APAC Finance Manager

Key responsibilities: Category strategy & Value Creation: Partner with the APAC OU Category Leads to shape category strategy, growth priorities, and value creation initiatives; provide financial modelling and insights to support key choices (portfolio, pricing, trade investment, A&P investment, mix, channel, and innovation etc.). Planning & forecasting: Lead OU level category financial planning activities (IGP/ABP/CMF); align assumptions, identify risks/opportunities, and ensure an integrated view of category performance across markets. Business partnering: Support the APAC OU FBP in preparing for Stage Gate Council and evaluation of innovation projects along-with financial alignment between R&D, Category, and markets. Evaluate business cases (e.g., NPI, promotions, pack/price architecture, supply changes) and recommend actions based on value, risk, and feasibility. Work with the Category and Supply Chain teams to ensure the manufacturing strategy is optimised to drive gross margin improvements. Performance management: Develop and maintain clear performance dashboards and management reporting (revenue, margin, OPEX, trade investment, mix, price, volume); provide variance analyses and actionable insights to drive decisions and corrective actions. Cross-country collaboration: Work closely with each country Finance BP to standardize category performance narratives, share best practices, and coordinate cross-market initiatives; serve as a connector between OU strategy and country execution. Governance & controls: Support robust financial governance for category decisions (investment approvals, post-investment reviews, accrual discipline, and policy compliance); ensure transparent tracking of commitments and benefits realization. Stakeholder management: Build strong relationships with OU and local stakeholders across Category, Comex, Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Finance to influence outcomes and ensure alignment. Continuous improvement: Drive simplification and standardization of reporting, planning, and analytical tools; improve data quality and timeliness to enable faster, better decisions. Qualifications and skills: - Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or related discipline and/or professional finance qualification (e.g., ACCA, ACA, CIMA, CPA, MBA). - Experience in Finance Business Partnering, FP&A, commercial finance, or category/brand finance in a regional or multi-market environment. - 8+ years of experience in financial planning & analysis and/or finance business partnering, with a strong track record of influencing senior commercial decision-making. - Strong communication skills (written and verbal) with ability to simplify complex topics for non-finance audiences. - Proven end-to-end P&L ownership and performance management experience within complex, matrixed organisations. - Demonstrated strategic thinking and influencing capability to drive alignment across multiple stakeholders and functions. - Recognised as a subject-matter expert within own discipline, ideally within FMCG or similarly complex industries. - Ability to solve complex problems independently, contribute to strategic decisions within area of expertise, and lead or support projects as a best-practice resource. - Strong financial expertise across analysis, evaluation, forecasting, strategic planning, modelling, and senior-level decision support. - Strong analytics training or experience and strong problem-solving skills. - Experience managing or working with a global team and global stakeholders. - Demonstrated ability to analyze and compare complex data from multiple sources. - Demonstrated ability to determine and communicate the legal, financial and ethical interpretation of industry regulated principles. - High integrity and commitment to financial governance and controls.