Finance Manager - Manufacturing

Finance Manager - Manufacturing
Burford (Shropshire)
55k to 60k

Overview
Additional Travel: to one other office – approximately once per month
My client is seeking an experienced and commercially minded Finance Manager to join its team and play a key role in supporting the financial and operational performance of its operations.
This is an excellent opportunity for a finance professional with strong manufacturing experience to work closely with senior stakeholders and operational teams, providing insight and analysis that directly supports profitability, cost control and continuous improvement.
The Role
As Finance Manager, you will take ownership of financial reporting, business partnering, operational finance, costing, inventory controls, budgeting, forecasting and performance analysis across the business.
Working closely with Production, Procurement, Operations, Sales and Supply Chain teams, you will provide robust financial insight and challenge to help drive improved profitability and operational efficiency.
Key Responsibilities
o Financial Control & Reporting
o Manage the month-end close process and ensure timely and accurate financial reporting.
o Prepare monthly management accounts, KPI reports and Board reporting packs.
o Ensure compliance with accounting standards and company policies.
o Review balance sheet reconciliations and maintain robust financial controls.
o Lead and coordinate internal and external audits.
o Business Partnering
o Partner with Managers and Operations teams to improve profitability and operational performance.
o Challenge operational assumptions and provide meaningful commercial insight.
o Support pricing decisions through detailed margin analysis.
o Analyse customer, product and plant profitability.
o Present financial performance and recommendations to senior management.
Manufacturing Finance & Costing
o Own and maintain costing models.
o Analyse key production variances
o Machine efficiency and spend
o Monitor production KPIs and operational performance.
o Review production losses and identify recovery opportunities.
o Support continuous improvement initiatives across the business.
o Inventory & Supply Chain Finance
o Maintain financial control over inventory, including:
o Lead weekly and monthly stock reconciliations.
o Coordinate counts and annual stocktakes.
o Analyse inventory ageing and slow-moving stock.
o Monitor and review inventory valuation.
Budgeting & Forecasting
o Manage the annual budgeting process.
o Prepare rolling forecasts.
o Develop weekly and monthly operational forecasts.
o Analyse actual performance against budget and forecast.
o Provide scenario modelling and financial analysis to support business decisions.
o Performance Reporting
o Maintain and develop performance dashboards covering key operational and financial metrics
Commercial Analysis
o Analyse raw material purchase prices and trends.
o Review customer profitability.
o Monitor contribution margins.
o Identify and support cost-saving opportunities.
o Compliance & Process Improvement
o Maintain and strengthen internal financial controls.
o Identify opportunities to improve finance processes.
o Support the ongoing development of ERP systems.
o Develop and maintain finance policies and standard operating procedures.
About You
The successful candidate will be an experienced finance professional with a strong background in manufacturing finance and a commercially focused approach.
You will ideally have:
o Significant experience in a manufacturing finance environment.
o Strong knowledge of manufacturing accounting and costing.
o Experience with variance analysis and operational performance reporting.
o Strong inventory accounting experience.
o Experience of budgeting and forecasting.
o Advanced Excel skills.
o The ability to work closely with operational and senior management teams.
o Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
o Excellent communication and business partnering abilities.
Qualifications & Experience
o ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent qualification preferred.
o 5–10+ years' experience in manufacturing finance