Commercial Finance Manager

Commercial Finance Manager 

Contract type: Permanent

Location: Hatfield  (Blended working – 3 days in the office)

Working hours per week: 40 hours – Full Time

Level: Manager

Application closing date: Friday 20th December 2024


About us
Our mission is to deliver joy in every shop, through unbeatable choice, unrivaled service, and reassuringly good value. 

We’re Ocado Retail, a market-leading, joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S and the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket ocado.com. Not only is Ocado.com the only place to shop a full range of M&S food online, but it’s also the home to the widest online supermarket range in the UK and champion of small, independent brands. We’re also the brains behind Zoom by Ocado, our same-day grocery delivery service. 

 

About the team and the role

The Commercial Finance team has exposure to the heartbeat of how our business trades and plays a key role in delivering on our financial objectives. This team provides insight, value add, and reporting for both Ocado.com and Zoom by Ocado. It’s an exciting time to join the Commercial Finance Team as we head into a pivotal period of accelerated growth and continue to Raise the bar for both our finance and commercial colleagues.

You will be responsible for supporting the Commercial and Finance team across multiple stakeholders to deliver ambitious growth and profitability targets. The role requires someone who can combine the delivery of detailed analysis with a commercial focus to drive financial performance, to support decision-making as both Ocado and the grocery market experience such rapid growth and change.

This role has high exposure to senior Commercial leadership (CCO, Buying Directors, Strategy Directors, and Heads of). It plays a pivotal role in giving a holistic understanding of business performance, decision support rich with commercial context, and knowledge of the levers available to enhance trading performance. 

You'll partner with the Buying and commercial strategy (Pricing & Promotions, Seasonal) to support leadership make the right decisions, and play a critical role in identifying, recommending, and concluding on business opportunities to create value.

 

What you’ll do

  • Ensure weekly/monthly performance is understood from a trading and margin perspective through accurate and insightful reporting
  • Review and assess key business commercial initiatives
  • Work closely with the Finance Business Partners in supporting their respective buying teams
  • Assist in the preparation of trading reporting and delivery of key insight
  • Support the buying team with Joint Business Plans and Category reviews
  • Ensure that performance vs. forecast is embedded into the trading cycle (weekly/monthly performance reviews)
  • Be the trusted business partner for the seasonal team, defining the financial KPIs of success, and owning end-to-end financial evaluation of a season’s product buy. 
  • Work alongside the Pricing and promotions team and manage all central-driven initiatives including evaluations and post-investment reviews
  • Lead the central budgeting process on behalf of the commercial team. Work closely with the supporting teams in the preparation and review of budgets and forecasts 
  • Participate in cross-functional project groups
  • Lead the forecasting process centrally, making improvements and enabling key trade drivers to be understood
 

Who you are

  • Able to demonstrate delivery of data insight with a commercial focus
  • Strong experience with SQL and understanding of databases 
  • Experience in data visualisation tools eg. Tableau
  • Strong communication and influencing skills
  • Strong Excel skills
  • Highly numerate and analytical 
  • A keen eye for detail that is deadline-focused and goal-oriented
  • Experience in business partnering with senior stakeholders
  • Enthusiastic to learn 
  • Excellent communication skills and ability to build relationships with key stakeholders and experience in influencing decision-making with positive outcomes
  • An organized individual that is able to function in a team environment.
  • An adaptable and responsive person who is open to change and suggestions.
  • Prepared to go the extra mile and ensure that the job is well done and not just completed.
  • Dedicated to detail, quality, and accuracy.
  • Highly numerate and analytical with a keen eye for detail that is deadline-focused and goal-oriented.
  • Methodical, organised, and responds quickly to change, whilst demonstrating a proactive approach.
  • Forges effective relationships across teams and external advisors easily.
  • Enthusiastic to learn
 

What’s in it for you

By joining Ocado Retail you’ll have the chance to experience life at the world’s largest online retailer, work with an amazing bunch of people who challenge what’s possible each day, and grow your skills and career in online retail. 

If that’s not enough to tempt you, you’ll also get access to loads of great benefits to sweeten the deal. Here’s a taste of what we offer:

Health & Wellbeing: Private medical insurance with the option to add your family, Digital GP appointments, market-leading family policies, mental health support, discounted gym memberships, dental insurance, and more. 

Spend & Save: Annual bonus scheme split between personal and business objectives, recognition with reward platform, up to 7% matched pension contributions, 15% Ocado discount, 20% M&S discount, free breakfast every day in the office, electric vehicle leasing scheme and free shuttle bus from Hatfield station to the office.  

Never miss the moments that matter: Blended/Hybrid working, 26 days holiday plus 8 flexible bank holidays, options to buy an extra holiday, 2 weeks work from anywhere, and lifestyle break opportunities. 

 

Our Hiring Process

Lucky for us, we get loads of great applications and we really appreciate that so many people put the time and effort in to apply. To recognise that, we treat all applications respectfully and fairly. So, if yours stands out, you’ll follow our standard hiring process – one of our Talent Partners will talk you through this in an initial call. 

 

Everyone’s welcome

We’re an equal opportunities employer. That means that we make sure all potential colleagues are treated fairly and equally. If you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know on the application form.