Supporting the business is a key part of this role. He / she will be the ‘go to person’ for management and other key personnel in terms of financial support. This will include support to Supply Chain, Sales, HR and New Business Development. The ability to identify critical data and analyse it effectively is an important part of this role. Also important is the evaluation of potential Capital Expenditure in terms of feasibility, return on investment, etc. Additionally, the person will be part of project teams that aim to improve performances and deliver on process improvements and cost saving initiatives. He / she will provide extensive support during the annual budgeting process and will also be extremely involved in the month end close to tight deadlines specifically in variance analysis.

The successful candidate would also work closely with Department Managers to monitor spend and analyse variances to budget or forecast.

• 3 to 5 years post qualification experience within a manufacturing organisation is required.
• Be adept at variance analysis (e.g. PPV / MUV/LUV /COPQ) and fully understand the link between manufacturing operations and costing.
• The person must be a self-starter, be able to work on his / her own initiative, be willing to be immersed in the business, be a very strong communicator and willing to challenge others in order to make a critical contribution to the success of the business. The person will also be required to make decisions on strategy regularly so must have the confidence to make these decisions.
• Part of the role will be to help critically examine pricing structures within the business and make recommendations to protect and improve profitability. He / she will be involved in decisions whether to accept or reject new sales opportunities and will be strong in the area of margin analysis.
• They must have very strong IT skills, both in terms of a thorough understanding of how an ERP system (preferably JD Edwards but experience in SAP, BAAN or Oracle is also acceptable) works in a manufacturing environment and Excel.
• The successful candidate will be a decision maker, will make recommendations and be strong enough to guarantee follow through.
• Reporting in to this new role will be the Cost Accountant so the successful applicant will be expected to mentor, direct and manage the CA in order to maximise their contribution