Commercial Finance Manager

This opportunity is critical to the commercial performance of Clarks.  You’ll be joining us at an exciting time, playing a pivotal role, helping us on our exciting Journey to establish ourselves as the brand of choice.

Deliver the financial and risk management framework for our Ecommerce & Marketing divisions, across UK and EMEA.

Business partner with head of functions, to optimise commercial performance and investment strategies. With a key focus on marketing effectiveness to help drive up footfall, delivering optimum ROI.

Deliver effective financial insights to drive business performance and support critical decision making for new ecommerce initiatives.

Job Description

This role is critical to the commercial performance of the region as Clarks is on an exciting journey to establish itself as brand of choice across the region. Key contributions include:

• Deliver financial and risk management framework of UK&EMEA Ecommerce & Marketing.
• Business partner Head of functions to optimise commercial performance and investment strategies for the channels within the region.
• Big focus in partnering on Marketing effectiveness to help drive up footfall with limited budget through insight and finding on tests include Out Of Home and local radio.
• Deliver effective financial insight to drive business performance and support optimal decision making for new Ecommerce initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Create annual forecasting and budgeting processes for revenue, overheads, and capital expenditure.
• Develop Key Performance Indicators to enhance transparency of Key Account performance.
• Deliver complete store performance visibility across all aspects including business cases for store openings, closures and transfers with focus on profitability whilst also incorporating non-financial KPIs including Footfall and Conversion.
• Enhance reporting to provide deep trading and operational insight.
• Engage with Leadership to ensure understanding of performance versus financial plans.
• Provide constructive challenge to promote commercially astute decision making.
• Drive effective cost management of channel and regional overheads.
• Support Monthly Performance Reviews through delivery of concise insight and analysis.
• Evaluate investment strategies, develop business cases, and complete post investment reviews to optimise return on investment.

Qualifications:

• Commercial finance business partnering experience gained in medium to large businesses.
• Professionally qualified accountant with two years of post-qualified experience ideally with CIMA (Management) qualification.
• A record of business partnering and operating credibly in influencing Senior Leadership, managing multiple stakeholders, and prioritising multiple workstreams.
• In depth knowledge and experience of planning, budget, and forecasting processes.
• Ability to apply sound judgment to accounting situations/questions.
• Extensive analytical experience with an ability to take large amounts of complex data and quickly identify key drivers and actions.
• Experience in adding value to business decision making, investment valuation, and working on large financial analysis projects.
• Experience working in a Ecommerce consumer goods business is an advantage but not mandatory.
• Experience working in a Direct-to-Consumer goods business is an advantage but not mandatory.

About Clarks

Clarks, based in Somerset, England, has been at the forefront of innovative shoemaking since its foundation in 1825 when brothers James and Cyrus Clark made a slipper from sheepskin off-cuts. At the time, it was ground-breaking: a combination of invention and craftsmanship that has remained at the heart of what the brand does now. In the Clarks archive, more than 22,000 pairs of shoes have sparked revolutions and defined generations. From the original Clarks Desert Boot, first designed by Nathan Clark and launched in 1950, to the iconic Wallabee, each design has an instantly recognisable signature that makes it unmistakably Clarks.