Commercial Finance Manager in London

Want to help us bring happiness to the world? Want to join an ambitious and fast growing global biscuits and confectionery business investing heavily in iconic global brands, infrastructure and people? Then this is the place for you.

As proud bakers and chocolatiers and custodians of iconic global brands, we don’t compromise on the quality of ingredients in our products or on the people we hire. We are looking for entrepreneurial spirits who share our passion for bringing happiness to our consumers and who embody our Winning Traits.

To succeed at pladis you need to be purpose-led, resilient and positive because we expect pace and agility, we insist on collaboration and demand accountability. If that is your thing, then pladis offers global ambition, a clear Vision and roadmap for success, challenge, and unrivalled opportunities to learn and make an impact.

Why join our team?

pladis was established in June 2016 and brings together the much loved, global brands of Godiva, McVitie’s, Ulker, and DeMet’s under one pladis umbrella, to form a global giant in biscuits, chocolate, and confectionary. The UK & I pladis region employs 5,000 people across 13 locations in the UK & return on investment (nine manufacturing / distribution sites and four office locations), and is an anchor market for the business.

What will this role achieve?

The UK & I business has ambitious growth plans, and this role sits within the Commercial Finance team, acting as a strategic finance business partner to the Customer Finance teams. The role strengthens decision‐making, governance and value creation across customer strategies and investments by embedding strong planning, performance management and investment disciplines. Through leading annual planning, monthly performance cycles and risk & opportunity reviews, the role ensures delivery of high‐quality financial insight, rigorous financial control and robust evaluation of customer investment decisions, while supporting the Customer Finance teams in developing a deeper understanding of consumer and trade dynamics to enable more effective customer strategies and improved business outcomes.

What will be your key deliverables?

• Lead the development of Joint Business Plans translating customer strategy into robust, value‐focused financial plans that link investment levels to sustainable growth outcomes.
• Partner with customer teams on Annual Planning and AOP development, shaping customer financial plans, investment choices and volume assumptions to support delivery of annual targets.
• Provide end‐to‐end financial performance leadership for assigned customer areas, analysing results from volume through to profitability, identifying key risks and opportunities, and recommending corrective or growth‐driving actions.
• Own the financial control environment for business‐partnered customer teams, ensuring strong governance across pricing, trade investment and customer terms, with disciplined balance sheet management.
• Ensure financial accuracy, compliance and rigour, including prevention of pricing claims and proactive management of unsolicited deductions in partnership with central finance teams.
• Partner with Customer Leads to deliver the monthly financial cycle, providing clear insight into performance versus last cycle, AOP and prior year, and explaining key performance drivers.
• Lead the tracking and review of Risks & Opportunities, ensuring transparency, timely escalation and clear action plans to protect delivery.
• Work with customer teams to identify, evaluate and prioritise in‐year growth opportunities, supporting commercial decision‐making with robust financial insight.

What do you need for this role?

• Proven experience in FMCG in Customer/ commercial Finance.
• A passion for business performance management & analytics.
• A strong collaborator and communicator.
• Ability to influence and work collaboratively across the organisation.
• Ability to work optimally in an ambiguous and changing role and able to drive agenda forward.
• Self-confidence and skill to challenge the Customer team.
• Strong financial and commercial competence built over a 5-year minimum career.
• Advanced MS Excel, PPT and the ability to turn raw data into powerful insights.
• A qualified accountant (ACCA/ACA/CIMA).

OUR WINNING TRAITS AND BEHAVIOURS

• Purpose-Led - Energised by our promise to deliver happiness to the world with every bite.
• Agile - Ever evolving, never satisfied and never standing still.
• Collaborative - Willing to work with others for mutual success.
• Resilient - Quick to adapt to change, fast learner and persistent in the face of setbacks.
• Positive - Self-motivated, optimistic, adventurous, and inspiring.

Diversity and inclusion is central to everything we do and is reflected across our business. pladis brings together brands and people from around the world – and this diversity is our great strength.

We’re an equal opportunities employer and believe in encouraging an inclusive environment where we celebrate diversity of thinking and respect everyone’s distinctive qualities and perspectives.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform key job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

pladis is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to hiring a diverse workforce. All openings will be filled based on qualifications without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, age, religion or any other classification protected by law.

We operate a strict Preferred Supplier List. If you are a recruitment agency and wish to submit candidate to be considered for this vacancy, you must have agreed to, and signed, our terms of business. We will not accept CVs from any other sources other than those currently on our PSL. We will not pay a fee for any candidate that has not been represented by a provider on our PSL.