Director Of Business Performance

GRN Search Group; Donegal; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

GRN Search Group in Ireland is seeking a commercially astute Director of Business Performance to join a high-volume FMCG manufacturing business. This role sits at the intersection of Finance, Commercial, Operations, Supply Chain and Planning.

You will connect customer tenders, pricing, production capacity, inventory and cost to drive profitable business performance, working with the Managing Director and senior leaders across Finance, Sales, Procurement and Operations.

Qualifications

• Senior experience in financially disciplined, operational or business performance roles
• Strong financial capability with understanding of operational drivers behind profitability
• Experience in FMCG, food manufacturing, retail, distribution or high-volume, tight-margin environments
• Functional understanding of P&L performance and profitability levers
• Cross-functional experience across Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, Procurement, Planning and Commercial/Sales
• Analytical capability to interrogate costing models, margins and KPIs
• Understanding of production planning, inventory management, capacity utilization and cost control
• Experience leading Planning, Inventory or related teams

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of the overall business performance framework, connecting commercial opportunity with operational capacity, inventory, cost and financial return
• Work with the Managing Director and senior leaders across Finance, Sales, Procurement and Operations to ensure commercial viability and operational deliverability
• Lead the Planning and Inventory Control function, ensuring customer service requirements are met while maintaining disciplined stock levels and effective production capacity utilization
• Play a strategic role in the annual tender process, assessing opportunities against pricing, volume, production requirements, raw material exposure, capacity and EBITDA targets
• Collaborate with the Head of Sales to determine the optimum mix of customer, product and volume across production capacity
• Understand the financial implications of operational decisions, including BOM performance, labour cost, waste, overhead recovery, inventory and cost per case
• Lead, develop and challenge the Planning and Inventory team with accountability and continuous improvement
• Contribute at senior leadership level to long-term performance, development and strategic direction

Job description

Are you commercially and financially astute, but equally comfortable understanding what is happening across operations, supply chain and planning?

Do you naturally look beyond individual departments to understand how the different components of a business come together to drive performance?

An established, high-volume manufacturing business is seeking a Director of Business Performance to take on a highly influential role sitting at the intersection of Finance, Commercial, Operations, Supply Chain and Planning.

This isn't a traditional Finance, Operations or Commercial Director position.

Instead, you will provide the link between each function- understanding how decisions around customer tenders, pricing, production capacity, inventory, procurement and operational performance ultimately translate into profitable business performance.

The Role

• Take ownership of the overall business performance framework, connecting commercial opportunity with operational capacity, inventory, cost and financial return.
• Work closely with the Managing Director and senior leaders across Finance, Sales, Procurement and Operations to ensure decisions are commercially viable and operationally deliverable.
• Lead the Planning and Inventory Control function, ensuring customer service requirements are achieved while maintaining disciplined stock levels and effective utilisation of production capacity.
• Play a key strategic role in the annual tender process, assessing customer opportunities against pricing, volume, production requirements, raw material exposure, capacity and targeted EBITDA.
• Work alongside the Head of Sales to determine the optimum mix of customer, product and volume across available production capacity.
• Understand the financial implications of operational decisions, including Bill of Material performance, labour cost, waste, overhead recovery, inventory and cost per case.
• Lead, develop and challenge the Planning and Inventory team while fostering accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Contribute at senior leadership level to the longer-term performance, development and strategic direction of the business.

The Person

• Senior experience within a financially disciplined, operational, supply chain, commercial or business performance role.
• Strong financial capability with the ability to understand the operational drivers behind business performance and profitability.
• Experience working within FMCG, food manufacturing, manufacturing, retail, distribution or another high-volume, tight-margin environment.
• A functional understanding of P&L performance and the commercial and operational levers that influence profitability.
• Experience working cross-functionally across areas such as Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, Procurement, Planning and Commercial/Sales.
• Strong analytical capability with the confidence to interrogate costing models, margins, operational performance and business KPIs.
• An understanding of production planning, inventory management, capacity utilisation and cost control.
• Commercial awareness and the ability to contribute meaningfully to major customer negotiations, tenders and pricing decisions.
• A decisive, solutions-focused mindset – someone naturally inclined to understand a problem, interrogate the numbers and find a commercially workable solution.
• Financial literacy combined with subsequent exposure to Operations, Supply Chain or Commercial functions.
• Experience within a business operating with complex customer tenders or annual contract negotiations.
• Exposure to Bill of Materials, standard costing and commodity or currency-sensitive environments.
• Experience leading Planning, Inventory or related operational teams.
• Previous experience operating at, or with the capability to progress into, Director/Board level.
• Finance or accountancy training/qualification would be advantageous, but not essential.

Why Apply?

Few senior positions offer this breadth of exposure.

You won't own the P&L – that responsibility remains with the Finance Director – but you will directly influence many of the components that ultimately determine it.

You'll sit between the people winning the business, the teams buying the materials, the operation producing it and the finance function measuring the outcome.

The business already has established systems, an experienced leadership team and a successful framework in place. This isn't a turnaround role or an opportunity requiring someone to arrive and rebuild the function from scratch.

Instead, you will inherit a position that is performing well, with the additional advantage of working alongside the current incumbent during an extended handover and mentoring period.

(Director of Business Performance, Business Performance Director, Commercial Finance Director, Operational Finance, Commercial Director, Supply Chain Director, Business Performance, Operational Planning, Inventory Control, Financial Planning, P&L, EBITDA, Margin Management, Cost Control, Bill of Materials, BOM, Standard Costing, Tender Management, Commercial Strategy, FMCG, Food Manufacturing, Manufacturing, Production Planning, Capacity Planning, Supply Chain, Procurement, Continuous Improvement, Senior Leadership)