Financial and public-health context
The company procures, stores and supplies medicines through institutional and other authorised channels. Its balance sheet turns through regulated inventory, batch and expiry management, supplier schemes, customer credit, tender or contract terms, logistics and claims. A high reported turnover can conceal thin collected margin, expiry risk, channel returns, disputed deductions and working capital funded beyond prudent limits.
The Board seeks a finance-led Independent Director who can connect inventory truth, product custody and cash economics. Financial control must extend to batch, expiry, temperature, recall, ownership, rebates and customer acceptance. The role also carries a public-health obligation: revenue pressure cannot justify product diversion, unsupported substitution, poor storage or sale of stock whose provenance is uncertain.
Seven audit and cash mandates
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Inventory existence and saleability. Govern physical custody, batch, expiry, condition, ownership, consignment, blocked stock, returns, recall and realistic recoverability. Age alone is not a sufficient provisioning basis.
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Gross-to-net revenue integrity. Review list price, discounts, tenders, rate contracts, rebates, free goods, credit notes, expiry returns, penalties and post-period adjustments. Reported margin should reconcile to collected economic value.
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Supplier-scheme accounting. Establish recognition, entitlement, measurement, collection and allocation for volume incentives, price protection, promotional stock and other support. Schemes must not inflate margin before performance is achieved.
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Customer credit and deductions. Assess exposure by institution, payment source and contract; separate documentation gaps, quality disputes, price claims and genuine credit deterioration; and prevent new supply from masking old arrears.
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Product and temperature custody. Link receiving, storage, monitoring, picking, dispatch and delivery exceptions to financial consequences. Quarantined or excursion-affected stock must be blocked in operational and accounting systems.
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Treasury and working-capital resilience. Review inventory days, receivables, supplier terms, short-term borrowing, concentration, liquidity buffers, covenant headroom and stress under delayed payment, recall, price revision or supplier withdrawal.
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Financial-control independence. Strengthen close, manual journals, related parties, procurement, tender deposits, freight, damaged stock, credit notes, write-offs, whistle-blower access and direct Audit Committee access for finance and internal audit.
Decisions needing Board challenge
The Director will scrutinise large tenders and rate contracts, customer and supplier concentration, extended credit, new warehouses, acquisitions, private-label or exclusive arrangements, inventory financing, debt, impairment, exceptional provisions and sponsor exit options.
Every major contract should disclose product scope, price-change rights, availability obligations, shelf-life requirements, return and recall responsibilities, logistics, payment security, working capital and downside exit. Acquisitions require batch-level inventory diligence, licence and custody review, supplier and customer balances, rebates, claims, tax, litigation and undisclosed expiry exposure.
Finance and risk evidence
The Board should see margin bridges; supplier incentives earned and collected; inventory by batch, expiry and condition; stock blocked or recalled; customer returns; price-protection exposure; tender penalties; receivable ageing and deductions; credit overrides; working-capital funding; cash conversion; warehouse exceptions; audit findings; and liquidity under stress.
Internal audit should perform surprise stock counts, batch-to-ledger tracing, temperature-record testing, scheme reperformance, customer and supplier confirmation, credit-note review and contract-to-cash testing. Any suspected diversion, counterfeit product, record alteration or concealment of unusable inventory must reach independent oversight.
Candidate profile
Candidates should bring at least 25 years of experience across pharmaceutical finance, distribution, institutional supply, FMCG or regulated inventory, audit, credit, treasury or private equity portfolio governance. Former CFOs, finance directors, controllers, audit partners, distribution leaders and Audit Committee Chairs may be suitable.
The candidate must be able to connect financial statements with physical product and contract terms. Experience with batch and expiry inventory, gross-to-net accounting, tender business, high working capital, acquisitions or balance-sheet restructuring will be highly relevant.
Independence requirements
Active inclusion in the IICA Independent Directors Databank is mandatory. The appointee must remain independent of the sponsor, founders, management and significant counterparties. Relationships involving manufacturers, institutions, pharmacies, logistics providers, lenders, insurers, auditors, investors or acquisition targets must be declared.
The role may not be used to direct medicines, credit, warehousing, transport, finance, audit or advisory work to connected parties.
First-year result
The Director will begin with inventory, supplier schemes, gross-to-net revenue, receivables, credit, treasury and major contracts, supported by warehouse visits and independent assurance meetings. By year end, the Board expects realistic inventory values, complete margin, disciplined credit, stronger cash conversion and a Finance Function able to detect product and accounting risk before it becomes a loss.