Finance Manager – Floor Care Category

The Finance Manager – Floor Care Category plays a crucial role in collaborating with the FloorCare Category team to deliver comprehensive financial guidance and support, ensuring that category objectives are met. This position entails managing the global Category P&L, providing financial insights, and facilitating informed decision-making throughout product development, commercialization, and operational planning. The Finance Manager will work closely with cross-functional teams, including RDD (Research, Design & Development), operations, and commercial teams, to optimize financial performance and align with long-term strategic goals.

Key Responsibilities:

Financial Strategy & Performance Management

• Collaborate with RDD, Design Managers, Group Marketing, and the Product Costing team to evaluate business cases and guide decisions for new product launches.
• Work alongside the Floor Care Category Leader and team to plan, manage, and enhance the global Category P&L performance, ensuring it aligns with business goals.
• Provide financial insights that support category and market intelligence, ensuring a thorough understanding of the business's financial health.
• Establish and track financial and non-financial performance metrics, ensuring consistency across reporting frameworks.
• Benchmark performance against other categories and markets, offering actionable insights and ensuring adherence to best practices.
• Aid in resource allocation to ensure efficient investment in product development, infrastructure, and operations.
• Collaborate with Brand Building Investment (BBI) teams to assess and optimize ROI on marketing and promotional efforts.
• Assist in preparing for monthly Product Delivery meetings, Executive category reviews, and Board reviews as necessary.

Business & Strategic Planning

• Facilitate the creation of the Category 5-year plan—forecasting future volumes and P&L based on the latest product range plans and business case development.
• Enable the team to outline market portfolio roles within the category and allocate resources to achieve mid- and long-term company objectives.
• Support resource allocation, ensuring efficient investment in product development, infrastructure, and operations.

SSPs / Pricing Governance

• Support pricing, ranging, promotional strategy, and product line optimization decisions by applying a financial perspective to all recommendations.
• Ensure SSPs are approved according to company policies and are properly documented.

Product Lifecycle Management

• Provide financial support throughout product lifecycle phases, including investment appraisals, SKU proliferation, range transitions, and end-of-life strategies.
• Conduct post-investment reviews and milestone governance to ensure accountability and value delivery from product development projects.

Reporting & Analytics

• Utilize global reporting to deliver precise data, KPIs, and analysis for category performance across both financial and non-financial metrics.
• Provide clear insights for market performance benchmarking and category health to support senior leadership decision-making.

Stakeholder Management & Collaboration

• Effectively partner with RDD, operations, and commercial teams to align functional priorities with financial objectives.
• Regularly update and provide financial clarity to senior stakeholders, including Executive and Board reporting.
• Actively contribute to building cross-functional consensus and driving organizational change.

Leadership & Team Development

• Mentor and develop Finance Managers/Analysts supporting the Category, fostering an environment focused on growth that empowers performance and career advancement.
• Collaborate to promote best practices across finance and operational functions.

About You:

• Qualified accountant (e.g., ACA, ACCA, CIMA) with significant post-qualification experience in commercial finance roles.
• Experience within consumer-facing businesses, ideally in premium or technology sectors.
• Demonstrated expertise in strategic financial reporting, forecasting, and P&L management.
• Previous experience working in cross-functional teams, including marketing, operations, and product development.
• Strong analytical skills with a background in delivering actionable insights to influence strategy.
• Ability to simplify complex financial data into clear narratives for non-financial stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of managing and influencing senior stakeholders across functional lines.
• Solid understanding of investment appraisal, demand and capacity planning, and ROI evaluation.

Personal Attributes:

• Strategic thinker, capable of balancing immediate goals with long-term vision.
• Commercially astute, able to propose practical solutions that improve profitability.
• Highly collaborative, with the ability to establish relationships and foster consensus across diverse teams.
• Detail-oriented, committed to delivering reliable and accurate financial outcomes.