Head Of Strategic Finance Africa

## About the Role As Head of Strategic Finance, Africa, you will be a senior leader on Zipline's Strategic Finance team and a core member of Zipline's Africa Leadership Team. You will have end-to-end responsibility for financial strategy, planning, and performance management for Zipline's Africa business, while playing a critical role in shaping Zipline's global, consolidated financial strategy. Reporting to the Global Head of Strategic Finance, this role sits at the intersection of enterprise-wide decision-making and regional execution. Strategic Finance at Zipline owns the company's consolidated business model, long-range planning, capital allocation, and global financial strategy – this role is a key leader within that function. You will ensure Africa strategy, investments, and performance are tightly integrated into Zipline's overall business plan. As a member of the Africa Leadership Team, you will serve as a trusted financial partner to regional leadership, supporting operational execution, growth initiatives, and partnerships across multiple African markets. This role also carries responsibility for building a small, high-impact team. Your team will provide direct, embedded partnership to leaders across Africa's Go-to-Market, Engineering, Operations, and G&A functions. Driving financial literacy across the organization so teams understand unit economics, tradeoffs, and long-term implications of their decisions is critical to Zipline Africa's success. This is an in-person role based in South San Francisco, CA, where Zipline's Strategic Finance team and many of our go-to-market, operations, and engineering partners are located. The role includes periodic travel to Africa to work closely with in-country operators and to engage with key government, donor, and commercial partners. ## What You'll Do ### Global & Regional Financial Strategy - Own financial strategy, planning, and performance management for Zipline's Africa business as part of the company's global consolidated business, reporting into the Global Head of Strategic Finance. - Act as a strategic advisor to Zipline's Africa leadership on investment decisions, growth strategy, unit economics, and long-term sustainability. - Contribute directly to Zipline's enterprise-level strategy, long-range planning, and capital allocation decisions. - Develop and maintain long-term financial models to evaluate market strategies, expansion plans, and new business initiatives. ### Planning, Forecasting & Performance - Lead budgeting, forecasting, and performance analysis for Africa operations within Zipline's global planning framework. - Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, profitability, and capital effectiveness while maintaining operational excellence. - Translate complex operational and commercial dynamics into clear, actionable financial insights for executive and regional leadership. ### Operational Finance & Business Partnering - Serve as a financial thought partner to Africa operations leadership, helping teams navigate financial complexity while driving sustainable growth. - Partner closely with Go-to-Market, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Deployment, and G&A teams to support cost-effective execution and strong unit economics. - Work with government, donor, and commercial partners to structure financially viable contracts and long-term partnerships. ### Team Leadership & Strategic Enablement - Build a small, high-caliber team to manage Zipline's Africa business model. - Provide direct, embedded partnership to GTM, Engineering, Ops, and G&A teams to guide strategic choices and investment decisions. - Drive financial literacy across the organization, ensuring leaders and teams understand unit economics, tradeoffs, and long-term financial implications. - Establish finance as an enabling function that helps teams move faster and make better decisions while balancing growth and sustainability. - Set a high bar for analytical rigor, clarity of communication, and business judgment across the Strategic Finance team. ### Accounting, Compliance & Controls - Partner with regional finance and accounting teams to ensure accurate financial reporting, efficient close processes, and strong internal controls. - Work with US-based finance leadership to standardize financial practices across global operations. - Support audits and regulatory engagements; coordinate with local and US-based tax advisors to ensure compliance across African entities. ### Scaling Zipline's Platforms - Lead financial analysis to support the scalability and profitability of Zipline's Platform 1 operations in Africa. - Evaluate pricing strategies, market expansion opportunities, and operational tradeoffs to drive sustainable growth. - Partner cross-functionally to assess the financial feasibility of launching new products and services, including Platform 2, in Africa. ## What You'll Bring - 10+ years of experience in finance, including 5+ years in a senior or leadership role. - Experience supporting or leading finance for a high-growth, operations-intensive business (e.g., logistics, supply chain, manufacturing, infrastructure). - Strong financial modeling, forecasting, and strategic analysis skills, with the ability to operate at both detailed and enterprise levels. - Experience partnering with international or regional finance teams; exposure to African markets is strongly preferred. - Experience working with governments as clients or partners, including structuring, pricing, or supporting complex public-sector engagements. - Experience working with the U.S. government (e.g., federal agencies, state or local governments, or U.S.-based public-sector programs) is a strong plus. - Working knowledge of IFRS and familiarity with multi-entity, multi-currency environments. - Proven experience building and leading small, high-performing teams. - Ability to translate complex financial concepts into clear, actionable guidance for non-finance partners. - Strong executive presence, communication skills, and comfort operating in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.