analysis — that drive genuine accountability rather than retrospective comfort. You'll build business cases for strategic investments, new market initiatives, and product launches across M-KOPA's footprint. And you'll translate all of it into compelling narratives for non-finance audiences, because insight that can't be communicated doesn't drive decisions. You'll also develop your people. You'll conduct coaching conversations and performance reviews that build careers, not just capabilities. You'll create standardised best practices across markets so that the quality of partnering doesn't depend on which Business Partner a cost centre owner happens to have. What makes this role different Most finance leadership roles ask you to manage financial performance. This role asks you to shape it — across multiple markets, multiple business units, and a team of finance professionals who will take their cue from how you operate. You won't be presenting to stakeholders who are passively interested. You'll be partnering with Group-level leadership, market GMs, commercial directors, and technology leads who expect finance to bring answers, not just analysis. That's a meaningful difference. And the context matters. When your work contributes to financial decisions at M-KOPA, you're contributing to a business that is — in a very direct and measurable way — expanding economic access across Africa. That's not a footnote to the role. It's the reason it exists. What you bring Qualified Chartered Accountant (CA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) with a strong post-qualification track record in Business Partnering, FP&A, or Commercial Finance — and demonstrable experience leading and developing finance teams. Proven ability to partner with senior business stakeholders, translating financial complexity into clear strategic recommendations that influence decisions at the highest levels. Extensive experience across budgeting, forecasting, management reporting, and financial modelling in complex, multi-entity environments — with the commercial acumen to connect financial data to business performance drivers. The honest part This role covers multiple markets. Your team is distributed. The pace of M-KOPA's growth means priorities shift and ambiguity is a constant companion. If you're looking for a role where the playbook is fully written, this isn't it. If you're looking for a role where you get to help write it — across a business scaling toward 10 million customers — then you're probably already thinking about this differently. If this is the kind of challenge you've been waiting for — leading the people who partner the business, while partnering it yourself — let's have a conversation. Why M-KOPA? At M-KOPA, we empower our people to own their careers through diverse development programs, coaching partnerships, and on-the-job training. We support individual journeys with family-friendly policies, prioritize well-being, and embrace flexibility. Join us in shaping the future of M-KOPA as we grow together. Explore more at m-kopa.com . Recognized four times by the Financial Times as one Africa's fastest growing companies (2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025) and by TIME100 Most influential companies in the world 2023 and 2024 , we've served over 6 million customers, unlocking $1.5 billion in cumulative credit for the unbanked across Africa. Important Notice M-KOPA is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained staff. Women, minorities, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. M-KOPA explicitly prohibits the use of Forced or Child Labour and respects the rights of its employees to agree to terms and conditions of employment voluntarily, without coercion, and freely terminate their employment on appropriate notice. M-KOPA shall ensure that its Employees are of legal working age and shall comply with local laws for youth employment or student work, such as internships or apprenticeships. M-KOPA does not collect/charge any money as a pre-employment or post-employment requirement. This means that we never ask for ‘recruitment fees’, ‘processing fees’, ‘interview fees’, or any other kind of money in exchange for offer letters or interviews at any time during the hiring process. Applications for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Shortlisting and interviews will take place at any stage during the recruitment process. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a suitable candidate is selected before the advertised closing date. If your application is successful M-KOPA undertakes pre-employment background checks as part of its recruitment process, these include; criminal records, identification verification, academic qualifications, employment dates and employer references.