Head of Finance

Your new company
Hays are partnering exclusively with a leading international food manufacturing business to recruit their new Head of Finance. This company is a well-established and highly reputable organisation with operations worldwide and represents a vast portfolio of iconic brands. We are seeking a highly commercial finance professional to be part of the senior leadership and drive positive growth across a multi-site operation.

Your new role
This role will report to a Group FD and play a key role in the strategic leadership of the UK&I division. The role partners with factory finance and operational leadership to develop and deliver medium and long-term strategic goals. You will be highly involved in the delivery of financial commitments by undertaking cost-saving initiatives, capital projects, supply chain analysis and structural change and transformation. More specifically, your accountabilities will include the following:

• Partnering with factory general managers and lead teams to drive and deliver the long-term strategic plans, meeting performance metrics of each site, while feeding into the larger group strategy.
• Enable the leadership team to make informed choices regarding capex / working capital optimisation and financial commitment delivery.
• Coach and develop a team of 3 Finance Business Partners and a team of 5 within FP&A on driving site performance for cost and cash, ensuring operational discipline and developing financial acumen.
• Act as a coach to the Shared Finance Centre management accounting team, establish close and effective working relationships between SFC and site finance teams.
• Understand the drivers of historic, current and forecast performance for the division and highlight emerging issues, opportunities or trends.
• Be a change agent in leading and implementing upcoming transformations which impact cost and cash delivery, e.g. system implementations / changes, ways of working.
• Drive conversion cost efficiency, including identification of insourcing opportunities and restructuring programs, and enabling delivery of business cases for significant capital investments / new product launches.
• Drive capex / working capital improvements by aligning targets, outlining opportunities and improving processes.
• Partner with other Heads of Finance to ensure sharing of best practices.
• Drive the right mindset in the plant regarding financial and operational controls

This is a full-time role, ideally with a strong on-site presence.

What you'll need to succeed
You will ideally be a fully ACCA/ACA/CIMA qualified accountant and possess significant experience within a large manufacturing operation. You will have a strong knowledge of cost drivers and be able to identify areas of improvement at site level while being able to see the bigger picture. You will possess strong core business skills, including influencing, stakeholder management and communication skills, while being able to build strong relationships in person and remotely. You will have a proven track record in a leadership capacity and be able to manage both upwards and downwards. You will be curious and creative, with excellent attention to detail.

What you'll get in return
This role offers a highly competitive package of 90-130k including a healthy bonus and car allowance.

What you need to do now

If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.
If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.

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