Head of Financial Planning and Analysis, Commercial

Job Description

Job Title:        Head of Financial Planning & Analysis, Commercial

Reports to:    Financial Director Rest of World

Ornua is a leading dairy co-operative which sells premium dairy products globally on behalf of its Member Co-operatives, Ireland’s dairy processors and, in turn, Irish dairy farmers. 

Ornua has revenues of €3.4 billion and is supported by a global team of approximately 2,800 employees. The Group operates as a commercial organisation across 10 business units, including 12 production facilities located in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa. 

The commercial organisation is responsible for the marketing and sales of Ornua’s consumer brands including Ireland’s most successful food export: Kerrygold. Consumer markets are served by production facilities in Ireland, Germany and the UK and by in-market Sales & Marketing Teams in Asia, Germany, Ireland, MEA, Poland, Spain, rest of Europe and North and Latin America. 

It also manages the procurement of Irish and non-Irish dairy products, the sale of dairy ingredients to food manufacturing and foodservice customers globally, and the implementation of de-risking and trading strategies to manage market volatility. These activities are supported by production facilities and in-market teams in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa. 

The Role

The Head of Financial Planning & Analysis is a key position within the Global Commercial Division. Ornua’s Commercial Divisions consists of 8 Business Units in the Dairy sector across Branded Foods (FMCG) and Value Add Ingredients (QSR). The role has a strong commercial focus in supporting the development and profitable growth of the Ornua Commercial businesses.

The role holder will bring an analytical, commercially driven and hands on approach to support the development and execution of growth strategies for the business. 

Reporting to the Finance Director, Rest of World, this role will have responsibility for performance reporting and forecasting & budgeting at divisional level and will provide analysis and insightful critique of actual and forecasted performance. 

Key responsibilities:

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Reporting

• Lead timely and accurate consolidation and reporting of divisional performance
• Deliver insightful commentary for Board, Executive and Group stakeholders

 ​​​​​​​​​​​​​Budgeting & Forecasting

• Establish and manage planning cycles including budgets and forecasts across all BUs and other central functions
• Drive the divisional S&OP cycle

Business Partnering

• Partner with Innovation, Marketing, Strategy and Operations to support growth
• Key interface between Commercial Division and other areas of the business including Route to Market & Member Relations and corporate/central functions to ensure alignment in several areas including COGS, demand planning, and more
• Provide financial leadership on improvement initiatives and strategic projects

Engagement

• Represent Finance in senior forums (Exec, SLT, QBR’s & more)
• Support decision-making on product development, market entry, and investment cases
• Deliver ad hoc analysis and insights to senior commercial leadership

​Key Requirements and Competencies:

• Qualified Accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA) with 5+ years PQE
• Proven experience in designing, implementing, and optimizing planning cycles (annual budgets, rolling forecasts, long-range planning).
• Demonstrated ability to partner with commercial functions (e.g. Marketing, Innovation, Strategy) to drive business performance.
• Strong understanding of cost drivers, demand planning, and margin management.
• ​​​Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills, with experience presenting to senior leadership.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with a collaborative approach to problem-solving.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office; with advanced Excel; Power BI an advantage

• Willingness to travel internationally as required

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Tuesday 18th November