Commercial Accountant

Commercial Accountant within a leading UK manufacturing business.

Client Details

The client is a leading food manufacturing company with turnover exceeding £1.25bn.

Description

• Build and maintain robust externally-facing Customer Cost Models to help identify commercial opportunities, as well as minimise cost inflation pricing risks.
• Provide an independent review service to support the Commercial teams and ensure robust processes, a culture of rigorous financial control and promoting commercial awareness. Review commercial plans with a forensic approach and promote clarity and understanding. Collaboratively interpret the requirements of internal customers and implement solutions and assisting in the definition of standard sales reporting.
• Provide weekly and monthly margin analysis, commentaries and KPI summaries, comparing activities to budget and forecasts to explain variances and trends. Measure performance against Customer Joint Business Plans and be aware of opportunity costs within the Group.
• Enable the Commercial teams to excel as they drive revenue growth and margin improvement, including opportunities made available from customer tenders. Identify opportunities for margin enhancement through insightful analysis and promote understanding of volumes, revenues, product cost and overhead drivers.
• Assist the Commercial Finance Manager with the sales forecasting and budgeting processes, develop routines that encourage commercial participation to ensure a representative budget with appropriate narrative, sensitivity analysis and strategic opportunities.
• Review internal Customer Trading Agreements, over-riders and promotional costs. Evaluate promotional plans and monitor actual performance, to recommend future activities. Actively lead reviews of low margin and loss making products.
• Assist the Commercial Finance Manager with the review of Commercial overheads and ensure the budgeted target is met by identifying opportunities to save with the Commercial teams.
• Ensure a strong understanding of commodity market values and principles and understand the cost drivers of inter-company meat supply to promote opportunities that maximise Group profit. Monitor inflation and price recovery through a formal process, making recommendations for the recovery of inflation through price change mechanisms, assisting with arguments to secure increases or to defend existing price.
• Keep abreast of developing situations and techniques in respect of customers, competitors, suppliers and finance disciplines and accounting standards.
• Carry out such ad hoc activities that management may require from time to time.

Profile

• Part Qualified accountant with strong technical skills.
• Experience in providing insightful analysis to optimise decision making and take advantage of commercial opportunities, creating growth and margin enhancement.
• Demonstrable financial and commercial exposure gained within an FMCG environment.
• Able to find new solutions through analytical, interpretative and innovative thinking.
• Strong planning, interpersonal and diplomacy skills, motivated to deliver a responsive, proactive service, and meet challenging deadlines.
• Strong financial modelling skills, including use of pivot tables and manipulation of significant data.

Job Offer

• Competitive salary
• 25 days holiday
• Study Support