Plant Financial Controller

Eaton Syalon Ltd; Warrington; Hybrid; GBP 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Eaton Syalon Ltd in Warrington, operating in a global automotive manufacturing environment, seeks an experienced Plant Financial Controller on a hybrid basis (3 days on site).

The role reports to the Plant Director with a dotted line to the UK Finance & IT Director and sits on the Plant Management Team, shaping profitability and cost control across the site.

Qualifications

• Fully qualified accountant (CIMA or ACCA).
• Knowledge of SAP architecture; proficient SAP user.
• Strong interpersonal and multi-level collaboration skills.
• Experience in fast-paced manufacturing, automotive preferred.
• Commercial awareness and ability to work under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Lead plant financial control and budgeting processes.
• Analyse profitability and cost performance of the site.
• Coordinate accounting activities and ensure statutory compliance.
• Oversee cost accounting, cost price setting, and investment appraisal.
• Manage IT systems and information budgets.
• Develop the finance team and manage workload.
• Partner with operations and senior management to improve profitability.

Skills

Fully qualified accountant

Strong interpersonal skills

Strong commercial awareness

Work under pressure

Team oriented

Experience in manufacturing finance

Education

CIMA/ACCA qualification

Tools

SAP

Job description

Warrington - Hybrid (3 days per week at site)

Global Automotive Manufacturing Business

Eaton Syalon is partnering with a global automotive manufacturing business to recruit an experienced Plant Financial Controller for a key UK manufacturing facility in Warrington.

Reporting directly to the Plant Director, with a functional reporting line into the UK Finance & IT Director, this is a senior and highly visible finance position sitting as part of the Plant Management Team.

The successful individual will play a critical role in supporting the operational and financial performance of the site, providing the Plant Director and wider leadership team with the insight, analysis and challenge required to manage profitability, control costs and deliver against budget.

This is a broad role combining financial control, manufacturing finance, cost controlling, investment appraisal, systems, continuous improvement and team leadership.

The successful candidate will need to be comfortable operating close to the manufacturing operation, partnering with colleagues across Finance, Operations, Logistics, Engineering and senior management while maintaining strong financial control across the site.

Mission

• Ensures and optimise plant management and Finance activities
• Tracks and analysis of site’s profitability as part of budget targets and provides to the Plant Management all details to manage the site.

Main Accountabilities

General

• Assists the Plant Management in area of responsibility
• Is a member of the Plant Management and take part in decisions about the site
• Participates in the introduction of progress approach through the set-up of tools and their follow up
• Participates in development of the site’s “Progress Plan” and bring forward proposals on actions in area of responsibility
• ISO50001 accreditation – Ensure respect of energy procedures and operational requirement, participate in energy projects and coordinate energy training.
• Demonstrate leadership as it applies to areas of responsibility regarding the energy performance.

Control Management

• Define strategy and budget with all the plant’s departments in conjunction with the BU Finance department and site management
• Ensures budget’s preparation
• Validates the budget with plant director
• Achieves follow-up and analyses the budget and manage associated action plans
• Ensure reporting towards BU
• Month end closing
• Risks and opportunities
• Follows investments in compliance with divisions and group’s norms (launching, profitability calculation…)
• In case of non-respect of the plant’s result beside budget’s results, analyses causes, suggests and follows-up action plans with the heads concerned.
• Is accountable, with the logistics’ manager of inventory politics define on the site
• Is empowered to validate inventory gaps in the information system
• As part of year-end accounts’ audit, collects and answers to Auditors questions.

Cost Controlling

• Supervises productivity action plans (monitoring discard rates, updating ranges, nomenclatures…) to assure accounting statements and exact cost of production adequacy
• Participates to the plant cost price preparation and hourly rate calculation; check its consistency on connection with the cost plant controller and the technical department
• As part of progress strategy, supervises the analysis of projects’ financial issues and recommendations of works’ priorities areas.
• Manages studies about incidence and projects and plant’s equipment profitability. Manages studies about the analysis of return to investment’s rate.

Accounting

• Coordinates accounting team to guarantee correct account-keeping and site’s obligations under the legislation in force.
• Is responsible in conjunction with the BU accounting department of the site’s accounting proper function
• Supervises accounting records’ archiving under accounting and taxes legislation

Information System

• Supervises the site’s information system operation and optimization
• Proposes the IT budget and is responsible of it
• Ensures the maintenance processing of the computer park and exploitation’s contracts

Team Management

• Participates to his staff development and recruitment
• Sets targets, assists and plans the workload of his team
• Plans his team’s needs in training, positions and career’s development
• Ensures of his team confidentiality.

Candidate Profile

• Fully qualified accountant (CIMA, ACCA)
• Knowledge of the architecture of SAP and a proficient key user essential
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to work with colleagues at all levels and within different functions in a multi-national environment
• Strong commercial awareness and business acumen
• Able to work under pressure with a strong desire to achieve aggressive targets within
• A strong work ethic and team orientation
• Significant experience within a fast-paced, complex manufacturing environment essential (automotive advantageous)

This represents an excellent opportunity for an experienced manufacturing finance professional who enjoys combining strong financial control with genuine operational involvement.

The successful individual will be expected to understand what is happening on the plant floor, translate operational performance into meaningful financial insight and work alongside the Plant Director and wider management team to identify opportunities to improve profitability and performance.

Automotive experience would be advantageous, although candidates from similarly complex, fast-paced manufacturing environments will also be considered.

SAP experience is a particularly important element of the brief, with the successful individual expected to operate as a confident and knowledgeable key user.