The Company

Baxters Food Group is a fourth generation privately owned entrepreneurial business which specialises in the manufacturing of premium quality, primarily branded, food products. The Group's product range includes soup, beetroot, chutney, condiments, preserves and meal options.

Since Baxters began operation in 1868 a lot has changed, but their dedication to making only the best quality products has always been at the core of everything they do. The Baxters brand has grown from a humble village store to a global brand with a turnover of circa £450m.

Baxters now finds their product being sold in major supermarket chains such as Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and many more, which has contributed to the large-scale growth of the business. Baxters’ Head Quarters is situated just off Charlotte Square in Edinburgh and oversees the UK & European operation based in Fochabers.

The European Business has a turnover of circa £140m across their sites, which also incorporates two specialist manufacturers, Manor Vinegar, one of Europe’s largest vinegar producers, and Orexis Fresh Foods, a leading London-based chilled foods business specialising in ready-to-eat products.

The Role

• To ensure accurate set up and control of Trade Management deals between Baxters and their customers from a Finance perspective (managing the Finance system) as well as periodic reporting of Trade Management KPIs to senior stakeholders of the business
• To ensure the commercial viability of new product development is in line with company expectation as well as reporting on performance of new product launches
• To produce accurate and timely reports at period end as well as fulfilling other reporting requirements in order to meet stakeholder needs
• Daily management and processing of the Trade Management offers and claims. This involves ensuring offers with customers are set up correctly and in a timely manner to ensure accurate accruals are captured. Involves maintaining strong working relationships with the wider sales and finance team
• Service key stakeholders through various adhoc reporting and analysis, focused largely on volume, gross sales, net sales, promotional spend and resulting gross margin £ and %
• Creation of monthly Commercial Finance pack, detailing the performance through various reports which require to be updated
• Period End processing of Sales and Marketing overheads in the management accounts
• Supporting demand planning team to ensure ongoing accurate forecasting as well as reporting of the forecast against budget performance

The Individual

• AAT qualified / CIMA/ACCA/ICAS part qualified (desirable)
• Strong commercial acumen with absolute focus on profit delivery
• Support for qualification provided
• Knowledge of Oracle and Essbase (desirable)
• Microsoft Office Skills in particular strong Excel skills necessary
• Production of monthly management accounts
• Understanding and management of balance sheet
• Internal stakeholder management