At a Glance
- Tasks: Manage commercial systems and ensure accurate costing for pricing decisions.
- Company: Join DS Smith, a global leader in sustainable packaging solutions.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, 25 days holiday, and employee discounts.
- Other info: Home-based with travel opportunities and a focus on diversity and inclusion.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a role that drives continuous improvement and innovation.
- Qualifications: Experience in commercial finance or business analysis is essential.
The predicted salary is between 47250 - 57750 £ per year.
DS Smith is seeking a Commercial Systems Manager to join our UK Retail Cluster Commercial team. This is a key role responsible for ensuring the accuracy, integrity, and continuous improvement of the commercial systems that support pricing, margin management, and commercial decision-making.
Working closely with the Head of Finance - Sales & Commercial, Head of Finance - Retail, Site Finance Managers, Procurement, and Commercial teams, you will act as the UK commercial systems expert, ensuring costing models and commercial systems are maintained, accurate, and fit for purpose.
Key Responsibilities
- Cost Model & Systems Management
- Own and maintain all commercial cost models, ensuring accuracy and consistency across the business.
- Partner with Site Finance teams to incorporate changes in cost structures and manufacturing costs.
- Ensure costing methodologies and best practices are standardised across sites.
- Commercial Systems & Reporting
- Manage updates to costing factors and key commercial systems to support pricing and margin decisions.
- Take ownership of monthly and quarterly Navigator reconciliations and investigations.
- Analyse cost variances and work with Finance and Operations teams to resolve data and process issues.
- Support reporting, data integrity, and continuous system improvements.
- Stakeholder Management
- Act as the UK Commercial Systems subject matter expert for CBS, CDM, Navigator, and related systems.
- Collaborate with Procurement, Commercial, Finance, and Operations teams to ensure accurate and timely costing information.
- Represent the UK business within EMEA costing and systems forums.
- Leadership & Continuous Improvement
- Support and develop a shared Systems Apprentice resource.
- Drive process improvements and identify opportunities to enhance commercial systems and reporting.
- Promote best practice and support capability development across the Commercial team.
About YouExperience
- Experience in commercial finance, costing, pricing, commercial systems, or business analysis.
- Experience working within a manufacturing, FMCG, packaging, or multi-site environment is desirable.
- Proven ability to work across functions and influence stakeholders at all levels.
- Previous experience leading projects, processes, or people is advantageous.
Skills & Knowledge
- Strong understanding of costing principles, margin management, and variance analysis.
- Experience using commercial or finance systems, ideally CBS, CDM, Navigator, SAP, or similar ERP platforms.
- Advanced Excel and strong analytical skills.
- Excellent reporting, problem-solving, and process improvement capabilities.
- Highly organised with the ability to manage multiple priorities and stakeholders.
Benefits
- Competitive salary
- 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
- Pension scheme, life assurance and income protection
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Employee Discounts
- Cycle to work scheme
Location: home based with frequent travel to sites
Hours: 37.5 - Monday - Friday
We are DS Smith, together with International Paper, we are a global leader in sustainable packaging solutions and other fibre-based products. We believe a better, more sustainable tomorrow is possible with the right people, who challenge and support one another to enact positive change.
Fair recruitment at DS Smith: To fulfil our purpose of redefining packaging for a changing world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.
Commercial Systems Manager in Solihull employer: DS Smith
DS Smith is an excellent employer, offering a supportive work culture that prioritises safety and employee well-being in the vibrant location of Livingston, Scotland. With opportunities for personal growth and development, alongside competitive benefits such as 25 days holiday and a pension scheme, employees can thrive in a dynamic environment while contributing to meaningful production processes.
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We think you need these skills to ace Commercial Systems Manager in Solihull
Some tips for your application 🫡
Highlight Your Analytical Skills:In the business intelligence field, showcasing your analytical skills is a must. Make sure your CV includes relevant experience with data analysis tools, programming languages like SQL or Python, and any projects where you've interpreted complex data sets to drive business decisions.
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