CD Finance Assistant Manager - KOQB

Unilever; Kuwait; On-site; KWD 15,000 - 20,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading FMCG company in Kuwait seeks an Assistant Finance Manager responsible for Trade Spend management and business partnering across various teams. The ideal candidate should have a Bachelor’s in Finance and 3-5 years in financial roles. Skills in SAP and Power BI are preferred. The role supports financial statements preparation and involves coaching team members. A commitment to diversity and inclusion is part of the company ethos.

Qualifications

• Minimum 3-5 years of financial experience, preferably in FMCG sector.
• Business acumen for manufacturing and distribution businesses.
• Microsoft office basics is mandatory, Advanced level preferred.

Responsibilities

• Be responsible for Trade Spend management and performance analysis.
• Business partnering with channel heads and CSP teams.
• Ensure compliance and tracking of OTC controls.
• Monthly review of customer profitability and variance analysis.

Skills

Good communication and analytical skills

Process design and automation

Presentation Skills

Project management and Teamwork

SAP / Power BI knowledge

Working independently with high levels of integrity and discipline

Education

Bachelor’s degree in finance/accounting

Tools

SAP

Power BI

Job description

About Unilever

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world.

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our inclusive, collaborative, and flexible working environment. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

CD Finance introduction

CD Finance is a business partnering job to CD (customer development) and CSP (customer strategy and planning) teams focusing on Top line planning, Trade spend management, month end closing activities and results analysis, dealing with key partners are the CD country and channel heads, regional sales managers, key account managers, CSP, also working closely with Cash & collection team and financial controllers.

Job purpose

The primary role of CDF assistant manager is to be fully responsible for the end-to-end process of Trade Spend management, performance analysis, claims revision, customer balance reconciliation tracking, and to be fully equipped to support the decision-making process for business target achievement. The geographical scope extends to Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain markets. The job also involves controllership responsibilities for the local joint venture in Kuwait including financial statements preparation, tax and external audit coordination and partnering the JV board of directors in governance matters.

The role also has primary responsibility of coaching and developing three team members at 1D level.

Responsibilities

Business Partnering

• Business partnering with channel heads and CSP teams across all Business groups in driving the business performance.
• Customer profitability reporting and analysis on monthly basis.
• Budgeting and forecasting regular reviews with detailed variance analysis vs actual results.
• Building strong controls on TTS spend to minimize drifts.
• Ensure TTS plans approval and alignment in place with the budget owners.
• Maintain strong relationships with the distributor team. Communicate and coordinate to resolve operational issues, meet Unilever requirements, and identify mutually beneficial opportunities.
• Customer contract review and evaluation of promotional effectiveness.
• Updating Customer value assessment for key customers annually.
• Customer claims tracking ensuring that all claims submitted and processed on time, while any overspend to be actioned as per Unilever policy.
• Customer reconciliation tracking with Cash and collect team ensuring that it gets signed off regularly.

Month End Closing

• TTS actualization to reflect right provisions in P&L and Balance sheet.
• Mix Analysis by customer and pack size in case of Trade spend deviation.
• Ensuring compliance and tracking of OTC controls related to CDF space.
• Aged Provision balance review and tracking.

Joint Venture Controllership

• P2P Support: Resolve issues related to P2P activities, including claims from third-party manufacturing vendors and invoice posting, by coordinating with the Central P2P.
• Fully responsible for JV’s external Audit E2E.
• Support with the Unilever Central SOX Audit.
• Tax Compliance: Support the UniOps Tax team with monthly withholding tax filings, corporate income tax (CIT) filings.
• Treasury Support: Assist the Central Treasury team with various documentations related to Bank and Insurance.

Experiences & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance / accounting is a must.

• Minimum 3-5 years of financial experience or similar positions, preferably in FMCG sector.

• Business acumen for manufacturing and distribution businesses.

• Microsoft office basics is mandatory, Advanced level is preferred.

Skills

• Good communication and analytical skills.
• Process design and automation.
• Presentation Skills.
• Project management and Teamwork.
• SAP / Power BI knowledge.
• Working independently with high levels of integrity and discipline.

Leadership

You are energized by delivering fantastic results. You are an example to others – both your results and your resilience. You are constantly on the lookout for better ways to do things, engaging and collaborating with others along the way.

As an individual you are the one responsible for your own wellbeing and delivering high standards of work. You must also focus on the Consumer and what they need. You are humble and have your head up, looking around to interpret evidence and data smartly, spot issues and opportunities to make things better.

Critical SOL (Standards of Leadership) Behaviors:

• PERSONAL MASTERY: Sets high standards for themselves. Has emotional intelligence to take feedback, manage mood and motivations, and build empathy for others.
• PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: Generates intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed. Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results.
• TALENT CATALYST: Invests in people – coaches individuals and teams to realize their full potential. Creates an inclusive climate, empowering everyone to be at their best.
• PURPOSE & SERVICE: Has humility, understanding that leadership is service to others, inside and outside Unilever.
• CONSUMER LOVE: Invests time inside and outside to understand the needs of consumers.
• BUSINESS ACUMEN: Creates sustainable growth with purpose, engaging different partners across the system for change.

Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicants from all walks of life. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. If you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.