Director, Trade Finance

Conagra Brands•Chicago, IL

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Reporting to the Sr. Director of Sales and Trade Finance, the Director of Trade Finance owns forecasting and analytics for approximately $4B in Retail Domestic Trade and other Gross-to-Net Sales spend. This role leads financial reviews, analysis, and consolidation of actual results, drives annual planning and forecasting, and translates customer and promotional plans into internal financial outlooks. The Director oversees the monthly close and key accounting responsibilities, provides day-to-day leadership to the Trade Finance team, and partners with cross-functional leaders to recommend actions that support sound decisions and margin improvement. Delivering accurate forecasts, improving visibility to trade and other drivers, continuously improving and simplifying our processes, and strengthening controls is critical. Success in this role requires strong leadership, agility, business partnership, and a continuous improvement mindset, along with a minimum of 10 years of related experience.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance required
Minimum 10 years of professional general business and financial experience
Previous experience managing a team required
Knowledge of financial systems and general accounting principles

Nice To Haves

Experience with SAP, PowerBI, AI, or other software tools preferred

Responsibilities

Lead development of strategic plan, annual operating plan, and quarterly business forecasts providing specific, actionable and forward-looking insights on the changes as well as guidance on potential risk for all P&L accounts between Gross and Net Sales for the Retail Domestic Segments.
Identify and communicate key financial and business drivers in order to influence decisions.
Understand key inputs such as pricing, promotional changes, customer investments, impacts to merchandising due to business dynamics, reserves/accruals, etc.
Consolidate and communicate plan, forecast, risk/opportunity, and actual results to the Customer Leadership Team/Sales, Brand, and Finance partners. Ensure alignment.
Direct the month-end/quarter-end close process to ensure accurate P&L management and prompt identification and resolution of any unusual items.
Responsible for various accounting tasks and approvals; need to understand the broader implications of accounting tasks across Conagra and will sit on review/approval teams for other cross functional close tasks.
Ensure SOX compliance, review/approve quarterly controls, and support internal and external audits.
Partner with Controller’s group and cross functional finance partners as needed.
Be a partner for specified functions on accounting and finance related questions. This will involve the ability to assess needs, resolve risks and opportunities promptly, and clear communication of issues/business results.
Focus on margin expansion and value-add work to shape the Trade Finance responsibilities and work through any change management needed.
Maintain a continuous improvement approach including partnering, business reviews, streamlining of close, audit, and reporting activities.
Support various ad hoc work from leadership including: bridges, additional reporting, outlining business drivers, further details and explanation of results, projections, risk analyses, opportunity areas, process changes, ROI, customer and mix implications, etc.
Provide financial leadership to the broader Trade Finance organization, consisting of a Manager Trade Finance and four analysts.
Elevate the team by recruiting, coaching, and developing people.
Ensure team is achieving objectives, forecasts are accurate, and close is correct.
Optimize workplace productivity; lead, motivate, evaluate, challenge and reward employees.
Drive continuous improvement of forecasting, reporting, and close processes by simplifying workflows and leveraging tools/automation to reduce manual effort while strengthening accuracy and controls.
Responsible for future system upgrades and enhancements impacting Gross to Net Sales accounts.
Lead the development of metrics, scorecards, and trade reporting.