Finance Business Partner - Profit

Ford; Melbourne; Hybrid; AUD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Ford Australia is seeking a Finance Business Partner - Profit to act as a key finance partner to Finance and senior management. You will own monthly profit reporting and forecasting cycles, translating financials and market shifts into actionable insights to improve forecast accuracy and profitability.

This full‑time role is based at the National Sales Company Office in Richmond, with a hybrid schedule (4 days in office).

Qualifications

• 5+ years in FP&A, management reporting or business partnering.
• Strong forecasting and variance analysis experience.
• Understanding of wholesale/retail volumes and profit mechanics.
• Proven ability to explain variances clearly to non-finance stakeholders.
• Advanced Excel modeling and large dataset handling.
• Experience with enterprise financial systems and BI tools.
• Confident communicator with operational leaders and execs.

Responsibilities

• Lead monthly profit reporting and forecasting cycles.
• Analyze profit drivers and explain variances to seniors.
• Model profit impact of volume and currency movements.
• Coach cross‑functional teams to improve forecast accuracy.
• Coordinate annual budget and multi‑year planning.
• Support external audits and executive reporting packs.

Skills

Financial modeling

Forecasting

Variance analysis

Analytical thinking

Business partnering

Education

Bachelor's in Accounting/Finance

CA/CPA/CIMA qualification (advantage)

Tools

Excel

Power BI

Hyperion/Essbase/PeopleSoft (advantage)

Job description

About Us

As Australia’s largest automotive OEM employer, we proudly have around 1,500 talented engineers, designers, sales, marketing and specialist staff working at sites across Victoria and interstate regional offices. Crucially, Australia is a key global development hub for Ford, and the local design and engineering team lead the creation of vehicles including the Ranger, Ranger Raptor, and Everest – models sold in around 180 markets worldwide. Our product development footprint spans key sites across Campbellfield, Geelong and the You Yangs Proving Ground, giving Ford Australia a broad and diverse capability for designing, engineering and validating vehicles for global markets.

Lead. Grow. Transform.

Why Ford?

For a century, we've been a driving force across Australia, building a legacy that truly speaks for itself. Leading the way, the Ranger continues its rein as Australia's No. 1 Selling Vehicle and our iconic Mustang proudly holds its position as Australia’s No. 1 Sports Car.

These remarkable achievements are a testament to our unwavering commitment to innovation and a customer-focused approach that has delivered success across our entire lineup, giving us so much to be excited about! But we believe we do more than just build award-winning vehicles—we build careers.

• Discounted lease car options.
• Multiple Employee Resource Groups – Ford Pride, Women of Ford and Ford Empowering Diverse Abilities.
• Flexible Work Arrangements.
• Growth and development opportunities via internal and external training.
• Paid parental leave from day 1.
• Comprehensive Employee Assist Program.
• Wellness Programs including Free Flu Vaccinations and Health Checks.
• Paid volunteer days.

About the Role

As a Finance Business Partner - Profit, you will act as a key finance partner to other Finance and Skill (Functional) teams, and to senior management. In this role, you will own Ford Australia’s monthly profit reporting and forecasting cycles—translating financial actuals, wholesale volumes, and market shifts into actionable insights that drive forecast accuracy, cost control, and bottom-line profit improvement.

This is a full-time position, based at our National Sales Company Office, in Richmond, reporting directly to the Corporate Finance Manager and based on a hybrid work schedule (4 days in office).

• Month-End Reporting & Consolidation: Run the month-end reporting timetable, consolidate inputs with Finance and skill teams across revenue and cost streams, and explain core variances (volume, series mix, pricing, currency, and cost performance) in clear summaries for Senior Management and Regional Headquarters. Report monthly on forecast accuracy.
• Profit & Variance Analysis: Analyse absolute profit and the drivers behind it, and explain variances forecast-to-forecast, YoY, QoQ and against budget, separating volume, mix, price, currency and cost performance. Build waterfall charts and clear commentary for Senior Management and constructively challenge cross-functional teams to ensure variance explanations are backed by data.
• Forecasting & Modeling: Lead the monthly forecast cycle and executive reviews. Model the profit impact of volume adjustments (contribution margin) and exchange movements, while proactively embedding lessons from past variances and setting assumptions earlier with clear owners and deadlines to improve forecast accuracy. Maintain the market review presentation for Senior Management.
• Profit Improvement & Cost Management: Facilitate regular cost reviews with a standard pack and actions log, identify risks and opportunities early, and partner with operational /Finance teams to track initiatives through to measurable financial results.
• Business Planning & Budgeting: Plan and coordinate the annual budget and multi-year business planning cycle, communicating key assumptions, timelines and deliverables to stakeholders. Set up review meetings and files and coordinate inputs from each team. Reconcile volume physicals, financials, and headcount for reviews with Senior management and preparing final materials for regional submission.
• Governance & Ad Hoc Support: Support external audit requirements, deliver ad-hoc financial analyses, and maintain executive reporting packs for the Operating Committee.

• Qualifications: Degree in Accounting, Finance, Commerce, or a related field (CA/CPA/CIMA qualification or progress toward completion is highly regarded).

• Finance Experience: 5+ years in FP&A, management reporting, commercial finance or business partnering, ideally in a complex corporate, automotive or manufacturing environment, with strong forecasting and variance analysis experience.

• Profit & Operational Acumen: Strong understanding of the physicals (wholesale/retail volumes) behind the numbers, profit mechanics, absolute profit, and contribution margins.

• Variance Analysis & Storytelling: Proven ability to unpack complex, multi-factor variances and present root-cause drivers clearly to non-finance stakeholders.

• Systems Acumen: Advanced Excel modeling skills and experience with enterprise financial systems and large datasets (Power BI /any automation related tools Essbase, Hyperion, or PeopleSoft experience is an advantage).

• Influence & Communication: Confident communicator who builds trusted relationships with operational leaders and engages comfortably with executive leadership.

• Ownership & Curiosity: Takes ownership of profit improvement actions, is curious about what drives outcomes, and proactively shares insights with operational teams.

• Agility & Continuous Improvement: High resilience under tight deadlines, paired with a natural habit of streamlining and automating financial processes.

Equal Opportunity

Ford Australia is inclusive employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.

All candidates must have working rights for Australia prior to application.

Applications will close on Sunday 6 December 2026; however, please do not delay your application as interviews will commence before the closing date.

Please note due to the high numbers of applications we will only be able to contact shortlisted candidates.