Vice President Of Finance And Operations

Head of Commercial Finance – U.S.

Overview

Reporting to the CEO, the Head of Commercial Finance will provide transparency, continuity, accuracy and execution of strategy as relates to the achievement of both short- and long-term financial goals of the US business unit, by way of maximizing the financial deliverables that impact/are related to Gross Margin %, COGS, and SKU profitability. This individual will also drive and contribute to major strategic and tactical strategic initiatives by way of priority identification and development, target setting and new opportunity areas, through accurate, effective, and action-oriented performance management reporting and analysis which yield financial insights critical to strategic decision-making. This will encompass both the Commercial and Supply Chain parts of the US business, given both areas connection to ultimate SKU net profitability.

Key responsibilities

• Contributes and drives delivery on global projects that impact own business unit.
• Is responsible for monthly BU financial reporting, including mid-month volume & EBIT projections, rolling up all Commercial and Supply Chain performance impactors.
• Is the Finance lead on significant local BU activities (e.g., CAPEX spend, M&A) ensuring robust financial business plans and business cases, while also challenging assumptions and conclusions to ensure realistic delivery of such projects.
• Plays a pivotal role in the business unit management team, including active contribution on major decisions such as product pricing, product gross margin guardrails, M&A investment, trade and marketing spend, variable labor, and minor and major supply chain CAPEX.
• Leads and oversees comprehensive and regular (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly) tracking of Commercial and Supply Chain financial reporting and identification of improvement areas. Includes BU P&L, SKU profitability, customer profitability, Trade effectiveness & ROI, labor and material-related capacity cost.
• Participates in driving business processes’ optimization by providing critical financial insights and ensuring decisions are made based on accurate and pressure-tested data and financial facts.
• Manages and develops a team of Finance managers and/or analysts to support the analysis and delivery of consistent and strong results across the business unit. In the management role, he/she recognizes that business changes are always present and the Finance team needs to be fit for purpose and ready to respond to that change.
• Drives the financial performance dialogue to create actions and initiatives that can be measured on a specific outcome (e.g., growth, savings, profitability, gross margin, etc.), and involved in CAPEX / investments decisions / business case preparation.
• Acts as ONE point of contact for US Finance (non-Accounting) for US LT, ILT Finance stakeholders and local support and business critical functions and as a trusted financial advisor, providing transparency, clarity and helping set the direction, with Commercial Finance and Supply Chain Finance reporting into the role.
• Connects strategy with financial deliverables for a complex and dynamic business unit, supporting and driving major strategic or tactical initiatives (e.g. cost-saving, profit-improving, revenue optimization, efficiency, and pricing projects) in close cooperation with the Business Leadership in order to translate financial reporting into definitive priorities and target setting (including robust follow-up).
• Establishes and leads relevant BP Function and contributes to the overall business unit’s Finance priorities. Owns deep dive Forecast process.
• Acts as ONE ultimate owner of numbers: ensures global standards, transparency and consistency in numbers to enable effective and forward-looking performance dialogue.
• Participates in business planning process with Business Unit / US LT, ensures that both short- and long-term strategic priorities are catered for, aligned to functional and group targets. Co-leads Finance business plan creation, in line with overall BU LOTS and annual objectives.
• Contributes to alignment and consistency of the reporting and follow up to financial performance.
• Facilitates the development of actions plans to ensure delivery of BU financial strategic targets.
• Communicates performance throughout the organization to ensure clarity and one view on the financial performance of the Business Unit.

The Ideal Candidate

• A humble yet driven individual who prioritizes team versus individual success yet promotes the growth and development of each team member. Leads by example, not afraid to engage fully an is equally comfortable both doing and teaching how it’s done.
• Undergraduate in a related field, MBA a plus and global experience a plus.
• An individual who celebrates success yet is not afraid to make potentially controversial recommendations and decisions for the benefit of the business.
• Experience working in operationally driven organizations with an ability to link the operational dynamics of the business with the overall financial needs of the business.
• A dynamic, strategic finance leader with 15+ years of experience, preferably in the consumer packaged goods segment. At least 10 years of experience as a people leader with a focus on effective mentorship, coaching and overall individual and team leadership.
• Agility to work with both a global parent and a domestic subsidiary from both an operational and relationship-based standpoint and brings exceptional operations acumen to an outstanding foundation in financial management.
• Significant depth in FP&A and strong intuition as it relates to assessing data and related information to make well-informed and impactful decisions across the entire business, including manufacturing and operations.

Executive Recruiter / Contact

Leanne Fesenmeyer

Elk Meadow Recruiting

[email protected]

(303) 913-1817