Senior Finance Manager Buying and Merchandising 12 Month Fixed Term Contract

Job Introduction

Are you looking for a new challenge that gives you the chance to get creative and use your finance leadership experience? Looking for a company that wants to help further your career in finance as well as provide you with an exciting, inspiring and fun place to work? 

If the answer to all of these questions is ‘yes’ then you’re just the kind of person we’re looking for!

Role Responsibility

Please note this position is a 12 month fixed term contract.

The purpose of this role is to form the nucleus of the Finance Team that supports the Buying and Merchandising and Property Teams. With the support of their team, this naturally curious individual will deliver an end to end financial service spanning planning, commercial analysis and management accounts. Their objective is to provide clear financial information to their business partners, supplemented with the relevant commercial insight that drives appropriate actions within the business. 

The London Finance structure contains two distinct business partnering teams and a dedicated Financial Planning and Analysis team. Each business partnering team is headed up by a Head of Finance who will develop a "one stop shop" for the financial needs of each of the key Executive stakeholders. 

This particular role will sit within the Buying and Merchandising, Masterplan and Property, Stores and Restaurants Finance Team, reporting into the Head of Finance. The role will partner the key stakeholders across the Buying and Merchandising and Property Teams and will require an articulate and confident individual who is able to facilitate business decisions around sales, margin and stock, providing insight and recommendations. The individual will also work with both the Property and Investment Teams as they will be a key player in decision making relating to investments in our physical stores. The role requires a curious individual who is willing to both support and challenge at all levels, including those at the Executive level. In order to provide the correct level of support to the business, this position will lead a team of five, including two direct reports who the individual is responsible for developing and supporting in all aspects of their roles.

This role is responsible for ensuring that clear, accurate, timely, reporting and analysis is delivered to their business partners to support robust planning, excellent cost control and profit driving commercial decision making and investments. The role is also responsible for leading and supporting their business partners through the budgeting and forecasting process of sales, gross margin, property costs and the capital investment portfolio.

In conjunction with ad-hoc decision making, the role is responsible for ensuring production of management accounts for sales down to gross profit and property costs. This will include a clear understanding of performance and the ability to provide insight on historic performance, highlighting risk and opportunities going forward. The role is also responsible for ensuring that all balance sheets are completed each period end.

As Senior Finance Manager - Buying & Merchandising you will:

• Support the Merchandising Team in understanding and managing the stock and margin position of both seasonal and continuity stock.
• Alongside Merchandising, be an active participant in the open to buy process, challenging the proposals where appropriate and ensuring that the plan is in line with budgets/5 year plan.
• Be responsible understanding performance of key events, including Team Member Events, Designer Preview, Sale and Christmas Comes Early.
• Prepare business cases and complete post investment reviews, considering the wider implications on the business outside of their immediate area of expertise.
• Oversee the production of the management accounts, specifically focusing on sales, gross profit and property costs – with robust variance analysis to enable relevant questioning of potential risks and opportunities.
• Review all balance sheets that are prepared by the team, ensuring that actions / balances are understood and dealt with in an appropriate manner.
• Be responsible for delivering the sales, gross profit, central Buying and Merchandising costs, Property and Masterplan Investment budget/forecast and 5 year plan.
• Be familiar with the relevant KPIs of their business area, financial and non-financial and how these impact financial results.
• Identify and develop appropriate and timely analysis to deliver further insight to their business partners, thus enabling them to manage their areas profitably.
• Complete commercial analysis of various cost / benefit scenarios considering and suggesting the opportunities for improved productivity.
• Develop meaningful benchmark cost KPIs for the different investments to allow better comparison of costings.
• Oversee the management of the Capital Approval process across Masterplan, to ensure effective meetings take place, approvals are sought and bringing clarity to how investments fit within budget, 5YP, and original investment views.
• Oversee the Consolidated Capital Investment Reporting, and detailed reporting on Masterplan Investments.
• Business partnering with property team during project life cycles. Provide clarity and insight to the overall financials of the programme of works, by store by floor by tranche of work. This will be from detailed excel schedules of information through to Exec suitable slides of key information.
• Oversee the review of the Fixed Assets and WIP on investments, supporting Capital Finance as required
• Be able to manage and develop their team, including two direct reports.
• Build effective working relationships with stakeholders across the business.
• To represent the finance community in line with the Selfridges values and embed into the teams ways of working
• To be seen as a key leader and role model within the finance community
• Understand and support the delivery of the Selfridges Strategy and initiatives
• To contribute towards the creation and delivery of the Finance People Plan

The Ideal Candidate

Experience

• Held a number of finance roles across various areas of a business
• At least 4 years PQE
• Managed a team
• Sound business knowledge, preferably retail

Technical Skills

• Qualified - CIMA/ACCA/ICAEW or international equivalent

Personal Attributes/ Behavioural Skills

• Curious, analytical and numerate
• Strong customer orientation – passionate about setting and delivering exceptional standards of service
• Clear and confident questioning style, with the ability to influence customers
• Competently applies their technical qualification and ethics to the situations at hand, seeking out assistance where needed
• A change mindset, happy in an environment of continuous review and improvement
• Good verbal and written presentation skills, able to adapt their style to the audience
• Acts with authenticity, honesty and integrity
• Works effectively and collaboratively cross functionally
• Flexible in work style able to reprioritise effectively according to the changing demands of the business

This job is a brilliant opportunity to join a close-knit team who are incredibly passionate. If you’re looking to come into a new role and make a real impact, then this will be perfect for you.

Selfridges