Finance Manager

James Walker; Glenwood (IL); On-site; USD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Job summary

A global manufacturing organization is seeking a Finance Manager in Glenwood, Illinois, to lead their North America finance team. The ideal candidate will be responsible for financial strategy, team development, and ensuring compliance with financial regulations. This position requires strong communication skills and prior experience in a finance department of a manufacturing company. The role offers full-time employment with paid time off.

Qualifications

• Good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work within strict deadlines while maintaining accuracy.
• Current/prior experience in a finance department of a manufacturing company.

Responsibilities

• Lead the North America finance team.
• Provide financial leadership and support for commercial objectives.
• Drive financial performance and monitor KPIs.

Skills

Communication skills

Team player

Financial strategy

Proactivity

Education

Professional accounting qualification

Tools

ERP systems

Tableau

Excel

Job description

Join to apply for the Finance Manager role at James Walker.

James Walker is a privately owned global manufacturing organization supplying a vast range of high performance fluid sealing products and associated knowledge-based services across virtually every industry sector. With state‑of‑the‑art expertise in materials technology, precision machining, and precision engineering.

Your Role

We are looking for a driven and innovative Finance Manager to lead the North America finance team. If you thrive on financial strategy, problem‑solving, team development and delivering results, this could be the perfect opportunity for you.

Key Responsibilities

• Member of the management team.
• Provide finance leadership, support and challenge on strategic and commercial objectives, initiatives and projects.
• Input to business cases, e.g. capex proposals, premises move etc.
• Lead finance input to major strategic projects, e.g. inventory reduction initiatives, sales incentive scheme, systems and process changes.
• Maintain accurate costings, support costing analysis and management of sales margin.
• Monitor KPIs and subsequently propose/initiate actions to achieve corporate goals.
• Drive financial performance of the business.

People

• Direct line manager of Finance team.
• Set direct reports objectives / goals and carry out performance appraisals. Support direct reports training and development.
• Provide leadership, oversight, mentoring and guidance to direct reports, and staff in general.
• Contribution and participation in the wider JW global finance function team.

Transactional Processing, Accounting, Tax, Treasury & Insurance

• Responsible for accounts payable, inventory processing, accounts receivable and credit control, banking, payroll, expenses and all other transactional processing.
• Balance sheet reconciliations.
• Cash flow management.
• Hedging policy.
• Tax planning and compliance.
• Transfer pricing, BEPS compliance and documentation.
• Completion of annual insurance renewal questionnaire & arrangement of local insurance.
• Financial data owner in the company.

Processes and Controls

• Review processes and internal controls to ensure good governance, efficiency & consistency of procedures, including contracts management processes.
• Maintain company Delegation of Authority and ensure compliance with JW Delegation of Authority.
• Lead introduction of new ERP, if required.
• Support and participation in Internal Audits.

Budgeting and Forecasting

• Lead budgeting and quarterly forecasting. Including preparation of presentation for Annual budget review meeting.
• Process expert for Forecasting and Budgeting (FAB) software tool.

Reporting

• Timely, accurate and consistent reporting to James Walker Group (JWG), using the JWG consolidation software (CPM) in line with the JWG timetable (sales & orders, cash management, management accounts, budget, forecasts & statutory accounts).
• Sustainability reporting (energy use, waste, water, travel etc)
• Review and ownership of Tableau BI reporting. Drive use of Tableau to support commercial understanding and decision making.
• Statutory financial statements and tax reporting. Primary point of contact with external auditors and tax advisors.
• Pension oversight (Defined Benefit and 401k schemes)
• Preparation of Annual Review Document and participation in Annual Review Meeting.

IT

• Support JW’s global IT team where required in relation to ERP upgrades and data.

About You

• Good communication, inter‑personal, management and influencing skills working within a complex matrix organization.
• Team player.
• Ability to be proactive rather than reactive.
• IT literate (familiarity with ERP systems; Excel; PowerPoint).
• Current/prior experience in a finance dept of a manufacturing company with ERP.
• Ability to work within strict deadlines whilst maintaining accuracy.
• Good communication, inter‑personal and leadership skills.

Preferred Experience

• Previous experience of costing.
• IT literate (Tableau; Infor CSI/Syteline; sales forecasting tool).
• Current/prior experience in a finance dept of a manufacturing company with ERP systems.
• Experience of working within a Group of companies is advantageous.
• Conversant with local GAAP.

Qualifications

Essential Qualifications

• Holds a professional accounting qualification.

Job Type: Full-time

Paid time off.

Application End Date: 14/12/2025