Objectives

The primary objective of this tender is to appoint a professional service provider to deliver research and advisory services that will facilitate the transformation of Rand Water’s Finance Division into a Future Finance Fit for Purpose. This includes providing strategic guidance across various domains such as financial transformation, digital finance, risk management, governance, ERP optimization, and talent professionalization. The goal is to support the development of an insights-driven, digitally enabled operating model that enhances performance and aligns with public sector mandates.

Scope

The scope of work encompasses delivering specialized, on-demand strategic advisory services in areas including:

• Financial transformation and digital finance transformation
• Risk management and governance
• ERP optimization (e.g., Oracle, CaseWare)
• Technology guidance on planning, budgeting, reporting, automation
• Enterprise risk management and data governance
• Talent development and professionalization through competency models and leadership frameworks
• Provision of research tools, portals, maturity models, peer insights, and cost frameworks
• Supporting finance from strategy to execution on mission-critical priorities
• Adoption of AI in finance, including strategy, use cases, and skills development
• Metrics, storytelling, and management reporting
• Cost management strategies and benchmarking
• Growth planning, capital budgeting, M&A best practices
• Leadership effectiveness of CFOs and transformation leadership
• Digital finance maturity assessment and fintech roadmap development
• Mergers & acquisitions diagnostics across multiple sectors
• Sustainability reporting frameworks and ESG metrics

The provider must be an established research organization with a verifiable client base of over 5,000 enterprises and provide two user licenses.

Technical Requirements

• Demonstrated experience in working with finance strategies and mission-critical priorities, supported by reference case studies
• Comprehensive human resource capacity, including detailed organogram and CVs of key personnel with relevant experience
• Availability of quality finance-focused research content, tools, frameworks, and external data sources (linking to more than five sources)
• Detailed project plan with milestones, schedules, and deliverables aligned with RFQ requirements
• Provision of research portals, toolkits, diagnostics, and benchmarking frameworks
• Capacity to support digital finance initiatives, AI adoption, and technology roadmaps
• Ability to deliver services within specified timeframes and budgets, with clear work breakdown structures

Skills Requirements

• Extensive experience in financial transformation, digital finance, and enterprise risk management
• Proven capability in research, advisory, and strategic guidance for large public sector entities
• Strong project management skills with the ability to develop detailed work schedules and milestones
• Expertise in ERP systems (Oracle, CaseWare) and finance technology tools
• Capability to support talent development, leadership frameworks, and change management
• Experience in developing sustainability and ESG reporting frameworks
• Ability to provide peer insights, benchmarking, and diagnostics across multiple sectors
• Excellent communication skills for storytelling, data visualization, and management reporting
• Knowledge of M&A processes, growth planning, and capital budgeting
• Understanding of B-BBEE compliance and the ability to demonstrate B-BBEE contribution levels