Financial Controller

Financial Controller/Finance Ops Manager

Kent

About the Business

Our client is a leading international food & beverage manufacturer and part of a global group, producing and supplying products to customers across the UK and Europe. This is an exciting opportunity to join the UK & Ireland finance team, partnering with a UK manufacturing site and supporting operations across Europe.

The Role – key responsibilities and accountabilities

• Financial Control & Factory Performance Management
• Provide robust financial analysis and insight into factory performance, including variance analysis against budget, forecast and production plans, identifying key drivers and supporting corrective actions.
• Partner with the Factory leadership and UK&I leadership team to improve efficiency, operational performance and profitability through data-driven decision making.
• Maintain strong financial governance over factory costs, inventory, purchasing, production performance and operational expenditure, ensuring compliance with internal controls and Group policies.
• Support the development and continuous improvement of financial processes, reporting standards and controls across manufacturing operations.
• Own the financial control, reporting and performance management of the UK factory, ensuring accurate and timely month-end close, financial statements, accruals, prepayments, balance sheet reconciliations and reporting packs.
• Support year-end statutory reporting, audit requirements and financial compliance activities.

Raw Materials, Costing & Supply Chain Finance

• Own the financial oversight of the raw material flow, including commodity price management, stock projections, deal tracking, fixations and position pricing, ensuring accurate forecasting and reporting.
• Translate sales forecasts into raw material, packaging requirements and production cost projections to support budgeting, forecasting and operational planning.
• Partner closely with the Group procurement team and supply chain stakeholders to monitor commodity deals, contract movements, pricing impacts and inventory development.
• Provide insight and analysis on raw material performance, including customer demand versus delivery accuracy, deal lifecycle, product mix management, spot purchases, contract changes and related operational KPIs.
• Maintain accurate raw material master data and pricing information within ERP systems, ensuring reliable cost and margin reporting.

Manufacturing Cost Control & Business Partnering

• Own manufacturing cost analysis, including product costing, inventory valuation, production performance, absorption analysis and cost planning.
• Provide financial challenge and insight on tenders, contract extensions, new product introductions and margin simulations, ensuring sustainable profitability.
• Support the Operations team in identifying, implementing and tracking cost-saving initiatives and continuous improvement opportunities.
• Develop financial models and business cases to support operational decisions and strategic initiatives.
• Provide ad-hoc analysis and recommendations to support business performance improvement.

European Operations business partnership

• Act as a finance business partner for European Operations, providing the Group Operations Director and Operations Leadership Team with timely financial insights, performance metrics and strategic analysis.
• Deliver consolidated operational reporting, including executive-level analysis, trends, key performance indicators and financial guidance to support decision-making.
• Own the review of operational performance across Europe, ensuring alignment between operational objectives, financial targets and Group strategy.
• Support the forecasting, budgeting, S&OP and strategic planning processes by aligning operational requirements with financial forecasts.
• Ensure operational teams have transparency on performance against targets, including ROIC measures, cost efficiency, capacity planning and operational improvements.
• Lead the financial governance of CAPEX processes across operations, including business case preparation, approval processes, investment tracking, return on investment analysis and post-investment reviews.
• Support the development and evaluation of capital projects, ensuring investments align with strategic objectives and deliver expected value.
• Provide financial oversight and challenge on major operational initiatives and improvement programmes.

Knowledge & Experience

• Professionally qualified accountant (ACA, CIMA or ACCA) with strong technical accounting knowledge and understanding of financial controls, governance and reporting standards.
• Proven experience in manufacturing finance, plant controlling, operational reporting and business partnering, with a strong understanding of cost control, product costing, inventory valuation, financial modelling and performance analysis.
• Ability to provide strategic insight, challenge and commercial support to senior stakeholders, influencing decisions and driving improved business performance.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability, with the ability to interpret complex financial and operational data, identify key drivers and translate insights into actionable recommendations
• Excellent communicator, able to simplify and present complex information clearly to different audiences, while balancing a strategic view with the ability to deep-dive into detailed analysis when required.
• Demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships and influence without authority across multiple functions, cultures and geographies, partnering effectively with Operations, Supply Chain, Procurement and Commercial teams.
• Resilient and adaptable, with the ability to manage competing priorities, operate under pressure and deliver results in a fast-paced, changing environment.
• Strong systems capability, including ERP platforms, financial reporting tools and advanced Excel, with experience leveraging data and technology to improve efficiency, reporting quality and decision-making.

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