SUMMARY

About the Role
The Operations Finance Leader leads Ketjen’s enterprise Operations Finance Center of Excellence (COE) and serves as a strategic partner to business and operations teams. This role supports improved manufacturing economics and business performance through analysis and leadership across productivity costs, inventory, capital effectiveness, and operational decision-making. The ideal candidate brings significant manufacturing operations finance experience within the specialty chemicals industry, strong financial judgment, and the ability to translate complex operational data into clear, actionable recommendations. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Operations Finance Strategy & Leadership 

• Lead and develop the enterprise Operations Finance COE, establishing consistent approaches, standards, tools, and performance measures across the organization. 
• Partner with business and operations leaders to shape operational strategies and evaluate financial implications, risks, and tradeoffs.
• Provide financial leadership for operations planning, forecasting, performance management, and strategic decision support.
• Drive a data-informed approach to improving manufacturing economics, cost performance, and long-term value creation.

Manufacturing Economics & Cost Performance 

• Lead financial analysis of manufacturing economics, including production costs, conversion costs, variances, yields, and other operational drivers. 
• Evaluate cost performance and identify opportunities to improve productivity, efficiency, and margin.
• Partner with site and operations teams to understand performance gaps, validate improvement opportunities, and track financial impact.
• Develop and monitor meaningful operational finance metrics that improve transparency, accountability, and decision-making.

Inventory & Working Capital 

• Provide financial leadership and analysis related to inventory levels, valuation, reserves, obsolescence, and working capital. 
• Partner with Supply Chain, Operations, and business teams to identify opportunities to optimize inventory while supporting customer and production requirements.
• Improve inventory reporting, forecasting, controls, and visibility across the enterprise.
• Evaluate the financial impact of inventory decisions and recommend actions that balance service, risk, and cash performance.

Capital Effectiveness & Decision Support 

• Lead financial evaluation of capital investments, including business cases, return analysis, scenario modeling, and post-investment reviews. 
• Partner with Operations, Engineering, and business leaders to prioritize capital deployment and improve capital effectiveness.
• Provide financial insights and recommendations for capacity, reliability, productivity, and other operational investments.
• Strengthen governance, reporting, and accountability for capital planning and project financial performance.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years of progressive finance experience, including significant manufacturing operations finance experience in the specialty chemicals industry. 
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in manufacturing economics, cost accounting, productivity analysis, inventory, and capital investment evaluation.
• Strong financial modeling, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to connect operational performance to financial results.
• Proven ability to influence senior leaders and partner effectively across operations, business, engineering, supply chain, and finance functions.
• Ability to communicate complex financial and operational concepts clearly and translate analysis into practical recommendations.
• Strong alignment with Ketjen’s core values: curiosity, care, collaboration, humility, accountability, and integrity.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree or relevant professional certification, such as an MBA, CPA, or CMA. 
• Experience leading an operations finance team, Center of Excellence, or enterprise-wide finance capability.
• Experience supporting multiple manufacturing sites or a global manufacturing network.
• Experience with enterprise financial systems, manufacturing cost systems, business intelligence tools, and operational analytics.
• Demonstrated success improving manufacturing cost performance, inventory efficiency, capital returns, or operations finance processes.