Commercial Finance Business Partner - Sales Forecasting and Analysis

DS Smith; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leader in sustainable packaging solutions seeks a Commercial Finance Business Partner in London (Paddington). This role involves forecasting, budgeting, and collaboration across functions to drive strategic objectives. Candidates should possess strong commercial acumen and experience in FMCG, influencing senior stakeholders effectively. The position offers a hybrid work model and competitive benefits.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Discretionary bonus

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

Car allowance

Pension scheme

Private medical insurance

Qualifications

• Experience within FMCG is desirable.
• Proven ability to communicate with and influence senior management.
• Experience in process design and redesign is a bonus.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive the Forecasting and Budget process.
• Manage the revenue cycle, analyzing revenue drivers.
• Oversee the suite of monthly reports to Sales and Marketing.

Skills

Strategic and commercial acumen

Critical thinking skills

Sales Forecasting

Budgeting

Influencing stakeholders

Education

Formal finance qualification

Tools

MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint)

Power BI

S&OP Planning tools (o9, Anaplan)

Job description

Overview

Permanent, full time

Location: London (Paddington) - hybrid (3 days per week in office)

About Us

We are DS Smith, together with International Paper, we are a global leader in sustainable packaging solutions and other fibre-based products. We believe a better, more sustainable tomorrow is possible with the right people, who challenge and support one another to enact positive change. We employ more than 65,000 colleagues in North America and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), who are experts in innovation, manufacturing, design, sales, sustainability, supply chain, and much more. Together with our customers, we make the world safer and more productive, one sustainable packaging solution at a time. Become part of a world-leading organisation and do your best work with us!

About the role

We are searching for a Commercial Finance Business Partner to join our team on a hybrid basis in Paddington. This is a high visibility role within the central Packaging division of DS Smith. You will be a key partner for the Sales, Marketing, and Innovation (SMI) function (which manages the relationship of our key customers at a strategic level), as well as the Sub-regional Finance teams and FP&A. As such, the role provides an excellent opportunity to build and grow relationships across the business, and to quickly expand your knowledge of DS Smith and the packaging industry. Effective communication is a key element of this role.

This role will support the Head of Commercial Finance in working alongside the SMI teams to align to the organisation`s strategic objectives. This role is also key in embedding an updated Forecasting/Budgeting process in line with the new o9 Forecasting tool. You will be the Business owner of the o9 tool and will be key in its governance and success.

This role will focus on managing the Revenue and Volume cycles. Alongside this, a deep commercial knowledge of pricing approaches and mechanisms will be required.

Your remit will include but not limited to:

Sales Forecasting and Budget management

• Owning and driving the Forecasting and Budget process. Managing the timetable of key delivery dates
• Responsible for producing the monthly/yearly statistical forecast (volumes, revenue), validating the accuracy of the forecast, as well as meeting the requirements of the main stakeholders
• Manage the revenue cycle, deep analysis of revenue drivers and impact (including the impact of the paper market)
• Pricing strategy, pricing adjustment mechanics. Working with the wider team to make the link to Margin
• Develop a deep understanding of the DS Smith Sales environment, Key Customer trends and packaging market challenges.

O9 (Forecasting tool) and Sales Database owner

• Own and drive the roll out of the new Divisional Sales Forecasting process in alignment with the o9 tool. Working closely with key Sub-regional contacts
• Oversee the monthly Reconciliation of the o9 tool vs. the Finance reporting system (HFM) – drive the automation of this process
• Responsible for the overall integrity of the data within the o9 tool
• Work closely with IT and the Transformation team and external service providers to ensure the ongoing maintenance of the tool and escalations happen in a timely way
• Overall governance of the Sales Database tool

Reporting and Insights

• Oversee the suite of monthly reports to Sales, Marketing and Innovation
• Drive the automation of reporting alongside the Business Intelligence team with a focus on delivering insights
• Development of insightful and analytical reporting, demonstrating the value of the o9 tool

Collaboration/Stakeholder Management

• Communication and collaboration – As the owner of the Forecasting/Budget Process and the o9 tool – effective, timely, proactive communication (both written and verbal) will be key in ensuring the success of the new process
• Influence and Challenge – Business Partnering with Sales teams – demonstrating the ability to understand their trading environments and be able to challenge assumptions based on fundamental analysis

About You

• Formal finance qualification desirable
• Strategic and commercial acumen with strong critical thinking skills and the ability to intelligently operate and navigate in a multinational, corporate environment; profound experience of working in matrix roles. Experience within FMCG is desirable
• Proven ability to communicate with and influence stakeholders on a Senior Management level
• Sales Forecasting, Budgeting, Demand planning ownership; ideally previous experience with S&OP Planning tools (Anaplan, BY, FuturMaster, IBM planning analytics, Kinaxis, o9, OMP etc.)
• Process design and redesign experience is a bonus
• Advanced skills working with MS Office tools (Excel, PowerPoint)
• Financial modelling experience preferred
• Experience with Power BI, Cognos reporting or similar is desirable
• Critical thinking will be a key attribute in an environment requiring exciting new perspective

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Discretionary bonus
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
• Car allowance
• Pension scheme, life assurance and income protection
• Private medical insurance
• Salary sacrifice electric car scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Employee Discounts
• Cycle to work scheme

To fulfil our purpose of redefining packaging for a changing world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.

Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges. We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria.

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