Independent Non-Executive Director

Location: South Africa (board meetings in-country, remote attendance available)

Type: executive-appointment

Sector: Logistics, transport and supply chain

The opportunity

Ultimate Peaks is retained on the appointment of an Independent Non-Executive Director to the board of anestablished supply chain and specialised transport group operating in South Africa and neighbouring markets.

The business is a substantial regional operator serving demanding industrial and consumer sectors, and nowforms part of a larger international logistics group. The board is strengthening independent oversight as thecompany integrates into that group and continues to expand across the region.

This is a genuine governance appointment. The successful candidate will be expected to exerciseindependent judgement, challenge constructively, and hold both management and the shareholder to a highstandard. Candidates seeking a title without the accompanying responsibility should not apply.

What the role involves

• Contributing to the direction of the business, and testing strategy
• Independent oversight of financial reporting, internal controls, and the integrity of information reachingthe board
• Oversight of risk, with particular attention to the risks specific to cross-border road freight in the region:cargo security, customs and border management, currency and fuel exposure, driver welfare, and multi-jurisdiction labour and regulatory compliance
• Independent scrutiny of related-party transactions, group allocations, and any matter where the interestsof the company and of its shareholder may diverge
• Committee work, including audit and risk, as constituted
• Supporting integration into the wider group while safeguarding the interests of the company itself

Requirements

What we are looking for

Essential:

• A record of board service with demonstrable independence of judgement, ideally including experience oftaking a position contrary to management or a controlling shareholder
• Financial literacy sufficient to interrogate consolidated accounts, including acquisition accounting,intercompany balances, cross-border transfer pricing and currency translation
• Working command of South African directors’ duties under the Companies Act 71 of 2008 and of the KingIV framework
• A clear understanding of the group and subsidiary relationship, and of where a subsidiary director’s dutyproperly runs
• Availability to prepare properly, attend consistently, and travel within the region when required
• A clean regulatory, litigation and commercial record, and no circumstance that would disqualify a personfrom acting as a director

Valued:

• Direct experience of logistics, transport, warehousing, freight forwarding or cross-border trade
• Familiarity with SADC markets beyond South Africa
• Audit or risk committee experience, or a professional accounting qualification
• Experience of a business integrating into an international group, or of preparing a business for institutionalscrutiny
• Contribution to transformation objectives in the South African market

Independence

Independence is a requirement of this role, not a description of it. Candidates will be asked to confirm, and theclient will verify, the absence of any relationship that could reasonably be seen to compromise independentjudgement. This covers the candidate personally and any firm in which the candidate is a partner, employee orprincipal, and includes any advisory, audit, tax, consulting, corporate finance or valuation engagement with thegroup within the preceding three years, any supplier, customer or competitor relationship, and any materialfinancial interest or close personal connection to management or shareholders.

All other directorships and material commitments must be disclosed. Relationships are assessed on theirfacts. A relationship that is disclosed can usually be managed. A relationship that emerges later cannot.

Terms

Term, time commitment and fee are set by the shareholder and confirmed in the appointment letter. The fee iscommensurate with the responsibility. Board meetings are held in South Africa with remote attendanceavailable, and occasional regional travel is required.

Process

Review of curriculum vitae and disclosed interests, independence and conflict screening, interview withUltimate Peaks, interview with the client, then statutory fit-and-proper checks and referencing beforeappointment by the shareholder. Appointment is a reserved matter and no stage of this process constitutes anoffer.