Team Leader - Subcontractor

POSITION STATEMENT 

The Contractor Accounts & Commercial Lead is responsible for the financial governance, commercial management, payment administration, and operational control of all subcontractor relationships. The role ensures contractors are paid accurately and on time, contractual rates and terms are adhered to, stock accountability is maintained, customer funding and approvals are in place, and all financial, commercial, and compliance risks relating to subcontractors are effectively managed.

The incumbent will lead a team responsible for contractor invoice processing, account reconciliations, commercial reviews, stakeholder engagement, and contractor governance across the business.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES 

Contractor Financial Management

• Manage the end-to-end contractor payment process.
• Ensure contractor invoices are processed accurately and within agreed payment terms.
• Monitor contractor payment ageing and proactively resolve payment delays.
• Ensure all contractor payments are supported by valid customer purchase orders (POs) where required.
• Review and validate contractor claims against approved work completed.
• Ensure contractor costs are accurately recorded within the correct projects and cost centres.
• Monitor contractors spend against budgets and forecasts.
• Provide regular reporting on contractor liabilities, accruals and payment commitments.
• Drive continuous improvement of contractor payment processes and controls.

Commercial & Contract Management

• Review contractor commercials and payment models to ensure profitability and alignment with business objectives.
• Ensure contractor rates being paid align to approved contracts, schedules of rates, and negotiated pricing agreements.
• Investigate rate discrepancies and implement corrective actions.
• Support commercial negotiations with contractors where required.
• Identify and mitigate financial and commercial risks relating to contractor engagements.
• Maintain a central repository of all contractors commercial agreements and pricing schedules.
• Conduct periodic reviews of contractor profitability and performance.

Contract Governance & Compliance

• Ensure all subcontractors have valid and up-to-date Master Service Agreements (MSAs) in place.
• Monitor contract expiry dates and coordinate renewals.
• Ensure compliance with contractual obligations, approval frameworks, and procurement policies.
• Verify that all contractor invoices have the appropriate operational, project, and financial approvals before payment.
• Ensure supporting documentation is complete and audit compliant.
• Maintain contractor compliance records, including insurance, regulatory, tax, and statutory documentation.
• Support internal and external audit requirements relating to subcontractor management.

Contractor Invoice Processing Team Leadership

• Lead and manage the contractor accounts team.
• Allocate workload and monitor team productivity and service levels.
• Develop team capabilities through coaching, mentoring, and performance management.
• Establish and monitor KPIs for invoice processing accuracy, turnaround times, and query resolution.
• Ensure effective month-end and year-end close processes relating to contractor accounts.
• Promote a strong culture of accountability, customer service, and continuous improvement.

Stock Governance & Recovery

• Ensure all stock issued to contractors is accurately recorded and reconciled.
• Monitor contractor-held inventory and stock ageing.
• Investigate stock variances and implement recovery actions.
• Ensure stock recoveries, damages, losses, and write-offs are appropriately accounted for and approved.
• Work closely with Warehousing, Operations, and Procurement teams to maintain stock integrity.
• Drive improvements in stock tracking and contractor accountability processes.

Reconciliation & Financial Control

• Perform and review contractor account reconciliations.
• Reconcile contractor statements and resolve outstanding discrepancies.
• Ensure accurate accruals and provisions are raised at month-end.
• Review balance sheet accounts relating to contractors and stock.
• Ensure contractor-related financial records are complete, accurate, and support audit requirements.
• Maintain strong financial controls and segregation of duties.

Stakeholder Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with contractors, project teams, operations, procurement, warehousing, PMO, finance, and customers.
• Act as the escalation point for contractor payment disputes and commercial queries.
• Facilitate regular contractor review meetings.
• Partner with operational teams to resolve invoice, stock, and commercial issues.
• Communicate payment schedules, process requirements, and policy changes to contractors.

Customer Funding & Revenue Assurance

• Ensure customer POs, approvals, and commercial authorisations are obtained prior to contractor payment where applicable.
• Validate that contractor work being paid is supported by customer-approved work orders or project deliverables.
• Monitor customer-funded projects to ensure contractor costs remain recoverable.
• Assist in reducing working capital exposure by aligning contractor payments to customer collections where contractually permitted. 

Reporting & Performance Management

• Contractor spend
• Payment cycle times
• Outstanding approvals
• Unrecovered stock
• Contract compliance
• Aged contractor balances
• Open disputes and queries
• Budget versus actual contractor costs
• Develop dashboards and KPIs for contractor performance and financial management.
• Provide insights and recommendations to improve contractor profitability and operational efficiency.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree or diploma in Finance, Accounting, Commercial Management, Supply Chain, Procurement, Business Management, or a related field.
• Minimum 2 to 5 years' relevant experience in contractor accounts, commercial finance, accounts payable, procurement, project finance, or subcontractor management.
• At least 2 to 3 years' experience leading a team or supervising a high-volume transactional finance or contractor administration function.
• Experience in the fibre, telecommunications, construction, infrastructure, engineering, or project-based services environment is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing contractor payments, statement reconciliations, rate validation, accruals, stock recoveries, disputes, and month-end close activities.
• Experience working with Master Service Agreements, schedules of rates, purchase orders, work orders, customer-funded projects, and audit evidence requirements.

Required Skills

• Strong financial control, reconciliation, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify root causes and implement sustainable corrective actions.
• Commercial acumen and the ability to assess contractor profitability, rate structures, payment models, working capital exposure, and cost-to-complete risks.
• Strong contract interpretation and negotiation skills, with attention to commercial terms, payment conditions, liabilities, service levels, and supporting documentation.
• Excellent stakeholder management, conflict resolution, and written and verbal communication skills across contractors, Operations, PMO, Procurement, Warehousing, Finance, and customers.
• Strong leadership, coaching, workload planning, and performance management skills, with a focus on accountability and service delivery.
• Ability to manage competing deadlines, high transaction volumes, escalations, and month-end requirements while maintaining accuracy and control.
• Dashboarding and management reporting skills, with the ability to convert financial and operational data into clear actions and recommendations.

Knowledge Requirements

• Sound knowledge of accounts payable, general ledger principles, accruals, provisions, balance sheet reconciliations, budgeting, forecasting, and working capital management.
• Practical knowledge of contractor invoice validation, three-way matching where applicable, approval workflows, payment terms, retention arrangements, credits, and dispute resolution.
• Understanding of subcontractor commercial models, project costing, schedules of rates, change controls, claims validation, and margin protection.
• Knowledge of stock governance, inventory reconciliation, stock ageing, loss and damage recovery, write-off controls, and contractor-held stock accountability.
• Working knowledge of South African tax and statutory requirements relevant to contractors, including VAT, tax compliance status, company documentation, and statutory record keeping.
• Understanding of internal controls, segregation of duties, delegated authority, procurement governance, audit trails, and internal and external audit requirements.
• Knowledge of customer purchase order controls, revenue and cost matching, recoverability, funding approvals, and cash flow implications in project-based environments.
• Awareness of POPIA, document retention, confidentiality, and appropriate handling of contractor banking, tax, contractual, and personal information.