Contract - Financial Planning & Analysis Section Manager (Automobile)

At Honda we embrace inclusion in our various policies, so whilst our contracts state that the hours are as required to fulfil the role with a minimum of 35 hours per week, we offer flexibility for when you work. The regular office hours are 08:00 - 16:00 Monday to Thursday with a half hour lunch break & 08:00 - 13:00 on a Friday. However, we offer flexibility of when you work with our daily flex-time start of between 07:00 and 11:00 providing that there is no business requirement. Whilst there is no contractual right to work from home, the flexibility we offer is that you can request to work from home for a maximum of 50% of the working days in any one month, again providing there is no business requirement to attend the office. Role: The Honda Motor Europe (HME) Finance European Financial Planning & Analaysis (FP&A) team is responsible for the analysis of monthly results, top-level coordination of all budgeting and forecasting (short and long term), plus general commercial finance decision support to the European business. The team supports both Head Office and the wider European region, and its ultimate aim is to help maximise profit and achieve budget accuracy across the business. This role sits within the management reporting and analysis section of the team and is responsible for delivering the above requirements for the Automotive (AM) division. This will include budgeting & forecasting, monthly analysis of results and ad hoc financial support to the Head Office business. The team works closely with Finance Operations with regards to the month-end process, highlighting areas that require attention and analysing the completed figures. Main Responsibilities: 1. Analysis of Actual Results

• Collaborate with Financial Operations team (who are responsible for preparing the monthly results) to ensure accuracy of period-end financial closings for Head Office/HME-C by providing business expertise and commercial knowledge, before supporting Department manager in review and analysis of final output. This may also include sense checking month end numbers generated by Financial Operations, to ensure completeness and correctness
• Support Department Manager in providing valuable and timely performance analysis, insight and reporting to senior stakeholders. Work with Business Planning (BP) teams to understand division results, both for Head Office and on consolidated European basis (e.g. costs, margins, profit by customer) and recommend improvement opportunities. This includes Balance Sheet.
• Work with wider Finance team to ensure data quality supports accurate analysis.
• Ensure key business performance risks, issues and opportunities are highlighted, interpreting financial results to enable the business to make key decisions and achieve targets.
• Work with Business Operations, so that root causes of issues are fully understood and recommendations proposed to improve performance and control.
• Work with BP teams on F/X impact analysis, as directed by Department Manager.
• Contribute to a limited number of SOx controls that relate to analysis and reporting. Potentially review some B/S reconciliations (split with Finance Operations to be decided).
• Circulate monthly AM PCA for completion by branches and summarise for use by division and department manager.
• Contribute to production and analysis of Monthly Operating Report (MOR) presentation, particularly AM content.
2. Budgeting and Forecasting
• Working with Department Manager and AM BP, coordinate the AM budgeting process for the European region, ensuring alignment with division objectives and providing guidance to budget preparers.
• Support Head Office AM business teams in preparation of their budgets.
• Contribute to AM GA budgets for Head Office and work with BU Department Managers to ensure branch AM GA is prepared accurately and consistently.
• HME Head Office GP update for AM.
• Monitor and communicate budget performance against preset targets.
• Review SGA budgets for quality (phasing, granularity etc.). Challenge assumptions where appropriate.
• GP accuracy check (overall and internal transactions between HM, HME and HTR).
• Work with Department manager on scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis to test the robustness of budgeted results and search for opportunities to increase profit.
• Support Department Manager in the development of accurate Balance Sheet budgeting, including loan forecast.
• Support business in preparation of budget packs and presentations to Leadership teams.
• Work with rest of central FP&A team to prepare final budget pack, summarising overall performance of the European region.
• Identify root causes of previous budget variances to improve forecasting accuracy.
• Provide accounting expertise in context of how to treat items in budget.
• Promote tools to increase budget accuracy, e.g. ABB, risks and ops logs.
3. Performance Management
• Support business reviews with HME divisions.
• Work with Department Manager and BP teams to create financial projections based on Niguri (sales and supply planning tool), as required. This links to consideration of implementing rolling forecasts, per section 2 above.
• Working with Department Manager, HME divisions, local teams and the wider FP&A team, develop plans for profit improvement and follow-up with entities.
• Provide insight regarding budget, including monitoring KPIs between branches.
• Act as an advocate and role model for understanding cost drivers and cost control.
• Work with the rest of the Finance team to drive process improvements in working capital management.
4. Commercial Finance Support
• Key point of contact in Finance for AM product division financial matters.
• Input financial expertise to relevant business projects relating to AM division.
• Support projects (inc, IT spend), ensuring ROI is accurately determined and investment decisions thus make good financial sense.
• Provide financial representation at HME AM meetings, where required.
• Support Group Finance re. audit requirements (internal and external).
• Key role to play in supporting projects such as trade S4 and budget software replacement, as directed by Department Manager.
5. Lead, manage, motivate and develop the Finance FP&A team
• Motivate, develop and manage the 1 direct report.
6. Continually Improve Systems and Processes
• Assist Department manager in developing efficiencies in current processes and reporting structures, advancing current models. This will include pursuing automation and, where appropriate, 'self-serve'.
• Stay up to date with industry trends, best practices and regulatory changes related to FP&A and proactively propose improvements and enhancements to FP&A processes.
  
  Qualified accountant - CIMA/ACCA/ACA, A strong team player, with the ability to motivate a direct report to achieve tasks under pressure and to tight deadlines.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Detail oriented.
• Comfortable working with a variety of people of varying financial experience across Europe and able to bridge the finance/non finance gap.
• Well organised but with a flexible approach.
• Pan-E experience is a plus.
• Proven record of process improvement, particularly in FP&A context.
• Challenging mindset and responsive to customer requirements.
Experience
• Experience in FP&A tasks.
• SAP, ERP software and advanced Excel skills are highly desirable.
Additional attributes/qualities
• Industry experience or strong product interest would be advantageous.
• A curiosity, willingness and aptitude to investigate and learn the latest tech solutions to support FP&A activities (e.g. Power BI, Power Query, RPA, AI etc.)
• Some European travel may be required but is not expected to be frequent.
  
  Honda is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in the workplace for all employees, temporary workers, contractors, applicants and visitors. Honda also encourages respect for the individual differences and talents of others while making full use of one's own abilities, based on Honda's philosophy of respect for the individual.
At Honda, we value and celebrate diversity and are committed to being a fair, non-discriminatory company that promotes and welcomes the uniqueness and differences of people around the world. We recognise that a diverse workforce allows for different ideas and perspectives, and we encourage everyone to share them. We strive to foster a culture of belonging that is consistent with Honda's core values and lived out in the way we work and respect each other. For us at Honda, diversifying our workforce means increasing its overall strength by providing people with equal opportunities - regardless of personal characteristics or previous careers. This commitment flows directly from the Honda philosophy and the belief that we are all working towards a common goal. Honda recruits, hires, trains and promotes the most qualified/experienced individuals at all levels without regard to race, origin, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or any other protected characteristic. Job Segment: Testing, Supply Chain, Supply Planner, Accounting, Temporary, Technology, Operations, Contract, Finance