Finance Manager

Smiths Group • Morton Grove, IL

9h • $85,000 - $105,000

About The Position

The Finance Manager serves as the finance business partner for Site Leaders and their leadership teams, focusing on increasing analytics, accuracy, and standardization while ensuring financial statements comply with regulatory requirements and internal controls. This role provides a critical link between sales, operations, and shared services, integrating all perspectives into reporting, planning, and execution. The manager collaborates with Shared Services for balance sheet oversight, key account review, and proper handling of AP, AR, and Purchasing Aging reports. Responsibilities also include approving supplier payments, customer credits, and refunds in line with company policies, preparing reconciliations for tax and compliance reports, and leading the forecasting process for the USA, including annual budgeting. The position involves developing financial analyses for growth initiatives, cost savings, pricing, profitability, investments, product development, and supply chain/operations. It also entails establishing standardized reporting and analytics, implementing KPIs, and working with Site Leaders and the central engineering team on CAPEX plans, business cases, and budget adherence. The Finance Manager will also ensure regular inventory processes (cycle counts and physical inventories) are compliant and support the full leverage of financial and consolidation systems, including system upgrades and master data governance. The role involves leading and participating in cross-functional teams for sustainable process improvements and influencing project/product management and directors to achieve results.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance or Accounting
• Minimum of 5 years of experience with progressively increasing levels of responsibility within a manufacturing industry.
• Demonstrated ability to drive change across multiple functions.
• Value streams, operations, & cost accounting knowledge/experience.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and self-motivated.
• Capable of monitoring and prioritizing competing tasks and projects.
• Team player attitude and adept at multi-level cross-cultural communication.
• Overall proficiency with software systems

Nice To Haves

• MBA or other applicable Masters-level degree
• Experience with Oracle, QAD MFG Pro and consolidated reporting systems

Responsibilities

• Serve as the finance business partner for the Site Leaders and their leadership teams.
• Increase analytics, accuracy, standardization and ensure financial statements are in accordance with regulatory compliance.
• Responsible for ensuring compliance with the system of financial and internal controls.
• Provide critical linkage between sales, operations, and shared services teams ensuring that all perspectives are comprehended and acted upon in the reporting, planning and execution cycle.
• Collaborate with Shared Service to ensure proper control and oversite of the balance sheet review and key accounts, and ensure proper review of AP, AR and Purchasing Aging reports.
• Approve Supplier Payments and Customer Credits and Refunds in line with Smith Policies.
• Prepare reconciliations and support schedules to assist with tax return preparation and other compliance reports.
• Lead the forecasting process for USA with responsibility for timely and accurate annual budgeting and forecasting.
• Develop and lead financial analyses relating to growth initiatives, cost savings, pricing, profitability, investments, product development, and supply chain/operations initiatives.
• Work collaboratively to establish a regular, standardized set of insightful reporting and analytics that drive fact-based performance metrics.
• Implement key performance indicators with granular analysis of internal performance drivers and levers to employ.
• Work with Site Leaders and the central engineering team to develop annual Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) plans, develop compelling business and financial business cases for each initiative, ensuring projects stay within budget, and that all associated costs are accounted for properly.
• Work with Cost Accounting to ensure regular inventory (cycle counts and annual / semi-annual full physical inventories) for raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods ensuring process compliance and appropriate approvals are completed.
• Ensure the full leverage of all financial and consolidation systems, including assisting with system upgrades and roll-out of new system functionality with the Sites.
• Support for transactional and master data governance.
• Lead and participate in cross functional teams implementing strategies for sustainable process improvements.
• Ability to build rapport, glean insights from, and influence project/product management and directors to deliver results.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation and benefits
• Employee resource groups (ERGs) including Veterans, Pride Network, Black Employee Network, Women@Work Network, and Neurodiversity.
• Smiths Excellence Awards, an annual celebration of the most extraordinary activities, people, and projects that best showcase strengths and help drive the business forward.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level