Associate Finance Business Partner

Associate Finance Business Partner

Location: Deal, Kent

Business Area: Finance Contract Type: Permanent

Working Hours: Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm

Why join us?

We're constantly evolving, progressing and diversifying. And we want our people to do so too. For everyone to feel empowered, engaged and enabled. To create opportunities to move forward, climb higher and push for more. We believe in fuelling ambition and guiding success. In supporting everyone with talent and drive to own what they do, realise their potential and build a brilliant future for themselves at Bakkavor.

About the role

We're proud to offer you a career with real scope for development. To reward your hard work and ambition as a talented Associate Finance Business Partner with plenty of support and opportunity. Empowering you to drive your own success and create a career you can be proud of too.

In this busy and exciting role, you will support the (Senior) Finance Business Partners with providing insight to the Factory Management and wider Operations teams - to aid decision-making that drives site profitability.

You will become part of the broader Business Finance Team and build a positive working relationship with the Business FP&A Team - to communicate factory trends and cost drivers for input to financial models.

Transactional processing, analysis and adherence to Group controls following SOPs to execute tasks within agreed SLAs and KPIs - will be top of your agenda.

Role Accountabilities

Business Partnering

• Supporting the (Senior) Finance Business Partners in translating complex financial data into clear and actionable business insights
• Fostering collaborative relationships with stakeholders to remain up to date with latest operation activity and priorities
• Working closely with wider business teams to accurately gather data for profit improvement initiatives to track their progress against defined financial targets
• Reviewing and analyse P&L and Tracker information to highlight trends

Forecasting

• Understanding Business trends and cost drivers and ensuring these are effectively communicated to Business FP&A Team for inclusion in 13-week tracker forecasts, quarterly rolling forecasts and 3-year Business plans
• Delivering feedback to the Business FP&A Team members on any forecast data templates and supporting analysis in a timely and accurate manner, for inclusion in financial forecast submissions
• Providing Cost Centre Managers with information and analysis to aid preparation of overhead forecast plans, ensuring they accurately reflect expected inflation

Product Costing & Pricing

• Supporting standard cost reset activities (prepared by the Business FP&A Team) and performing deep dives into data to support any complex pricing decisions
• Contributing to the end-to-end costings process, ensuring timetable and controls are adhered to from a Finance perspective
• Ensuring adherence to agreed financial processes and controls within the costing system (Recipe Professor)
• Supporting on product costing meetings and ensuring all launch and implementation costs are captured, including opportunities and risks associated with operational processes that could impact the financials

Capital Management and Investment Appraisal

• Assisting with preparation of capital invoice additions forecast and capital cash forecast, identifying project slippage and supporting generation of corrective action plans

Communication and Change Management

• Build relationships with key internal stakeholders and effectively communicate escalations
• Work with the Business FP&A Team and Finance Shared Services to communicate related updates, progress, and challenges
• Collaborating closely with peers from the Business FP&A Team and Finance Shared Services to harmonise ways of working and drive process improvements
• Supporting the (Senior) Finance Business Partners to work closely with the wider Operations and Site Excellence teams to identify continuous improvement opportunities and cost reduction plans
• Contributing to projects as required, examples of which range from supporting centralisation projects and IS transformation projects

Control Environment

• Assisting and supporting in all internal & external audit related activities as required
• Ensuring site adherence to Group controls, identifying and challenging gaps and supporting wider ops teams to resolve and implement new and improved processes that align to agreed standards
• Supporting site asset verification activity

About you

Ideally, you will have a strong understanding of accounting concepts and / or will be currently undergoing professional accounting qualification training (AAT/ACA/ACCA/CIMA).

Knowledge of Operational Finance, strong written and verbal communication skills to convey information clearly and concisely, MS Office proficiency, effective time management, diligence and the ability to engage / effectively build relationships with internal and external stakeholders - will be key.

Previous experience of working with Business Intelligence Tools would be highly desirable.

What you'll receive

As an equal opportunity employer, we're committed to providing a safe and rewarding environment for you to thrive in. This is why we work hard to deliver benefits, rewards and wellbeing offerings that are important to you.

You'll enjoy:

• Life Assurance (1 x salary)
• 25 days holiday
• Staff Shop
• Stakeholder Pension Scheme
• MyBargains Discount Platform
• Personal Accident Insurance
• Free Independent Mortgage Advice
• Employee Assistance Programme
• A Range of voluntary benefits (holiday purchase scheme, additional life assurance, dental & hospital cash plans)
• Discounted tutoring for children
• Access to financial learning tools and affordable loans via your salary
• Private Medical Insurance (after 5 years' service)

Plus, a commitment to your wellbeing that includes emotional, physical and financial support services delivered by our fantastic team of wellbeing champions.