Finance Director - EMEA Finance Operations in Leeds

We have an exciting and new opportunity within our diverse EMEA Finance Team, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. We are recruiting a Finance Director to lead our EMEA Finance Team, reporting into the Farnell Global CFO, passionate about financial control & governance, able to manage and lead from the front, work collaboratively to build strong relationships and streamline ways of working to support the needs of the business.

Our successful candidate will have a strong technical background in Finance and be looking for a leadership role responsible for all our EMEA finance operations including external reporting, management accounting, credit management, accounts receivable and accounts payable functions (55+ employees). You will be instrumental to the success of the operations in EMEA, therefore we are looking for a creative, results oriented and solution focused individual. Passionate about improving and embedding new ways of working to ensure all financial and administrative functions are operating effectively and compliantly through leadership of the internal UK based team of senior professionals and driving the services of the BPO provider, Statutory and Tax Outsourcers.

This is a new role in an ever changing, fast paced and dynamic environment. Our diverse team pride themselves on providing excellent service to both internal and external stakeholders whilst being able to support, develop and coach each other. We work hard and we celebrate our successes!

Key Requirements

• Significant finance experience predominately in management roles, strong leadership, communication and interpersonal skills
• Manage, mentor, and develop a finance team, promoting a high-performance culture and continuous professional development
• Lead the day-to-day core finance operations including month-end, AP/AR, and controls
• Strong technical background – familiarity with European accounting, tax and reporting requirements
• Experience in managing Internal, Group and External audits
• Experience working collaboratively with other business stakeholders to strengthen SOX controls
• Experience in working with and managing third party BPO/Outsource service providers
• Proven experience in stakeholder management, and working through change and transformational activities to implement standardised processes and controls
• Proven experience in managing performance against established benchmarks and targets
• Proven experience and knowledge of business and support functions
• Strong understanding of credit risk management
• Qualified Accountant ideally with Big 4 audit background

To give an idea of the nature and level of work being performed, below is an overview, this is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties and can be discussed in more detail at interview stage.

• Integral part of the Finance leadership team reporting into the Farnell Global CFO
• Enhancing internal controls and SOX owner for the EMEA entities
• Owner of EMEA entities statutory reporting ensuring accuracy and delivery on time, according to relevant accounting principles and lead liaison with auditors
• Providing excellent financial risk management including oversight of Balance Sheet and P&L
• Continue to shape and transform finance activities between third party outsourcing and insourcing, driving EMEA process standardisation and aligning to global best practice
• Proactively improve working capital performance metrics, reporting and analysis based on the direction and needs of the organization
• Leadership of our internal European finance operations team
• Collaborate with parent company Tax and Treasury Teams
• Transfer pricing analysis coordination amongst all parties
• UK Pension Scheme buy out finance lead

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills.

Avnet is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.