Learn more about us and the role:
Could you be our new Finance Business Partner?
Are you self-motivated and keen to develop in a Company that puts people first? Do you have excellent analytical skills and a passion for numbers? If so, then this could be the role for you!
We have a fantastic opportunity to join our Finance team, business partnering with the Commercial Director and our Strategic Account Management business leads to help drive commercial performance within our international business.
You will own the analysis and challenge process for your area, identifying opportunities and helping to professionally articulate the performance story. Additionally, you will get involved in the strategic plan, informing the key forecasting and target setting processes.
Who are we looking for?
We are looking someone with significant financial, accounting and operational experience with a passion for developing financial reports and metrics. Qualified in a finance or accounting related area (or alternatively with a substantial amount of relevant experience), our perfect candidate will be ready to take on this challenging and rewarding role.
You should be a confident communicator, tenacious and highly organized. Successfully managing multiple competing priorities while maintaining a view of the big picture is essential.
You'll be working with teams across the organisation, so strong interpersonal and communication skills are essential, with the confidence to work with a complex range of stakeholders within the business.
Key attributes should include:
- Strong Excel, Word, and PowerPoint skills, incorporating pivot tables, lookups, graphs etc.
- Superior attention to detail.
- Demonstratable ability to influence others through effective verbal and written communication.
- Demonstratable ability to drive projects across an organization.
- High integrity, ensuring total confidentiality and discretion, always.
Key activities & responsibilities include:
Data, Reporting and Insight
- Working closely with both the commercial and financial accounting and reporting team, you will influence the reporting process. Ensuring that payment and performance mechanisms are managed accurately.
- Monthly analysis on key trends, commercial levers and project performance will be key. You will proactively flag underlying issues/opportunities within the R&O process and take the commercial teams on the journey of correction.
- You will get close to the detail in your area of the business and ensure performance analysis is supported by external context and feedback from your commercial stakeholders.
- Prepare accurate reports and commentating on results for internal senior management and the parent company American Greetings
Forecasting, Planning & Analysis
- Lead the budgeting and forecasting process for your area of responsibility and ensure alignment with your commercial stakeholders on forecasts so buy in and ownership is secured from the business.
- Building and consolidating a high volume of data across different business units for budgeting and forecasting, you will ensure the master budget has a high level of accuracy and an appropriate level of challenge aligned to our business targets.
- Identify and research variances to forecast, budget, and prior-year revenue & expenses, explain variances and proactively identifying opportunities for improvement.
- Work cross-functionally across all levels of the organisation to facilitate the accuracy of the planning process.
- Create presentations that provide insightful analysis and identify required actions.
- Articulate and review the profit impact from budgets and forecasts. Demonstrating understanding of the key changes to profit and loss statements and relevant balance sheet areas.
Contracting lifecycle & profitability assessments
- You will play a key role in the contracting lifecycle, ensuring robust commercial deals are done, and influencing the contracting process to flag key clauses and considerations that need inclusion. You will develop financial assessments through our P&L models and conduct other ad-hoc analysis.
- Responsible for the maintenance and the production of all profit analysis models for sales tenders, negotiations, or ad hoc requirements. Analysing past financial performance, preparing competitor analysis, along with commentary for management.
- Keep records of all ongoing negotiations and update and maintain our summary schedules (to be shared with exec members).
- Responsible for keeping electronic records of all agreed signed contracts and associated signed SOX documentation.
General
- Provide support to the International Finance Director and Financial Planning & Analysis Manager on ad-hoc projects and initiatives across the International business.
- Support and drive the business wide approval and governance processes.
- Ensure a strong risk and control environment exists within your area, championing strong local financial control.
This role operates in a hybrid working pattern of office-based days and working from home with a minimum of 2 days in the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Head Office is based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
If you believe that you have what it takes to make a difference in this role, apply today.
Notes/Brief for Recruitment Team:
Who we are
We believe in making the world a more thoughtful and caring place by helping every person celebrate and create meaningful connections with our greeting cards and gift dressings - created for life's big events, special occasions and those "saw-this-and-thought-of-you" moments of life. Along with our sister Company John Sands, we're part of the American Greetings Corporation, one of the largest privately owned greeting card publishers in the world.
We are the largest direct to retail publisher of greeting cards in the UK - so you'll find our amazing products just about everywhere!
Here at UK Greetings we take pride in being