Commercial Finance Business Partner

The Commercial Finance Business Partner role is based at our head office located at 40 High Street, Street, Somerset, BA16 0EQ and will be required to come to the office at least 2-3 days per week.

Job Description

The Commercial Finance Business Partner 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:

• Business partner Head of functions to optimise commercial performance and investment strategies for the channels within the region. Act as Finance point of contact and trusted advisor.
• Deliver financial support and guidance to drive the performance of the UK&EMEA Ecommerce & Marketing functions.
• Big focus on measure and analyse marketing activations to drive commercial decisions.
• Key focus on Ecommerce funnel performance drivers’ analysis and development of KPIs dashboard.
• Drive and support Business cases to enable commercial decisions around new marketplaces and website activations.
• Support with detailed analysis and measurement of marketing ROAS.
• Support Commercial finance team with ad hoc analysis on other areas including Stores Performance, Wholesale channel and Overheads analysis.

Responsibilities

• Deliver annual budgeting and reforecasting with accurate and timely outputs of Marketing spend and Ecommerce Overheads. Deliver all KPIs to support Revenue breakdown at sub-channel and country level.
• Support with Distribution Costs and returns forecasting and monthly analysis for the whole Region.
• Deliver detailed and knowledgeable month end variance analysis. Support Monthly Performance Reviews through delivery of concise insight and analysis. Engage with Leadership to ensure understanding of performance versus financial plans.

• Support with Costs Deep dives and ad hoc support to the Heads of departments. Drive effective cost management of channel and regional overheads.
• Build and analyse Business cases that require Capital investment. Evaluate investment strategies, develop business cases, and complete post investment reviews to optimise return on investment.
• Enhance reporting to provide deep trading and operational insight.
• Provide constructive challenge to promote commercially astute decision making.

Qualifications:

• Commercial finance business partnering experience gained in medium to large businesses.
• Professionally qualified accountant with at least 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.