Business Finance Partner 437

PRIMARY DUTIES

40% Commercial Analysis and Support

- Provide value-added analysis of the details and provide summary level information to allow the commercial leadership teams to make informed and prudent business decisions to improve the financial performance of the business unit
- Deliver comprehensive analysis of the financial results of the business unit following each reporting period so that the leadership team is clear about the status of the business (what is going well, what is not going well, and why); comparisons relative to budget, prior year, and previous period
+ Understand the impact of unusual items that skew the interpretation of the true financial performance
+ Investigate results that do not line up with expectations and follow up on any corrections and long term root cause resolution needed.
+ Breakdown the performance by relevant business unit, end market, or customer class to provide insights into the business
+ Provide clear and concise conclusions of the financial review of the business to the leadership team
- Commercial contract support; key point person to facilitate, coordinate and execute all commercial contracts (supply, consignment, equipment, rebate, index, change notifications, etc.); collaborate with the sales organization, legal group, credit department, and others as necessary. Also coordinate with the legal department on customer claim or settlement activity.
- Provide analytical support to business leadership to enable the team to effectively manage pricing actions for all customers of the business units supported; monitor raw material outlook and price realization to understand extent of pricing actions required to achieve budgeted contribution margin percentage.
- Provide all financial modeling support for all innovations of the business units supported as required by the innovation stage gate process

30% Forecasting, Budgeting, and Strategic Planning Support

- Collaborate with business leadership teams to develop a financial outlook (forecast) for each business unit supported (updated monthly/quarterly); focus on outlook accuracy and determining the most likely scenario for the balance of the year; outlook should factor in changes in raw material costs, pricing actions, changes in market share, changes in end-market conditions, etc.
- Collaborate with business leadership team to develop a financial budget for each business unit supported (in conjunction with Financial Planning & Analysis); ensure the team understands where and how the business unit is expected to grow (price, new business, erosion, market growth, etc.); commit to and hold self accountable (along with the business unit director) to deliver the budget commitment every year for each business unit supported (revenue, operating income, and operating income margin)
- Assist business unit leaders with building their 5-year Strategic Plan; utilizing the 9-box grid to ensure the plan is consistent with the corporate strategy; building up the plan (bottom-up) to provide the leadership team with a roadmap to sustained growth and improved financial performance

20% Operational Reviews

- Evaluate business performance to ensure consistency with business unit long-term strategic plan and the overall corporate strategy
- Strategic deployment countermeasure process support; provide data analysis for business unit leadership team to assist in determining the root causes for metrics that are not meeting plan; collaborate with the leadership team to develop detailed countermeasure plan
- Provide regular reviews of all critical initiatives that support achievement of current year financial plan
- Evaluate and provide analysis on the financial impact of proposed business activities (e.g. business acquisitions/divestitures, capital expenditures, sales programs, etc.) on the business unit and provide guidance on best course of action to the business unit director(s)
- Develop financial models for specific situations and purposes (e.g. customer profitability, manufacturing arbitrage, vendor performance, etc.) to provide support for decision making

10% Special and Ad Hoc Projects / Other

- Create tools to enable the financial evaluation of special projects/circumstances facing the business units
- Monitor and evaluate the relevant components of new working capital for the business units supported (receivables terms, credit risks, inventory levels, payables terms, etc.)
- Coach business leader and others on the leadership team to increase their financial acumen
- Collaborate among peers to standardize, where relevant, groups of work to utilize consistent templates and processes
- Collaborate globally to ensure the leverage of best practices and the standardization of processes
- Support Global Collaboration Teams as required with creating hybrid financial statements, analyzing growth and profitability trends, and supporting the GCT leader as needed

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

- BA or BS degree required with strong background in finance/business management discipline.
- 10 years of experience in finance or accounting experience (Financial Planning & Analysis, Accounting, Corporate Finance, Commercial Finance, Treasury)
- Highly proficient in the use of the Microsoft Excel; solid proficiency in the other Microsoft Office suite (Power Point, Word, Access)

PREFERRED REQUIREMENTS

MBA with an emphasis in finance or accounting from a reputable institution is highly preferred

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

- Individually Accountable for Results
- Highly motivated and self directed; self learner
- Demonstrates a bias for action
- Identifies and pro-actively manages risk
- Focuses on team success before individual success
- Strong collaborator capable of managing remote relationships effectively
- Translates goals/objectives into actionable plans and results
- Exhibits a strong drive and focus on achieving budget commitments
- Seeks solutions that improve process effectiveness and drive continuous improvement
- Actively works to develop processes where processes are lacking
- Anticipates and responds to changes in financial trends
- Curiosity drives pro-active preparation and action planning
- Demonstrates functional/technical proficiency in finance and accounting
- Exhibits the ability to work professionally and effectively in ambiguous situations
- Model collaboration and commitment
- Accountability for Results
- Foster change and innovation
- Create value for customers
- Demonstrate business acumen and business agility