Director of Commercial Finance

About RS Group

Across the industrial design, manufacturing and maintenance worlds, we’re the digital destination for product and service solutions to help our customers with the maintenance, repair and operation of their businesses. We provide global access to an unrivalled range of over 750,000 stocked industrial products. Each day our team of experts deliver solutions to resolve our customer’s challenges across design, procurement, inventory and maintenance. We consistently strive to deliver the best possible service to all of our customers and challenge ourselves to provide a seamless procurement experience.

We are one team. We deliver brilliantly. We do the right thing. We make every day better. These are our values. They unite our c.9,000 global colleagues and differentiate us from our competition. They are a mix of how we work today and how we must step up for the future. Most importantly, it is one set of values shaped by our people, for our people.

Together, we can make great things happen. Aim for amazing and beyond.

About the Role

Role Purpose

We are seeking a senior skilled, experienced Finance Director to join our organization.  In this position, you will play a key role with Senior Leaders across the Group to achieve strategic goals through providing support, challenge and world-class data driven insight to ultimately drive the profitable growth of the company. 

As we move towards ‘Finance of the Future’ the successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the value-add finance can bring beyond the numbers. You will investigate innovative ways to improve our insight capabilities and business partner across all functions to assess internal and external trends and market opportunities on which we may capitalize. 

The successful candidate will demonstrate strong business partnering, communication skills and commercial acumen.  This is not just a ‘finance person’. Be prepared to step into many lanes!

Responsibilities

• Partner with the sales, marketing, supply chain and value-added services and solutions teams to provide financial insights and support the implementation of strategic initiatives that support the achievement of business objectives and profitable growth.
• Embed into the different functional areas as a true financial business partner providing data driven recommendations and insights to support business growth and operational improvements.
• Understand the big picture while managing the day-to-day financial details
• Full understanding across all financial statements and involvement in the forecasting and budgeting process end to end.
• Work with project owners on Investment Proposals from inception to business case approval and post-implementation tracking. Acute ability to assess risk and returns
• Drive and manage operational KPIs to monitor business performance and implications for financial outcomes
• Utilizing business data, identify trends and performance opportunities that can be exploited across the commercial teams
• Lead complex financial analysis to drive strategic insights, innovation, and business growth.
• Establish and oversee a comprehensive risk management framework for areas of responsibility, including the identification, analysis, mitigation and reporting of financial risks.
• Direct and regularly present potential opportunities, scenarios, and possible outcomes to the management team; the commercial conscience.
• Lead transformation efforts and change management within areas of responsibility to drive continuous improvement and adapt to market dynamics.
• Act as a thought leader in the industry, keeping abreast of market trends, competitor strategies, emerging technologies and new practices.
• Lead and manage financial modelling and forecasting to assess the progress with respect to initiatives, measure outcomes and success rates and identify opportunities for optimization and cost efficiency

Organisation Chart & People Responsibility

• Reports to Senior Director of Commercial Finance
• Direct line management: Initially none, although will act as a role model, coach and mentor for other members of the FP&A team

Key Relationships

Executive Leadership and Senior Management population in the Americas | FP&A Team Shared Business Services | Group | Finance business partners across the RS Group| Data and Information Services teams  

Candidate Requirements

Essential:

• 10+ years’ experience in working for multi-national companies
• CPA qualified and/or MBA
• Proven agility to adapt to new environments, adopt new best practices and implement change
• Aptitude in influencing, driving and delivery of financial results through effective, clear and concise communication
• Demonstrable examples of finding meaningful insights from data and translating this into data-driven solutions
• Highly skilled in building strong external and internal strategic relationships across all levels, up to and including executive leadership, to influence and drive change
• Experience of partnering Senior Management teams with forward thinking ambition for growth
• Adept at looking cross functionally, weighing competing ideas and priorities vs. the needs of customers to drive the business forward
• Experience in both shorter-term tactical planning and longer-term strategic planning
• Proactive, with demonstrable creative and critical thinking, with examples of innovative insight
• Strong financial modelling, analysis, and forecasting skills, with the ability to translate complex financial data into actionable insights and recommendation
• Proficiency in financial software and tools (e.g., One-Stream, Power BI, Excel, SAP, Snowflake)

Qualifications and Skills:

• High energy and the right mentality to drive change and collaborate
• Culturally aware and confident in working within a diverse finance team
• Strong professional impact – credibility and integrity are key.  Maintains a reputation for high standards of business conduct
• Ability to engage and work effectively with people at all levels of the organisation
• Strong relationships management, in particular developing solid internal relationships
• Treat fellow colleagues with respect and develop workplace relationships built on a strong foundation of collaboration and trust
• Resilient and robust – the intellect and strength of character to deal with a demanding leadership team and stakeholder group
• Challenge the status quo by offering alternative perspectives and innovative solutions in an appropriately framed way
• Display listening and questioning skills that enable you to ascertain the real cause of issues and capability to address them with professionalism and pragmatism
• Understand how your role and team fit into the wider organisation and strategy and how you contribute
• Exhibit strong stakeholder management skills to ensure that expectations are clearly set, and outcomes are delivered to expectations
• Make effective decisions using judgement, evidence and expert knowledge to provide responsive solutions in a timely manner

Equal Employment Opportunity

RS Americas is an equal opportunity employer and maintains policies and practices that are designed to prevent and prohibit unlawful discrimination against any qualified employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, military/veteran status, disability, genetic information, citizenship status, or any other unlawful classification to the extent protected by law. This policy of non-discrimination applies to all employment practices, including hiring, compensation, benefits, promotion, training and termination. Employees who engage in unlawful discrimination will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

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