Head of Commercial Finance

ZEISS•Princeton, NJ

About The Position

The Head of Commercial Finance owns product and customer portfolio health across all channels, as well as deal and new-business viability approvals. The role enables commercial teams to move quickly within financial guardrails, challenges deals that do not meet economic requirements, and ensures the business is paid for what it sells. It has a material impact on ZEISS Vision P&L performance, including both revenue and profitability. The role sits on the Commercial Leadership Team and helps define and implement business strategy around the customer value proposition. It leads commercial finance activities covering pricing, customer profitability, deal structure, rebates, trade spend, and portfolio decisions, while partnering with Sales, Retail, Business Development, Finance, and senior leadership. It also leads and develops three channel analysts supporting ECP, Retail, and CEC.

Requirements

Eight or more years of experience in commercial finance, including direct partnership with a sales organization.
Track record of building pricing or deal governance that speeds decisions rather than slowing them down.
Strong understanding of channel and customer profitability mechanics, including rebates and trade spend.
Ability to clearly decline deals when appropriate and explain the reasoning in commercial language.
Bachelor’s degree or higher in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field.

Responsibilities

Sit on the Commercial Leadership Team to define and drive implementation of business strategy around the customer value proposition.
Own product and customer portfolio profitability by product range, channel, and customer; surface weak positions for decisions, ensure action plans are in place, and track performance.
Approve deal and new-business viability against agreed margin thresholds.
Develop deal concepts and ideas that influence how the business operates.
Maintain and periodically recalibrate the margin guardrail framework so commercial teams can self-qualify most deals without finance approval.
Partner with Sales and Retail leadership on pricing, mix, and customer terms.
Contribute actively to developing commercial strategies.
Review rebate and incentive structures for their margin impact, including VCS equipment and premium lens rebates, and ensure they deliver expected value.
Lead commercial input into pricing decisions and major account renewals and tenders.
Participate in commercial customer meetings where appropriate.
Conduct post-deal reviews of material agreements, comparing delivered economics with the approved case.
Provide commercial finance leadership across pricing, customer profitability, deal structure, rebates, trade spend, and portfolio decisions to support profitable growth.
Partner strategically with Sales, Retail, Business Development, Finance, and senior leadership while maintaining financial discipline.
Make clear, timely, well-reasoned recommendations on deal viability, margin thresholds, customer terms, credit exposure, and escalations.
Translate product, channel, customer, and post-deal performance data into actionable insights, risks, and improvement plans.
Design, maintain, and improve practical guardrails for pricing, deal approval, credit limits, payment terms, and rebate structures.
Communicate and explain difficult decisions, including refusals, in practical commercial language.
Use understanding of customer economics, channel dynamics, and competitive pressures to support sustainable commercial decisions.
Identify opportunities to simplify processes, improve deal self-qualification and transparency, and strengthen commercial finance decision-making.
Lead, coach, and develop three channel analysts, maintaining consistent analytical standards across ECP, Retail, and CEC.