What are the responsibilities and job description for the Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis position at Merchants Distributors, LLC?
Overview
** Hybrid role - office is located in Hickory, NC **
The Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) will contribute to the company's success through providing strong financial and analytic thought leadership and direction. This role will also provide value through serving as a key financial liaison on strategic projects and initiatives. He/ She will help to build out a team and provide leadership and mentoring to his/ her team on their daily responsibilities as well as ensure his/ her team has the necessary tools to do their job.
The Manager, FP&A will work with their business partners to ensure optimal short-term and long-term decision making. He/ She will provide assistance “planning the work” and then “working the plan” most efficiently and effectively. Financial data is at the core, but the FP&A team will be responsible for providing a balanced view of the business including operational metrics and activity drivers.
To be successful in this role, this individual must have strong FP&A experience and be highly analytical. This person should also have strong presentation, report building and financial analysis experience, with a strong work ethic.
Responsibilities
The Manager of Corporate FP&A will partner with peers at our operating companies and act as a business partner for Corporate operational areas and will apply their skills to deliver the below critical business deliverables (as required):
Financial Analysis -• Build ROI/ business models (ST & LT) for major capital expenditures, projects, ventures, promotions • Analyze profitability for key areas of assigned operational area • Provide proactive variance analyses • Produce proformas and post reviews/ measurement for key initiatives
Business Analytics -• Develop & deliver ad-hoc decision support (financial data in addition to operational data) • Set up and measure test and learns, as appropriate for assigned operational areas • Create, provide and partner on: ‒ descriptive analytics & exploratory data analytics – “What” ‒ diagnostic analytics – “Why” ‒ predictive analytics – “What if” ‒ prescriptive analytics – “Next best action”
Financial Operating Planning - • Produce corporate deliverables for the annual financial operating plan (as required for assigned operational area) with driver based targets; guide partners through process and ensure understanding and alignment on all budget submissions • Oversee and deliver single and “rest of year” financial forecasting and insights throughout the year
Managing & Reporting Business Performance - • Deliver (thru collaboration with partners) on periodic business reviews • Prepare Executive (i.e. Leadership, Board Meeting) presentations, schedules & required support (including KPIs and Scorecards) to help communicate what is driving the business results • Oversee and prepare competitive benchmarking, macro-environment and market share/ growth analyses; as required
Strategic Planning - • Working with operating company peers and corporate operational areas to provide the corporate consolidated financial view for the longer term (3-5 year) planning process • Model financial outcomes of the strategies • Identify & track KPIs/ balanced scorecards which link to the strategies
Data & Systems - • Provide data sourcing, wrangling, querying & modeling for discovery analytics • Develop standardized, self service performance reporting • Build requirements & validate production ready metrics and reports
Qualifications
• Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance, Analytics or similar quantitative field of study; Master's Degree preferred. • 5 years of progressive Finance experience. Prior FP&A experience at a large company ($1B Sales) preferred. • Advanced experience working in Microsoft tools (i.e. Excel, PowerPoint) and building complex financial models. • Working knowledge in Financial/ GL Systems (i.e. Oracle Fusion, Oracle EPM) and business intelligence software (i.e. PowerBI, Cognos). Experience working with Oracle EPM would be a plus but not required. • Strong industry knowledge in retail, wholesale, distribution and / or consumer packaged goods. Competencies - • Comfortable being a high performing individual contributor and working independently • Good team building skills. High level of drive, enthusiasm and ability to naturally emerge as a respected leader. • Strong desire to learn and improve; intellectually curious. High standards of accuracy. • Demonstrated ability to work with ambiguity. Ability to proactively identify needs and solve complex problems. • Ability to maintain an unbiased, financial stewardship focus and not cross the line too far into a business partner's team. • Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to proactively manage the message & expectations (all levels). • Ability to effectively handle multiple competing priorities and manage deadlines under pressure. • Works with integrity in a manner consistent with Alex Lee's values and ethics. • High accountability that delivers on commitments and holds others to the same.
