Director of Accounting – Financial Planning

COMPANY:

Retail grocery chain.

REPORTS/RELATIONSHIPS:

This position will report directly to the Group Vice President of Finance/Chief Financial Officer and lead a team of accounting and finance professionals.

BASIC FUNCTIONS:

The individual who occupies this position will be expected to provide accurate and timely financial information and analysis, with a high degree of accountability and transparency as it relates to financial reporting across the organization. This position will help enhance and upgrade the company’s financial analysis, accounting and management reporting systems, financial controls, and accounting processes and policies. This individual will also help drive profit improvement by disseminating sophisticated tools for operating and financial performance measurement, as well as provide detailed and thoughtful analyses of financial results and statistics to support business decisions by corporate and operating management.

Specific duties will include, but not necessarily be limited to:

• Provide support for merchandising targets for sales and margin enhancements within overall company long-range plans including category-level annual and periodic merchandising plans for both product and service revenue including sales growth, profit performance, and return on investment.
• Provide financial analysis support for merchandising including development of weekly and monthly gross profit reporting, promotional effectiveness analysis, and item-level profitability reporting including brick-and-mortar and online fulfillment.
• Provide financial analysis support of merchandising and operational initiatives.
• Build and lead a high-performing team in retail inventory accounting, real estate finance, and other direct reports.
• Support development and update of both long-term and short-term division financial forecasts/budgets.
• Provide financial analysis, modeling, and oversight related to major storing and fuel performance.
• Collaborate with functional peers and support the store financial modeling process.
• Partner with real estate function on financial analysis and perform look-back analysis of capital projects.
• Participate in quarterly reviews with merchandising and operations management.
• Serve as backup to the management of the financial close process (including consolidation and account reconciliation).

REQUIREMENTS:

• 10-15 years’ broad finance, accounting, business planning, and controllership experience; two-plus years of experience in public accounting preferred but not required.
• Finance, accounting, control, and systems design and implementation experience at a major regional or national retailer.
• Possess a high level of financial, analytical, and technical accounting skills across multiple areas of responsibility.
• Deep experience in the design and implementation of accounting systems and processes, including management information systems, control procedures, and mechanisms at a major regional or national retailer.
• Proven strength in evaluating and using reporting systems and ensuring that useful, timely, and accurate data is available for business decisions.
• Proven record as an effective leader and manager of people; strong communication and listening skills.
• Strategic thinking – develop strategies to achieve organizational goals; understand organization’s strengths and weaknesses; analyze market and competition.
• Visionary leadership – display passion and optimism; inspire respect and trust; mobilize others to fulfill the vision; provide vision and inspiration to peers and subordinates.
• Business acumen – understand business implications of decisions; display orientation to profitability; demonstrate knowledge of market and competition; align work with strategic goals.
• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or related field from a four-year college or university; master’s degree in business administration or the equivalent is preferred.
• CPA or CMA qualification preferred but not required.

COMPENSATION:

Compensation will be commensurate with experience including a competitive base salary, bonus opportunity, long-term incentive, and competitive benefits package.