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. A truly global organisation with business activities covering Europe, Canada, Australia and USA. The Group's product range includes soup, beetroot, chutney, condiments, preserves and meal options.

Since the turn of the Millennium, Baxters have undertaken a number of acquisitions with the strategic ambition to double its turnover by 2021 to over £600m. The most recent acquisition of Wornick, a leading supplier of convenience foods and military rations to institutional customers including restaurant chains, consumer product goods companies and the U.S Government, for the first time will see the Group operating a company based in the U.S.

As a result of this exciting growth, Baxters are opening a Group Head Office in Edinburgh which will become the new location for the Baxters Executive Team and Group Finance function. Key to the new Group Finance function will be the recruitment of a high calibre, commercially focused Group Management Accountant who will be pivotal in the ongoing success of the company.

The Opportunity

With a direct reporting line to the Group Financial Controller, the Group Management Accountant will be primarily responsible for reporting on the commercial performance of the business, leading the full budgeting and forecasting process, and producing high quality management information to inform board level decision making. Additionally, the Group Management Accountant will be expected to bring a continuous improvement mindset to existing systems and processes and work in conjunction with Group Financial Controller to assess the impact of transfer pricing on the consolidated numbers across Poland, Australia, Canada and USA.

This is an exceptional opportunity to join a growing, highly acquisitive and ambitious business and contribute to its future success by playing a key role in its journey.

Job Description

The Group Management Accountant will effectively support the Group Financial Controller, satisfying the requirements of senior stakeholders across the business. In particular, it is crucial they can take responsibility for the delivery of accurate and high quality management information, often to meet challenging timescales.

A summary of the key candidate requirements are as follows:

• Qualified Accountant with c5-10 years post qualification experience
• Exposure to group management reporting and consolidation processes
• Previous experience of Executive and Board level reporting
• Strong IT literacy, especially in relation business intelligence products (Oracle, Essbase, Hyperion)
• Involvement in the implementation of processing and control systems
• Critical thinking and strong analytical skills
• Hands-on approach and proven ability to work under pressure to agreed deadlines
• High degree of emotional intelligence and the ability to build relationships across all levels

The Group Management Accountant is a key member of the Head Office team and the principal purpose of the role is:

• Responsible for timely and accurate production of group management accounts, forecasts and budgets
• Production and delivery of Group periodic financial information to strict timelines
• Co-ordinate budget and forecast inputs and produce consolidated Group primary statements
• Management of accounts production team with ownership of the quality of both data inputs and reporting outputs from the Group core financial systems
• To drive system and reporting improvements in conjunction with Group Financial Controller in line with key stakeholder requirements Management Reporting:

Main Accountabilities

• Group consolidation and production of monthly accounts to strict timetables
• Production of periodic reports (daily, weekly, monthly) across a wide range of financial and non-financial accounting and performance data
• Collation, input and consolidation of budgets for annual business review and subsequent reporting
• Updating of forecast models from actual and forecast input data and consolidation to business unit and Group level forecast
• Production of Board report commentary with flash reporting and reporting schedules as required
• Monthly reconciliation of control account balances within function
• Leading the quarterly forecasting process
• Regular interaction with Business Unit Finance Directors
• Ensure that staff team members are clearly focused on Finance Objectives and have the relevant support and training to do their jobs most effectively
• To ensure all necessary functions are completed in compliance with internal policy and where applicable, external reporting requirements

Systems and Controls:

• Continue development of the Group’s Business Intelligence and Planning MIS software - Oracle ebusiness and Hyperion
• Consolidated balance sheet and control analysis
• Work with key stakeholders to develop and improve accounts processing controls – in particular a strong focus regarding consistency of coding across the Group Accounting function
• Work closely with the Group Chief Operating Officer and Group Commercial Director to provide detailed, dynamic and insightful commercial analysis around markets, costs, products, sectors and trends across the global business

Other:

• Involvement in ad-hoc financial and commercial projects
• Support Group Merger & Acquisition activity along with post-acquisition integration

Salary:  £60,000-80,000 + car, bonus, pension & private medical cover

For a full position profile and a confidential discussion on the position please contact our retained adviser Daryl Harper at Rutherford Cross on 0131 603 8111.