Finance manager

Description

We are a global leader in food & beverage ingredients. Pioneers at heart, we operate at the forefront of consumer trends to provide food & beverage manufacturers with products and ingredients that will delight their consumers. Making a positive impact on people and planet is all part of the delight. With a deep-rooted presence in the countries where our ingredients are grown, we are closer to farmers, enabling better quality, and more reliable, traceable and transparent supply. Supplying products and ingredients at scale is just the start. We add value through our unique, complementary portfolio of natural, delicious and nutritious products. With our fresh thinking, we help our customers unleash the sensory and functional attributes of cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts and spices so they can create naturally good food & beverage products that meet consumer expectations. And whoever we’re with, whatever we’re doing, we always make it real .

Position Summary

The Strategic Pricing and Finance Manager, reporting to the Head of Food & Beverage Solutions and VP of Finance, will develop and execute pricing strategies for new and existing products in North America. This role aims to increase revenue and margins while ensuring accurate financial controls and forecasts. It involves working with sales, marketing, product, and executive teams to align pricing with financial goals. The Pricing Manager will use data-driven insights to support business performance and lead pricing actions based on margins, capacity, stocking levels, and cost changes.

The ideal candidate should have a background in Financial Planning & Analysis and an interest in business strategy. They must be analytical, comfortable with large data sets, detail-oriented, and able to work with the sales team to develop pricing strategies.

Position Responsibilities:

A. Pricing Strategy & Execution

• Own the inputs to the full P&L build-out, requiring coordination across functions to build out the cost of goods, freight, warehousing, and margin profiles.
• Manage the pricing process, including new product pricing evaluation, setup, pricing period adjustments, and end-to-end leadership of the pricing process.
• Perform sales analysis and reconciliation, margin analysis, and customer pull rates.
• Oversee customer and product profitability.
• Lead the annual review of production standards with plants and executive leadership to ensure cost management, optimization, full fixed and variable absorption, and product/customer margin.

B. Financial Analysis & Forecasting

• Create and maintain the plant's absorption-based production standards, including standard cost estimates, product setup costs, activity rates, creation of work cells, overhead allocations, and other standard cost-related activities.
• Analyze working capital by providing perpetual inventory, monitoring cycle and/or physical inventories, and reporting variances to senior leadership.
• Make cash flow projections for the business and provide cash requirements to the central treasury team.
• Prepare monthly financial closing in SAP and coordinate with the team on manufacturing-related areas.
• Oversee process order variance analysis, data integrity, group-level profit and loss, and spending.
• Manage budgeting, including the annual production plan, flux report, and updates in templates.
• Collaborate with the executive leadership team on forecasting and budgeting.

C. Reporting & Performance Tracking

• Provide guidance and direction to offshore finance support teams on:
• • ERP month-end closing processes (e.g., SAP)
  • Budgeting inputs and updates
  • Preparation of BRM (Business Review Meeting) dockets
  • Forecast submissions and alignment with business units
  • Variance analysis and commentary
  • Payments review and approval workflow
• Reporting, including:
• • Inventory, Yield, and Cost Sheet reports
  • MATS preparation
  • Cost control initiative tracking
  • KPI dashboards for management review meetings
• Direct internal reviews, including weekly, monthly, and annual financial and operational reviews with key stakeholders.
• Review ad hoc analysis and perform other responsibilities as assigned by leadership.

D. Cross-Functional Leadership

• Work closely with Sales and Product teams to ensure pricing strategies are competitive and customer-focused.
• Educate commercial teams on pricing principles and financial impact.
• Present pricing and profitability strategies to executives and stakeholders.

E. Governance & Controls

• Ensure pricing policies align with internal financial controls.
• Maintain documentation for audit and compliance purposes.
• Support commercial contract reviews and pricing approvals.

Position Requirements:

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or a related field is required
• MBA, CMA, or CPA preferred (depending on emphasis—pricing vs. core finance).
• Ongoing education (e.g., financial modeling, data analytics) is a plus.

Experience

• 7–10 years of progressive experience in financial planning & analysis (FP&A), cost accounting, and/or pricing strategy.
• At least 3–5 years in a manufacturing, industrial, or supply chain environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading standard cost development and variance analysis.
• Experience managing or working closely with offshore shared service centers is strongly preferred.
• Prior responsibility for budgeting, forecasting, and reporting cycles.
• Experience with commercial pricing strategy and margin management is highly valued.
• Experience with international operations, transfer pricing, or multi-entity cost consolidation.

Technical Skills

• Strong proficiency in SAP (FI/CO, PP, MM modules), and experience in month-end close and standard costing.
• Advanced skills in Excel, PowerPoint, and data visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau).
• Experience with forecasting and budgeting tools (e.g., SAP BPC, Anaplan, Hyperion).
• Familiarity with pricing tools (Vendavo, PROS, Zilliant) is a plus.
• Solid understanding of GAAP, manufacturing cost structures, and financial controls.
• Hands-on experience with digital finance transformation or ERP upgrades (SAP S/4HANA, etc.) preferred

Key Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to explain financial data to non-financial stakeholders.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities across geographies (especially onshore/offshore coordination).
• Proven communication skills for executive-level presentations (e.g., BRM dockets).
• Cross-functional leadership (partnering with sales, operations, and product teams).
• Process improvement mindset.
• High attention to detail and accountability for financial integrity.

Additional Requirements

• Authorization to work in the U.S.
• Willingness to occasionally travel (5–10%), particularly for plant visits or leadership meetings.
• Flexible working style to support different time zones (e.g., offshore collaboration).

The pay for this role in the state of Illinois ranges from $95,000 - $126,000 and is based on the position responsibilities and geographic location. Actual pay within this range may be determined based on the candidate’s experience, qualifications, and/or other determining factors.

Additional components include but are not limited to:

Bonus: Eligible for a discretionary performance-based bonus as provided by the plan terms and governing documents

Benefits: Employees (and their eligible dependents) covered through affordable access to healthcare, protection, and saving for the future.

Wellbeing: We offer events, resources, and learning opportunities that inspire a physical, social, emotional, and financial wellbeing lifestyle for our employees and their families.

Note: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employee may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.

ofi provides equality of opportunity for all persons with respect to hiring without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation. All employment will be decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us for support at:

[email protected]

At ofi, we celebrate our diversity. Olam Americas Inc. is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.