Finance Business Partner

Our client, a £4 billion turnover Logistics company with a large portfolio of blue-chip businesses is seeking an Finance Business Partner to join their team. The business is going through a period of growth with ambitions for further growth. Reporting to the Finance Director the successful candidate will carry out all the analyses and to provide commercial initiatives to ensure profitability opportunities are maximised and any risks and exposures are managed in advance.
The successful candidate will be involved with the following:

Monthly Results
* Review the month end process, checking the consistency per activity and depot, of the information provided to Central Finance.
* Deliver "high level" summary of main events impacting on the monthly results.
* Assessing the monthly results, per activity, highlighting the main variances and potential issues (admin .& operational)
* Bridging analysis of the monthly results versus budget and previous year, per activity and department:
o Per line (sales, gross margin, personal costs, direct and indirect costs)
o Per activity
o Per effect: volume, new and lost customers, tariff, bunker, exchange rate, productivity, exceptional/cut off;
o Business Barometer (profitability per customer)
* Identify all anomalies and cut off issues which could impact results.
* Monitor and ask for justification of the provisions, per line (sales, costs), and per depot/activity.
* Produce a dashboard allowing the BU Manager to immediately identify the main discrepancy of the result.

Analysis and KPIs
* Focus on understanding key areas of sales and margin performance. Identify and communicate opportunities and exposures to the BU Director and Operational management together with recommendations.
* Analysis of global performance along with the BU Director.
* Analyse sales reports ensuring consistency of the data provided by Finance and Sales detailing any anomalies.
* Specifically focus on the cost control in line with Company objectives (ATLAS)
* Design, implement and follow up any KPIs that allow a better understanding and anticipation of the activity.
* Liaise with Operational sites to :
o Review and challenge the results;
o Design action plan and corrective measures to address the issues;
o Provide recommendations to Operational management and provide assistance and guidance in their decision making;
* Provide detailed business plans in preparation for the investment committee.
* Validate any new customers and business and analyse any financial impacts.

Budget and forecasting
* Participate in the budget process and the quarterly forecasts (PA).
* Participate in drawing budget, quarterly forecasts (PA) and the risk and opportunities monitoring.
* Roll out budget process at the operational level, ensuring consistency Global budget process ensuring both parts of budgets are aligned.
* Follow up the risk and opportunities within the Business Units in order to identify the impact in the P&L for the next months, and eventually the updated results for the year.
* Participates in the presentation of the budget (bridging, graphs, power point).
The ideal candidate would have the following:
* CIMA/ACCA or equivalent
* Strong stakeholder management skills.
* Industry knowledge of the Logistics/Supply Chain sector would be ideal
* Strong Analytical skills
* Strong understanding of operational aspects in terms of finance

Badenoch & Clark is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy. Badenoch & Clark is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a registered Disability Symbol User.