Description
Senior Finance Manager: Retail, Cost - London - 6 months
The work location is in London (remote for the time being).
The duration of the contract is 6 months (to start ASAP).
The pay rate on offer is £450-£500 per day.
The client is an iconic, multinational British retailer.
Summary
The successful candidate will lead the Clothing and Home business in managing and transforming its cost base by providing control, insight and analysis through working with Finance colleagues across the business in Logistics, Retail, Property, Marketing and Technology for both Operating and Capital Costs.
The role requires the individual to demonstrate a commercial mindset and awareness, an understanding on how the business unit as a whole operates and interacts and therefore the inherit risks and opportunities that this presents.
The role requires the individual to exhibit commercial awareness, an understanding of the underlying risks and opportunities within a transforming Retail business.
The role will provide control, insight and analysis across the Clothing and Home cost base working with Finance colleagues across the business in Property, Retail, Logistics, Support Office, Marketing, Technology and Central Areas including Capital Costs. The role requires working across multiple stakeholders (Finance & non-Finance) to ensure current and future performance (across the income statement and balance sheet/working capital) is communicated simply, is well understood and controlled.
Key accountabilities
Financial Planning
- Support the Clothing and Home FP&A team to deliver accurate Budgets and rolling Forecasts for the C+H cost base, supporting the delivery of Operating Profit targets.
- Coordination of the C+H Capital Budgets and ongoing forecasts, highlighting opportunities to Head of Finance and FD.
Business Partnering
- Work in partnership with the Senior Finance Managers/Heads of Finance in the cost teams to understand the complexities of their cost bases, and risks and opportunities arising.
- Work closely with the C+H Finance Business Partners to ensure C+H central support costs are understood and ensuring targets are met.
Insight
- Understand the drivers of the cost base (volume, inflation, headcount, space), forecasting their impact on a short- and long-term basis.
- Understand and explain the drivers of working capital, working closely with commercial teams on inventory and shared services on payables & receivables.
- Engage with Commercial Finance Business Partners to understand the end to end profitability of the Business Units, providing insight into the drivers of profit.
Control
- Work across the wider Finance team to deliver the Clothing and Home cost period close, engaging with Finance Business Partners in the cost areas (eg, Retail, Property, Technology, Logistics).
- Preparation of well-considered and insightful commentary on cost performance for the Head of Finance, Finance Director & Managing Director.
- Tracking and reporting of cost saving targets, with an inquisitive mind to identify new areas of cost savings.
- Management of the Clothing and Home Support Office cost base, ensuring accuracy of reporting and ensuring costs are well understood and managed.
Key skills
- Retail/Complex organisation experience highly preferable
- Qualified accountant (ACA/CIMA)
- Previous experience in FP&A preferred
- Inquisitive and curious mindset
- Strong analytical capabilities, comfortable working with and accurately manipulating data to provide accurate and insightful reporting
- Effective communication skills both written and verbal
- Ability to maintain and further enhance controls and process and ability to implement change
- Team player but also happy to work independently on own initiative