Senior Finance Advisor, Castrol

Job summary

Entity:

Finance

Job Family Group:

Finance Group

Job Description:

This role is a key member of the Castrol Embedded Finance team supporting the Global Supply Chain & Procurement organization and is based in Pangbourne, UK.

Job Synopsis: 

The team drives performance management and supports Castrol strategy & transformation agenda delivery.

The role pays a key part in the Castrol international Supply Chain Finance team and will contribute to ensuring the required integration of the Embedded Finance, Global Supply Chain, and Procurement organizations in service of the business.

Accountable for delivery of finance priorities within the Castrol business to enable it to meet its strategic and commercial objectives. Leading performance management of multibillion dollar direct spend of Base Oil and Third-Party categories with major international and suppliers. Supporting Cost competitiveness initiatives core to our financial framework success.

The holder will be involved in the creation and delivery of Procurement strategy and financial roadmap, including the assessment of risk. The role holds the GSC & Procurement organisation to account for the impact that strategic and operational activities will have on financial outcomes and is responsible for intervening when delivery risk emerges. Provides finance expertise into GSC decision-making to create and protect sustainable value for bp. Accountable for assisting the delivery of a strong financial and control framework, whilst driving financial performance. The successful candidate will excel in a matrix organization, thrive in a pressurised working environment, and independently drive commercial value delivery.

Responsibilities also include to collaborate across Castrol’s global businesses supporting functions including supply chain, procurement, and technology to optimize and protect integrated supply chains. Furthermore required to liaise closely with partners in the Finance Business & Technology Centre.

Key Roles & Responsibilities:

1.Commercial - Trusted advisor to the Senior Finance Manager and Head of GSC & Functions Finance in support of GSC and Procurement delivery (commercial, accounting, investment), providing expertise into decision-making. Drive key commercial decisions and investments with independent assessment of value including negotiation of key procurement supply agreements, working capital optimization, and trade-off analysis.

2.Performance – accountable for driving performance in both economic and strategic terms including leading interventions where needed to ensure strategic objectives and financial outcomes are met for global direct raw materials procurement spend of Base Oil & 3P categories in partnership with the procurement team maximizing commercial value across end-to-end value chain through identification of negotiation and sourcing/arbitrage opportunities, inbound logistics optimization, transformation projects delivery, support of investment decisions, and environment impact management. The role will advise Product Cost Competitiveness (PCC) transformation programme(s) performance management.

3.Control and Risk Management - accountable for supporting the maintenance of a robust control environment and support the identification and resolution of gaps. Oversee the PCC programme(s) compliance with the bp Procurement Value Delivery Framework (PVDF) and represent Castrol during the annual PVDF group framework updates.

4.Simplification – Support process transformation of our business by simplifying activities, embracing and leading digital automation across finance and GSC & procurement, to enable more focused decision making.

5.People Development – support development of required skills and capability across the global finance community to ensure business needs can be met sustainably in addition to developing future capability for the business group and finance overall. Act as the COGS global subject matter authority deepening partners perception of key performance drivers and supporting timely business decisions, developing global finance organization, and addressing business feedback with finance & procurement.

6.Manage global COGS close, planning, and forecasting processes supporting the Castrol performance team with key variance drivers commentary.

Job Functional Knowledge:

• Strong leadership, grounded in emotional intelligence with an empowering attitude and collaborative spirit
• A positive role model for business integrity, values and behaviors
• Strategic vision and business leadership: ability to see the big picture, anticipate issues including financial implications and create solutions which support financial objectives.
• Strong business /commercial foresight and knowledge of the integrated value chains within, including understanding the key regional dynamics
• Ability to work within and across large, global teams and cultures
• Significant process expertise across control, planning and performance and commercial activities
• Solid understanding of key internal policies and external standards (existing and emerging) across the Planning and Control scope
• Good experience of the FMCG sector and international supply chains and regulatory frameworks
• Ability to navigate and drive strategic change at pace.

Business Expertise:

Deep expertise within a comparable FMCG business model, understanding of the key business drivers and emerging external landscape. Able to shape and influence the strategic direction and influence key partners within this context. Significant experience with responsibilities covering commercial or financial management, driving performance management as well as instigating change projects.

Leadership:

• Drive strategic direction for finance in the business and guide key partners with consensus to that direction
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to build capability, coach a diverse group of people and drive high performance. 
• A passion for inspiring and motivating people to deliver results and experience working with geographically dispersed teams. Empower global and cross-functional teams to deliver, supporting with clear expectations and effective support.
• Drive a one-team and speak-up culture across key teams, building collaborative relationships with key partners and colleagues.
• Able to cut through key issues and challenges and rapidly resolve with the right level of agreement and support from the Finance, Functions, and Business teams
• Clear and concise communicator – able to build awareness and support of the wider Finance and Business community as well as lead senior management engagements
• Promotes a continuous improvement culture –simplifying tasks, embracing digital automation, and applying new digital skills to enable faster and better decision making.

Problem Solving:

High level of -solving skills required. Examples include:

• Resolution of critical issues around key judgements / evaluations, commercial options, internal and external partner disputes etc.
• Prioritization of resource demands, balancing regional business, external partner and central finance demands through collaborative approach as well as independent assessment
• Navigating matrix organization for swift decisions in high pressure environment in times of supply chain disruptions, product shortages, and volatile environment.

Nature and Area of Impact:

The role regularly interacts with Castrol Leadership Team, Procurement and Castrol Finance Leadership Teams, as well as partners across finance, GSC, technology, business, and FBT teams.

Interpersonal skills:

• Champion bp’s Who we are culture. Ability to speak up, listen up and act where required. Hold others to account (values/culture/compliance).
• Build deep relationships based on trust and honest discussion and promote speak-up culture as well as maintain OneTeam and psychologically safe environment.
• Ability to drive and lead others through change, ability to deal with ambiguity
• Communication (verbal and written) - Good command of written and spoken English

Job Requirements and Qualifications:

Minimum Education:

Degree in Business and/or Finance or equivalent experience.

Further qualifications such as MBAs or similar are preferable

Minimum Experience:

Validated experience within a commercial finance role(s), understanding of value drivers and business risks and delivering change projects across the organization

Preferred Experience:

Around 10+ years of experience in a similar role within the FMCG industry

Required Licenses/Certifications:

Professional accounting qualifications (Chartered Accountancy, CIMA, etc) or similar advantageous

Additional Information

At bp, we provide the following environment and benefits to you:

• A company culture where we respect our diverse and unified teams, where we are proud of our achievements and where fun and the attitude of giving back to our environment are highly valued

• Possibility to join our social communities and networks

• Learning opportunities and other development opportunities to craft your career path

• Life and health insurance, medical care package

• And many other benefits.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, perform crucial job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us to request any accommodations.

Travel Requirement

Negligible travel should be expected with this role

Relocation Assistance:

This role is not eligible for relocation

Remote Type:

This position is a hybrid of office/remote working

Skills:

Accountability, Accountability, Accounting, Agility tools, Analysis and modelling, Analytical Thinking, Business, Business Performance, Business process control, Business process improvement, Collaboration, Commercial Acumen, Commercial performance management, Communication, Continual Improvement Process, Cost Management, Creativity and Innovation, Customer centric thinking, Decision Making, Digital Automation, Digital fluency, Economic evaluation methodology, Finance, Financial Analysis, Financial Reporting {+ 14 more}

Legal Disclaimer:

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, socioeconomic status, neurodiversity/neurocognitive functioning, veteran status or disability status. Individuals with an accessibility need may request an adjustment/accommodation related to bp’s recruiting process (e.g., accessing the job application, completing required assessments, participating in telephone screenings or interviews, etc.). If you would like to request an adjustment/accommodation related to the recruitment process, please contact us.

If you are selected for a position and depending upon your role, your employment may be contingent upon adherence to local policy. This may include pre-placement drug screening, medical review of physical fitness for the role, and background checks.