Financial Planning and Analysis Specialist

Financial Planning and Analysis Specialist / Financial Business Partner

Santa Catarina, Mexico

Job Description

RESPONSIBILITIES

Material Cost & Profitability Management

• Lead material cost analysis and identify key drivers impacting product profitability.
• Partner with Supply Chain, Procurement, Engineering, and Operations teams to evaluate sourcing strategies and cost reduction opportunities.
• Analyze purchase price variances (PPV), material usage variances, scrap, and manufacturing cost variances, providing actionable recommendations.
• Support margin improvement initiatives through product cost analysis, operational efficiency assessments, and financial modeling.
• Monitor and validate standard costs, ensuring accuracy and integrity across products and materials.
• Lead annual standard cost updates and support new product and material cost rollouts.

• Lead material cost analysis and identify key drivers impacting product profitability.
• Partner with Supply Chain, Procurement, Engineering, and Operations teams to evaluate sourcing strategies and cost reduction opportunities.
• Analyze purchase price variances (PPV), material usage variances, scrap, and manufacturing cost variances, providing actionable recommendations.
• Support margin improvement initiatives through product cost analysis, operational efficiency assessments, and financial modeling.
• Monitor and validate standard costs, ensuring accuracy and integrity across products and materials.
• Lead annual standard cost updates and support new product and material cost rollouts.

Inventory, Working Capital & Cash Flow Support

• Act as finance lead for inventory analysis and inventory performance management.
• Drive inventory optimization initiatives while balancing customer service requirements, working capital objectives, and profitability targets.
• Analyze inventory turns, excess and obsolete inventory, slow-moving inventory, and inventory reserves.
• Support cash flow forecasting and working capital reporting through inventory and operational analysis.
• Evaluate inventory strategies and demand trends to improve inventory positioning and financial performance.

Manufacturing Finance Business Partnership

• Partner closely with plant leadership to provide financial insights that support operational and strategic decisions.
• Evaluate product mix, product strategy, and cost-to-serve impacts to improve profitability.
• Support decisions related to manufacturing footprint optimization, sourcing strategies, capacity utilization, and operational efficiency.
• Translate financial results into business recommendations for plant and functional leaders.
• Develop and maintain reporting and dashboards to monitor key operational and financial indicators.Financial Control & Reporting
• Perform account reconciliations in accordance with company policies and compliance requirements.
• Ensure integrity and accuracy of inventory-related financial accounts.
• Support month-end close activities and variance analysis.
• Prepare recurring and ad-hoc reporting for plant leadership and finance management.
• Support audit requirements and maintain compliance with internal controls.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Industrial Engineering, or related field.
• MBA, CMA, CPA, or other professional certifications preferred.

Experience

• 5+ years of experience in Finance, Cost Accounting, Operations Finance, or Manufacturing Finance.
• Strong experience within a manufacturing environment required.
• Automotive, industrial manufacturing, or high-volume production environment experience strongly preferred.
• Experience partnering with Operations, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing leadership teams.
• Proven experience with product costing, inventory analysis, margin management, and financial decision support.

Technical Skills

• Strong understanding of standard costing methodologies and manufacturing cost structures.
• Deep knowledge of inventory valuation, inventory controls, working capital management, and cash flow drivers.
• Advanced Excel skills required.
• Experience with ERP systems (Oracle, SAP, JDE, or similar) and financial reporting tools.
• Strong analytical, problem-solv