Associate Finance Manager, Customer Development - Unilever Food Solutions

Title: Associate Finance Manager, Customer Development - Unilever Food Solutions

Location: Toronto, CAN

Terms & Conditions:Full time, International assignment is not available for this role and relocation for local and international candidates is not provided

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. 

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our, collaborative, and flexible working environment. Our organizational ambition centres around creating workplaces that foster equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging across all aspects of our business. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

JOB PURPOSE

Unilever Food Solutions (UFS) is the dedicated culinary foodservice business of Unilever which operates in more than 70 markets across the globe. The world of Food Solutions is a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and exciting environment with passionate professionals who work hard to carry out their common purpose of “freeing chefs to love what they do”. The UFS portfolio consists of world’s leading food brands like Hellmann’s and Knorr. Our customers range from restaurants and hotels through to workplaces, schools, and caterers – as well as the wholesalers and Cash & Carries who service the foodservice industry.

The Associate Manager - Sales Finance holds a pivotal role in empowering the Sales team to achieve ambitious growth targets. Serving as a decisive figure in the selling process, the candidate assumes a critical position in shaping UFS's market presence. This entails strategic decision-making to prioritize channel investments effectively and pricing strategies for optimal market penetration, all while ensuring negotiation efficiency.

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE

Strategic Business Partnership: Collaborate closely with the Food Solutions’ Customer Development (CD) team focusing on strategic key segments across Canada and serve as a pivotal decision-maker in crafting and executing the channel investment strategy, ensuring alignment with the unique needs and growth opportunities of these key segments.

Drive Investment Decision Support: Provide robust decision support for CD partners, evaluating new business opportunities, competitive risks, and initiatives aimed at customer growth and profitability enhancement.

Performance Management and Accountability: Assist in setting CD targets and oversee in-year performance against these targets. Ensure accountability for trade spends across zones and channels.

Resource Allocation and Prioritization: Partner with CD to effectively manage and prioritize customer trade and marketing investments. Ensure optimal resource allocation while adhering to spending targets.

Profitability Analysis: Conduct detailed profitability analysis to enhance sales contribution through optimized investment levels and improved product mix. Strategic Development: Collaborate on the development of channel and customer strategy. Drive visibility of category, customer, and channel performance. Financial Acumen Enhancement: Enhance the financial acumen of Sales Managers in the channel through training sessions covering key topics such as ROI, customer profitability, and trade profitability.

Contract Management: Work with the sales team to ensure governance and audit compliance on customer contracts.

Process Improvement: Identify opportunities for process improvements and efficiency gains within CD finance. Actively contribute to the development and implementation of new financial tools and systems.

Who You Are & What You’ll Do:

The Associate Manager - Sales Finance must be an energetic and enthusiastic Sales team player that has a passion for driving business through actionable insights drawn out of deep analysis.

• You’re a born leader: You are quick to identify the root cause of the business issue, you are creative in proposing solutions, influential in selling your ideas and resilient in execution
• You love to win and have fun doing it: You enjoy rising to the occasion, the higher the stakes, the sharper your focus. You think of failures as lessons and believe in comeback stories. You believe in the value of continuous improvement and enjoy solving the challenges along the way. Helping our sales team identify the ideas that will help close the gap against our business targets.
• You’re a changemaker: You are a self-starter. You enjoy the challenge of connecting the dots that follow and have passion for shaping a legacy. You will focus on streamlining the processes in role and will be restless in understanding not just the what, but also the why behind our strategies.
• You’re a culture & change champion: You recognize the value in building teams, you have a passion for people and take pride in the role you play to build our collective performance.

What You’ll Need to Succeed:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Finance, Marketing, or related area.
• 3 to 5 years of related experience in sales finance or business partnering.
• Knowledge of customer, data, and financial systems. Working knowledge of Salesforce and/or trade promotion management system a plus.
• Experience in food service industry preferred.
• High analytical power, coupled with ability to tackle complex situations, evaluate alternative courses of action, and provide fact-based solutions.
• Ability to manage multiple projects / processes simultaneously.
• Strong communication, organizational, and influencing skills.

What We Can Offer You 

Meet the Women of Customer Development | Culture for Growth | Top Notch Employee Health & Well Being Benefits | Every Voice Matters | Global Reach | Life at Unilever | Careers with Purpose | World Class Career Development Programs | Check Out Our Space | Focus On Sustainability

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Unilever Canada is an organization committed to diversity and inclusion to drive our business results and create a better future every day for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national or ethnic origin, marital status, family status, disability, genetic characteristics, and a conviction for which a pardon has been granted.

If you are an individual with a disability in need of assistance at any time during our recruitment process, please contact us at NA.Accommodations@unilever.com. Please note: These lines are reserved for individuals with disabilities in need of assistance and are not a means of inquiry about positions or application statuses.

Unilever Canada est une organisation engagé à la diversité et à l'inclusion pour stimuler nos résultats d'affaires et créer un meilleur avenir chaque jour pour nos employés, les consommateurs globaux, les partenaires et les communautés. Nous croyons qu'un effectif diversifiée nous permet de faire correspondre nos ambitions de croissance et de stimuler l'inclusion dans l'entreprise. Tous les candidats qualifiés recevront la considération pour un emploi sans égard à la race, la couleur, la religion, le sexe, l'orientation sexuelle, l'identité ou l'expression de genre, l'âge, l'origine nationale ou ethnique, l'état matrimonial, la situation familiale, l'invalidité, les caractéristiques génétique, et une condamnation pour laquelle un pardon a été accordée.

Si vous êtes une personne handicapée qui a besoin d'aide à tout moment au cours de notre processus de recrutement, veuillez communiquer avec nous au NA.Accommodations@unilever.com. Veuillez noter: ces lignes sont réservées aux personnes handicapées ayant besoin d'aide et ne sont pas un moyen d'enquêter sur les postes.