Senior Finance Manager - Commercial Food

Marks and Spencer; City Of London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK retailer is looking for a highly motivated Senior Finance Manager to join their Food Commercial Finance team in London. You will lead a team of three to drive financial performance for Ambient Trading, ensuring the delivery of revenue and profit targets while influencing pricing and supplier negotiations. The ideal candidate will be a qualified accountant with strong commercial acumen, proven leadership skills, and at least 5 years of experience. Competitive salary and benefits included.

Benefits

20% colleague discount on all M&S products

Competitive holiday allowance

Discretionary bonus schemes

Strong pension and life assurance

Tailored induction and training

Exclusive perks and savings

Market-leading family policies

24/7 wellbeing support

One paid volunteer day a year

Qualifications

• At least 5 years' post-qualification experience in finance.
• Proven ability to communicate and influence at senior levels.
• Expertise in budgeting, forecasting, and business case appraisal.

Responsibilities

• Lead financial performance for Ambient Trading.
• Provide insight and challenge using data and analytics.
• Drive commercial planning and governance.

Skills

Qualified accountant

Strong commercial acumen

Leadership experience

Budgeting and forecasting

Business partnering experience

Education

Qualified accountant (CIMA, ACCA, ACA, CA)

Job description

Summary

This is not just any Finance team this is the M&S Food Finance team!

M&S Food is on a mission to deliver exceptional quality, innovation, and value for our customers every day. We're redefining what great food retail looks like, combining trusted sourcing with bold ideas to create products that excite and inspire. Our vision is to lead the market in quality and sustainability, while driving growth through data-driven decisions and customer-focused strategies. This is your opportunity to be part of a brand that's proud of its heritage but focused firmly on shaping the future of food retail.

Fully woven into the DNA of M&S, our Finance team plays a fundamental role in shaping business decisions, delivering targets, analysing performance, managing costs, and ensuring our most vital data is accurate. We add value by helping every area of the business make data-driven decisions and understand what drives commercial performance.

We're looking for a highly motivated and commercially minded Senior Finance Manager to join our Food Commercial Finance team. In this role, you'll lead a team of three and partner with our Ambient Trading teams to deliver the ambitious Food transformation programme, driving revenue and profit to meet business unit targets.

To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected.

Due to high interest, this role may close earlier than advertised. We recommend applying as soon as possible.

What you'll do

Your key accountabilities will include:

• Lead financial performance for Ambient Trading: Take ownership of the P&L, balance sheet, and controls, ensuring delivery of revenue and profit targets while influencing pricing, promotions, and supplier negotiations.
• Provide insight and challenge: Use data and analytics to inform decisions, identify risks and opportunities, and assess strategic initiatives, ensuring shareholder value is at the heart of every decision.
• Drive commercial planning and governance: Oversee budgets, forecasts, and performance reviews; manage robust governance processes around pricing, supplier performance, and compliance with GSCOP obligations.
• Optimise supplier and commodity management: Support Joint Business Plans, track inflation impacts, and work with buying teams and suppliers to ensure competitive pricing and maximise supplier income opportunities.
• Enhance reporting and capability: Collaborate with Business Service Centre and Analytics teams to improve reporting processes, deliver month-end insights, and participate in initiatives to build finance capability across the team.

Who you are

Your skills and experience will include:

• Qualified accountant (CIMA, ACCA, ACA, CA) with at least 5 years' post-qualification experience.
• Strong commercial acumen and experience in business partnering, ideally in retail or FMCG.
• Proven ability to communicate and influence at senior levels, with a collaborative and solution-driven approach.
• Expertise in budgeting, forecasting, business case appraisal, and governance.
• Leadership experience with a track record of developing teams and driving performance.

What's in it for you?

Working at M&S means being part of something bigger - helping to deliver quality, value and service to millions of customers every day. We're inclusive, fast-moving and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.

Here are just a few of the benefits that make working here even more rewarding:

• 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and many third-party brands for you and someone in your household, available once you've completed your probation
• Competitive holiday allowance with the option to buy more
• Discretionary bonus schemes linked to your performance and ours
• Strong pension and life assurance to help plan for the future
• Tailored induction and training to support your development from day one
• Exclusive perks and savings through our M&S Choices portal
• Market-leading family policies, including parental, adoption and neonatal leave
• 24/7 wellbeing support, including virtual GP access and mental health services
• One paid volunteer day a year to support a cause that matters to you

Everyone's welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We're disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We're transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.