Senior Commercial Finance Business Partner in Leeds

At Valeo Foods UK we bring together a family of much-loved UK food brands supported by the scale and ambition of a global investment partner. From Kettle’s bold crunch to Rowse’s natural sweetness, through to Matthew Walker and Barratt Sweets, our portfolio blends heritage, craft and category‑leading innovation. Alongside our branded portfolio, we are also one of the UK’s largest suppliers of private label products, partnering with major retailers to deliver quality and category expertise that meets the needs of millions of households every week. As a business, we’re on a journey of transformation. We’re strengthening our operations, driving quality and investing in our people. It’s an exciting, fast‑moving environment where heritage meets new thinking, and where every colleague contributes to shaping the future of food across the UK. Join us and play your part in building the next chapter of some of Britain’s most loved brands.

Valeo Foods are looking for a Senior Commercial Finance Business Partner to play a pivotal role in shaping commercial decision‑making and driving profitable growth across the business. Partnering closely with Sales and wider operational teams, you’ll turn data into insight, challenge assumptions, and influence strategy at every level. This is a highly visible role, ideal for a commercially minded finance professional who enjoys working with stakeholders, understanding the story behind the numbers, and helping the business make smarter, faster decisions.

What you’ll be responsible for:

• Lead on revenue, pricing, and margin management, ensuring decisions support sustainable profitability.
• Support the NPD process, providing financial evaluation and guidance on innovation proposals.
• Work with the Demand Planning team to test assumptions and translate demand plans into financial outcomes.
• Provide ad‑hoc commercial analysis for the Head of Commercial Finance, Senior Finance Business Partners, Sales Director and NAMs.
• Support the weekly sales process, ensuring clarity on performance drivers.
• Review and challenge the sales forecast, providing commentary, identifying variances, and highlighting risks and opportunities.
• Collaborate with Sales to understand any gaps to budget/forecast and help shape recovery plans.
• Partner with Sales on budgeting and long‑term planning, ensuring alignment with the business’s strategic direction.

Financial Performance & Reporting:

• Review month‑end performance to ensure accuracy and integrity of reported numbers.
• Deliver insightful variance analysis against budget, forecast, and prior periods.
• Support month‑end reporting with clear product margin analysis and trade investment KPI commentary.
• Conduct monthly balance sheet reviews with Sales to ensure accruals are appropriate and year‑end surprises are avoided.

What you’ll bring:

• Studying towards ACCA or CIMA, or already fully qualified.
• Strong understanding of financial analytics, with the ability to present complex issues clearly to non‑finance stakeholders.
• Highly IT‑literate, with experience using ERP systems (including planning modules).
• Excellent report‑building skills, particularly in Excel and PowerPoint.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the confidence to influence, challenge and persuade.
• Ability to manage day‑to‑day issues while also progressing longer‑term projects.
• A structured, systematic approach to problem‑solving.
• A commercial, inquisitive mindset with a willingness to dig into the detail.
• A hands‑on attitude and a commitment to delivering high‑quality output.