Head of FP&A

Head of FP&A | Global Specialty Manufacturing | PE-Backed Platform

A private equity-backed specialty manufacturer with roughly $500M in revenue and operations spanning 30 facilities across 14 countries is seeking a Head of FP&A to build a best-in-class financial planning and analysis function from the ground up. This is a newly created role reporting directly to the CFO, with a mandate to establish the budgeting, forecasting, analytics, and management reporting infrastructure needed to support a complex global manufacturing platform under new ownership.

The company is executing an ambitious value creation plan and investing heavily in finance talent, systems, and process to match the scale of its operating footprint. This is a build role for a leader who thrives on complexity and wants to leave a lasting mark on a business in transformation.

The Opportunity

The business is at an inflection point following a recent change in ownership. Plant-level P&Ls, a new KPI dashboard, a rolling cash flow model, and a broader finance transformation roadmap are all in active development, and the Head of FP&A will own and accelerate this build. The role offers direct exposure to the CFO, CEO, and sponsor team, a seat at the management table, and the opportunity to define what great FP&A looks like at a large global industrial business.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the annual budget process end to end, built bottoms up by business unit, division, and geography and aligned to sponsor expectations. Maintain a rolling twelve month forecast refreshed monthly, along with demand and supply forecasting integrated with commercial and operations planning. Lead scenario planning and sensitivity analysis around commodity costs, FX exposure across multiple currencies, and volume risk.
• Own the monthly management reporting package including P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, segment commentary, and variance analysis, delivered to the CFO on a tight monthly cadence. Build and maintain a KPI dashboard covering unit economics, margin by product and segment, plant-level profitability, and working capital, connected to the ERP for real time visibility. Develop plant-level P&Ls across all global facilities to support footprint and prioritization decisions, and produce the sponsor reporting package each month covering financial performance and value creation plan status.
• Own the value creation plan financial scorecard, tracking each initiative against underwriting with owner accountability and monthly updates to the sponsor. Build financial models supporting pricing, plant optimization, procurement savings, and working capital initiatives, and act as an embedded strategic finance partner to business unit leaders rather than a back office reporting function.
• Build and maintain pricing and customer profitability models across product lines and geographies, and produce monthly price volume mix analysis quantifying the drivers of revenue and EBITDA variance.
• Lead the evaluation and implementation of a cloud-based FP&A planning tool to move the organization off Excel dependency, and partner with the data and systems team to connect FP&A outputs to the ERP and enterprise data warehouse. Support emerging AI-enabled FP&A initiatives including automated variance commentary and predictive forecasting.
• Hire and develop an FP&A analyst team, partner with the Controller on the close process, and coordinate with regional finance leads to ensure consistent reporting standards globally.

Required Qualifications

• Ten or more years of progressive FP&A experience with at least three years in a senior FP&A leadership role at a company generating more than $200M in revenue. Private equity-backed company experience is required, including comfort with sponsor reporting standards and the pace of a PE-owned platform. Manufacturing, specialty chemicals, materials, or industrial products background is required, along with comfort in plant-level economics and standard cost accounting.
• Proven experience building or significantly improving an FP&A function is essential, since this is a build role rather than a maintenance role. International or multi-currency FP&A experience is strongly preferred, along with experience supporting value creation plan execution in a PE environment.
• Advanced financial modeling skills are required, along with experience on at least one cloud FP&A planning platform such as Adaptive Insights, Planful, OneStream, or Anaplan. Proficiency with major ERP systems and BI tools such as Power BI or Tableau is expected, as is a strong command of GAAP.
• Exceptional communication skills are needed to translate complex analysis for executive and board audiences, along with strong commercial instinct and the ability to influence without direct authority. A bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics, or a related field is required, and an MBA, CFA, or CPA is a meaningful differentiator.