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Commercial Finance Lead
The Bridges, Balliol Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE12 8EW
As Commercial Finance Lead at Advanced, you will be instrumental in driving data-led decision making across the business by delivering insightful analysis of revenue, margins, inventory, working capital and operational performance.
Working closely with the Finance Director, Sales, Products, Operations and Supply Chain, you will transform financial and operational data into actionable business insight. You will play a key role in forecasting, budgeting, pricing analysis, inventory optimisation and strategic planning, helping the business improve profitability, cash generation and sustainable growth.
About the job:
Key Responsibilities
Financial Planning & Analysis
- Collaborate with key stakeholders to prepare accurate budgets, forecasts and financial plans.
- Develop robust financial models and “what-if” scenarios to support decision making and strategic planning.
- Support monthly forecasting of revenue, gross margin, operating expenditure and working capital.
- Perform sensitivity analysis to identify financial risks and opportunities.
- Support annual budget preparation, quarterly reforecasts and long-range planning activities.
Revenue, Margin and Commercial Analysis
- Deliver detailed analysis of revenue, gross margin and profitability by customer, product, region and channel.
- Partner with Sales and Commercial teams to provide pricing analysis and support commercial decision making.
- Evaluate the impact of component costs, labour costs and inflation on profitability.
- Identify margin leakage, underperforming products and profitability improvement opportunities.
- Provide clear recommendations to support revenue growth and margin enhancement initiatives.
Inventory & Working Capital Performance
- Analyse inventory levels, inventory turns, ageing, excess and obsolete stock.
- Monitor and report on working capital performance, highlighting risks and opportunities.
- Partner with Supply Chain and Operations teams to improve inventory management and cash conversion.
- Support stock valuation processes and provide financial challenge and insight around inventory decisions.
Operational & Manufacturing Finance
- Analyse manufacturing performance, operational costs and key production metrics.
- Support product costing, standard costing and cost structure reviews. Investigate manufacturing variances and identify opportunities for efficiency improvements.
- Partner with Operations to understand cost drivers and support continuous improvement initiatives.
- Ensure product costing information remains accurate and supports informed decision making.
Business Partnering
- Build strong relationships across Finance, Sales, Operations, Product and Supply Chain.
- Provide financial insight and challenge to support operational and commercial decisions.
- Communicate complex financial information clearly to non-finance stakeholders.
- Support departmental leaders in understanding business performance, trends and opportunities.
Management Reporting & Business Intelligence
- Develop and maintain reporting dashboards using Power BI, Excel and ERP systems.
- Drive improvements in reporting automation, data quality and management information.
- Produce insightful monthly performance reports and KPI dashboards. Support the continued development and utilisation of Epicor and other business systems.
- Leverage emerging technologies including AI and automation to improve reporting efficiency and business insight.
Strategic Projects & Decision Support
- Support business cases, investment appraisals and strategic initiatives.
- Provide analysis to support new product introductions and growth opportunities.
- Contribute to acquisition, integration and other business transformation projects where required. Prepare analysis and presentations for senior leadership and Board reporting.
- Identify commercial, operational and financial improvement opportunities across the business.
Financial Control & Governance
- Support month-end and year-end close activities relating to revenue, inventory and cost of sales.
- Assist with audit requirements, reconciliations and financial reviews.
- Ensure integrity of financial and operational data used within forecasting and reporting processes.
- Maintain robust controls and governance around product costing and inventory valuation.
About you:
Skills & Experience
Essential
- Qualified or part-qualified ACA, ACCA or CIMA. Experience in FP&A, commercial finance, financial analysis or management accounting.
- Strong financial modelling and forecasting capability.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
- Experience analysing revenue, margin and cost performance.
- Strong analytical mindset with the ability to convert data into actionable business insight.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Ability to operate independently whilst working collaboratively across a wider team.
- Strong commercial awareness and business acumen.
Desirable
- Manufacturing, engineering or electronics industry experience.
- Experience of inventory, costing and working capital analysis.
- Power BI reporting and dashboard development.
- Epicor or other ERP system experience.
- Experience supporting pricing decisions and profitability analysis.
- Knowledge of data modelling, Power Query, SQL or DAX.
- Experience of working within a growing or private equity-backed business.
- Interest in AI, automation and emerging technologies.
Personal Attributes
- Curious, commercially minded and highly analytical.
- Proactive problem solver who challenges assumptions constructively.
- Strong attention to detail with a focus on accuracy.
- Ability to identify trends, risks and opportunities before they impact performance.
- Comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment with competing priorities.
- Strong collaborator who builds relationships across all levels of the organisation.
- Continuous improvement mindset with a passion for leveraging data and technology.
What we offer:
At Advanced, people are at the heart of our success. We’re committed to building an inclusive workforce and creating an environment where everyone feels valued and respected. To support our people, we offer a comprehensive range of rewards and benefits, including:
- Discretionary company bonus
- Enhanced contributory pension scheme
- Life Assurance and Income Protection
- Halma shares
- Flexible working policy
- Holiday buy and sell scheme
- 14 weeks parental leave
- Paid volunteering day
- Simplyhealth reimbursement scheme
- YuLife wellbeing app
- Employee Assistance Programme and free counselling service
- 24/7 access to GP services
- Cycle to Work Scheme
- EV charging points
- Simply Rewards discount scheme
Apply:
If you’re excited by this opportunity, we’d love to hear from you!
We look forward to hearing from you
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