Open to opportunities

Joseph Makuluni

@josephmakuluni

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Senior finance and operations executive specialising in tobacco industry value chains.

Zimbabwe

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What I'm looking for

I seek senior finance roles that combine treasury, FP&A and operations in a growth-focused, compliance-driven company where I can lead ERP and process transformation.

I am a senior Finance & Operations executive with over 15 years' leadership experience in the tobacco industry across the SADC region, delivering financial performance, treasury optimisation, and regulatory compliance. I have led ERP implementations, secured multi-million-dollar funding facilities, and designed financial systems that improved profitability forecasting, costing accuracy, and grower payment efficiencies.

I specialise in end-to-end tobacco value chain finance — from grower financing and procurement to export finance and compliance with RBZ, TIMB, SOX and FCPA. I combine strong technical proficiency in ERPs (TOIS, Progress, Acumatica, Sage), BI and automation (Power BI, SQL, DAX, VBA, PowerAutomate) with proven change management and stakeholder reporting capabilities to drive measurable operational and commercial results.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Head of Leaf Accounts

Mozambique Leaf Tobacco Limitada

May 2024 - Aug 2024 (3 months)

Directed FP&A for all leaf operations, developed EBIT forecasting models, and orchestrated end-to-end costing for domestic and export shipments to improve profitability tracking and reporting accuracy.

FP&A Forecasting Cost Financial Reporting Leaf Accounting

Tobacco Buying Manager

Petrana Trading (Pvt) Ltd

Feb 2022 - Jun 2024 (2 years 4 months)

Directed financial control and accounting for the tobacco procurement cycle managing 5,000+ growers and a USD 19M budget, secured multi-million dollar funding facilities, and implemented a decentralised procurement model reducing payment times from 24+ hours to under 2 hours.

Financial Control Treasury Grower Financing Procurement ERP Process Improvement Compliance

Planning & Efficiency Manager

Zimbabwe Leaf Tobacco Company

Apr 2019 - Nov 2021 (2 years 7 months)

Sponsored and led TOIS ERP (Factory) implementation to modernise leaf accounting and processes, renegotiated supplier contracts to realise cost savings, and used analytics to optimise tobacco allocation to meet profit targets.

ERP Implementation TOIS Process Optimization Data Analysis

Trustee

Zimleaf Defined Contribution Pension Fund

Sep 2014 - Nov 2021 (7 years 2 months)

Reviewed and appraised investments for a USD 10M+ portfolio and guided the fund's liquidation process from 2020 ensuring member protection and regulatory compliance.

Regulatory Compliance Stakeholder Management

Export Finance Manager

Zimbabwe Leaf Tobacco Company

Jul 2002 - Mar 2019 (16 years 8 months)

Architected an export finance system to manage multi-currency offshore loans and allocate export proceeds, structured offshore financing facilities, and enforced RBZ, SOX and FCPA compliance across financial operations.

Treasury Management Multi Currency Management Compliance Risk Management Financial Systems