Job Type
Full-time
Description
Position SummaryThe Director, FP&A is a key finance leader responsible for leading the company's financial planning, forecasting, budgeting, reporting, and performance management processes across a complex, multi-plant manufacturing organization.
This role partners closely with the CFO, business unit leaders, plant leadership, Operations, Sales, Supply Chain, and Corporate Finance to provide timely, accurate, and actionable financial insights that support business decisions and improve financial performance.
The Director will lead the development of financial plans and forecasts while establishing a consistent, disciplined approach to performance management across the company's manufacturing footprint.
The role will have a strong focus on
connecting operational drivers to financial results, improving forecast accuracy, identifying risks and opportunities, and providing leadership with clear visibility into profitability, cost, cash flow, and operational performance.
Requirements
Key ResponsibilitiesFinancial Planning & Forecasting- Lead the annual operating plan, budget, and long-range planning processes.
- Develop and maintain rolling forecasts for revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, EBITDA, working capital, and cash flow.
- Establish consistent planning processes, assumptions, timelines, and standards across plants and business units.
- Partner with plant and business leaders to develop realistic, driver-based financial plans.
- Analyze changes in business conditions and update forecasts accordingly.
- Develop scenario analyses to evaluate business opportunities, risks, and potential actions.
- Improve forecast accuracy through enhanced modeling, analytics, and accountability.
Plant & Manufacturing Performance- Establish a consistent FP&A framework for evaluating plant financial performance.
- Partner with Plant Managers and Plant Controllers to understand operational and financial drivers.
- Analyze plant profitability, productivity, labor, material, overhead, and operating expenses.
- Identify and communicate key drivers of plant performance.
- Develop financial analysis around production volumes, capacity utilization, labor efficiency, scrap, yield, material usage, and other operational metrics.
- Identify performance gaps and work with operational leaders to develop corrective actions.
- Support plant leadership in evaluating cost-reduction and productivity initiatives.
Management Reporting & Performance Management- Lead monthly financial performance reporting for executive and business leadership.
- Develop concise, insightful management reporting that clearly explains results versus budget, forecast, and prior year.
- Establish standard KPIs and performance dashboards across plants and business units.
- Translate financial results into actionable business insights.
- Highlight key risks, opportunities, trends, and emerging issues for senior leadership.
- Improve the quality, timeliness, and consistency of management reporting.
Profitability & Business Analytics- Analyze revenue, pricing, volume, mix, gross margin, and profitability trends.
- Develop product, customer, plant, and business-unit profitability analysis.
- Partner with Commercial leadership to evaluate pricing decisions, customer profitability, and margin opportunities.
- Analyze manufacturing cost drivers and identify opportunities for margin improvement.
- Support strategic decisions through financial modeling and scenario analysis.
- Evaluate capital investments, restructuring initiatives, make-versus-buy decisions, and other significant business opportunities.
Working Capital & Cash Flow- Partner with Treasury, Operations, Supply Chain, and plant leadership to improve working capital performance.
- Analyze inventory levels, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and cash conversion.
- Develop forecasts and reporting around working capital and cash flow.
- Identify opportunities to improve inventory turns and reduce excess and obsolete inventory.
- Incorporate working capital considerations into operating plans and business decisions.
Strategic Finance & Decision Support- Serve as a strategic finance partner to the CFO and business leadership.
- Provide financial analysis for major strategic and operational decisions.
- Build financial models for acquisitions, capital investments, capacity expansion, restructuring, and other strategic initiatives.
- Evaluate business cases and investment proposals.
- Develop scenario analyses and sensitivity models to support decision-making.
- Translate complex financial and operational information into clear recommendations and actions.
FP&A Process & Technology- Continuously improve FP&A processes, tools, models, and reporting.
- Identify opportunities to automate manual planning and reporting activities.
- Improve integration between ERP, financial planning, reporting, and analytics systems.
- Establish consistent financial modeling and reporting methodologies.
- Partner with Finance Systems & Analytics leadership to improve data quality and reporting capabilities.
- Reduce reliance on manual spreadsheets where appropriate while maintaining flexibility for analysis.
Leadership Responsibilities- Lead and develop FP&A professionals supporting the business.
- Establish clear objectives, performance expectations, and development plans.
- Build strong financial and analytical capabilities within the FP&A organization.
- Promote a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and fact-based decision-making.
- Establish consistent FP&A practices across multiple plants and business units.
Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or related field.
- MBA, CPA, or other advanced qualification preferred.
- 8-12+ years of progressive finance experience, including significant FP&A experience.
- Experience in a manufacturing environment strongly preferred.
- Experience supporting multiple plants, business units, or geographic locations.
- Strong understanding of manufacturing financial drivers and cost accounting.
- Demonstrated experience with budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling, and performance management.
- Strong understanding of P&L, balance sheet, and cash-flow drivers.
- Experience presenting financial results and recommendations to senior leadership.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Advanced Excel and financial modeling capabilities.
- Experience with ERP, FP&A, BI, and reporting systems.
Preferred Experience- Multi-site or multi-business-unit manufacturing experience.
- Experience with standard costing and manufacturing variance analysis.
- Experience with operational KPIs and plant performance metrics.
- Experience with acquisitions, integrations, or restructuring.
- Experience with capital planning and investment analysis.
- Experience implementing or improving FP&A systems.
- Experience with Power BI or comparable business intelligence tools.
- Experience in a public-company environment.
Leadership ProfileThe ideal candidate is a
commercially minded finance leader who can move beyond reporting results to help the business improve them.
The successful candidate will:
- Think strategically while maintaining strong financial discipline.
- Understand the connection between operational activity and financial results.
- Be highly analytical and data-driven.
- Challenge assumptions constructively.
- Communicate complex financial information clearly.
- Build credibility with plant and operational leaders.
- Be comfortable working in a decentralized, multi-site environment.
- Have strong executive presence and influencing skills.
- Translate analysis into clear actions and decisions.
- Balance financial rigor with practical business judgment.
- Operate with a strong sense of ownership and accountability.
