IBP Group and NA Finance Lead

Job Description

Job Description

Oleochemicals GroupPosition Content SummaryPosition Information Function Finance / Integrated Business Planning Position Title IBP Group and NA Finance Lead Scope Group IBP Finance Lead (50%) | North America IBP Finance Lead (50%) Reports To Group CFO Dotted Line Reporting NA Finance Lead (in relation to NA IBP Finance Lead role) Supported By Group ELT, Regional Managing Directors, Regional FP&A Leads, Regional IBP Step Owners Position Purpose

The IBP Group and NA Finance Lead is accountable for the governance, performance, and continuous improvement of the organization's end-to-end Integrated Business Planning (IBP) process across both the Group and North America region. This is a senior individual contributor role requiring strategic leadership, financial expertise, and disciplined process execution.

The role serves as the primary finance steward of IBP outputs, ensuring demand, supply, financial, and strategic plans are fully integrated, credible, and decision-ready for executive leadership.

The IBP Finance Lead holds financial sign-off authority on consolidated IBP outputs before submission to Group and North America leadership forums and serves as a trusted advisor to the Group CFO and Regional Finance Leaders regarding planning assumptions, business performance, financial risks, and strategic opportunities.

Key ResponsibilitiesIBP Process Leadership & Governance — Group and North America

The incumbent is responsible for leading and governing the complete Integrated Business Planning process across both Group and North America operations by:

• Owning and governing the end-to-end IBP cycle for the Group and North America region while ensuring quality, timeliness, and adherence to established standards.

• Maintaining and enforcing IBP governance frameworks, including roles, decision rights, escalation protocols, and accountability structures across every IBP step.

• Managing the Group IBP calendar while ensuring alignment with all regional IBP calendars.

• Leading the Group Integrated Reconciliation (IR) meeting across all regions.

• Managing the cadence of the Group Business Review (GBR) meetings in coordination with senior leadership.

• Managing the North America IBP calendar, templates, planning data requirements, and meeting cadence for:

  • Demand Review

  • Supply Review

  • Integrated Reconciliation

  • Management Business Review (MBR)

• Exercising authority to challenge and, where necessary, reject regional submissions that do not meet established IBP quality or completeness standards while driving timely resolution within each planning cycle.

Financial Ownership & Sign-Off — Group and North America

Responsibilities include:

• Owning the consolidated Group financial bridge, including Actual vs. Plan vs. Latest Estimate across the full IBP planning horizon.

• Holding financial sign-off authority on IBP outputs prior to submission to Group IR, GBR, and North America MBR forums.

• Identifying and communicating P&L risks and opportunities generated through IBP as a required deliverable every planning cycle.

• Ensuring IBP financial outputs are fully integrated into:

  • Annual Operating Plans

  • Budgeting Cycles

  • Long-Range Strategic Plans

• Collaborating with Regional FP&A Leads to validate financial assumptions while maintaining a single, consistent financial view across the business.

• Highlighting deviations from plan and escalating financially material decisions to the CFO and Executive Leadership Team with recommended actions.

Executive Stakeholder Engagement — Group and North America

Responsibilities include:

• Serving as a trusted advisor to the Group CFO by providing structured financial perspectives on planning assumptions, business risks, and emerging performance trends.

• Preparing and delivering executive briefings for the CEO and CFO prior to Group Business Review meetings.

• Maintaining structured engagement with Regional Managing Directors and Executive Leadership Team members to ensure planning alignment across the organization.

• Facilitating executive-level discussions that resolve cross-functional gaps between:

  • Demand

  • Supply

  • Capacity

  • Financial Targets

Cross-Functional Facilitation — North America

The role coordinates integrated planning activities across:

• Sales

• Marketing

• Supply Chain

• Finance

• Operations

Responsibilities include:

• Gathering, validating, and challenging assumptions, opportunities, and risks supporting the IBP cycle.

• Driving accountability and alignment across functional leaders.

• Participating in monthly Demand Review and Supply Review meetings while actively supporting process owners.

• Resolving planning conflicts and closing gaps between demand, supply, operational capacity, and financial objectives within established planning timelines.

Data, Analytics & Scenario Planning — Group and North America

Responsibilities include:

• Consolidating planning data from three regions into the Group IBP model.

• Consolidating demand, supply, and financial information from multiple systems into one authoritative North America IBP view.

• Preparing executive dashboards, analytical insights, and decision-support materials for:

  • Group Integrated Reconciliation

  • Group Business Review

  • North America Management Business Review

• Translating complex business data into concise executive-level narratives.

• Performing scenario modeling related to:

  • Demand fluctuations

  • Supply constraints

  • Financial impacts

  • Strategic alternatives

• Challenging regional assumptions and planning inputs to ensure analytical rigor before executive review.

Performance Monitoring & Continuous Improvement — Group and North America

Responsibilities include:

• Monitoring and reporting IBP performance across:

  • Forecast Accuracy

  • Forecast Bias

  • Service Levels

  • Inventory Health

  • Capacity Utilization

• Owning the continuous improvement roadmap for:

  • IBP Process Maturity

  • Data Quality

  • Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Leading the IBP technology roadmap, including:

  • Vendor Relationships

  • Planning System Enhancements

  • User Adoption

  • Return on Investment

• Supporting deployment of digital IBP capabilities across regions.

• Developing organizational IBP capability through:

  • Knowledge Transfer

  • Coaching Regional IBP Contributors

  • Documentation of Process Standards

Key DeliverablesGroup Deliverables

• Monthly IBP meeting packs for Group Integrated Reconciliation and Group Business Review

• Facilitation and leadership of the Group Integrated Reconciliation meeting across all regions

• Consolidated Group IBP financial bridge and planning data for IR and GBR

• Executive briefing materials for CEO and CFO prior to Group Business Review meetings

• Scenario analysis reports and executive decision-support models

• Group IBP performance dashboard and KPI reporting, including:

  • Forecast Accuracy

  • Service Level

  • Inventory Health

• IBP process maturity roadmap

• IBP technology roadmap and enhancement plan

North America Deliverables

• Monthly IBP meeting packs for North America Integrated Reconciliation and Management Business Review

• Consolidated North America demand, supply, and financial planning views

• North America P&L risk and opportunity register updated during every IBP cycle

• Scenario analysis reports and decision-support models for North America leadership

• North America IBP performance dashboard and KPI reporting

Role Success Metrics Performance Metric Target IBP Cycle Compliance Rate (Group and NA)100% on-time delivery each monthForecast Accuracy (Volume & Financial)Continuous year-over-year improvementForecast BiasTrending toward zero with no systemic over or under forecastingExecutive Briefing QualityCFO and CEO satisfaction with no material revisions after submissionCross-Functional Stakeholder EngagementConsistent participation and quality input from all IBP step ownersIBP Maturity ProgressionAnnual advancement against agreed maturity framework Required Skills & Competencies

• Deep expertise in Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and/or Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP), including governance, facilitation, and financial integration.

• Strong financial acumen with demonstrated ability to own, interpret, and present consolidated financial information to executive leadership.

• Executive presence with exceptional communication skills and the ability to advise, influence, and appropriately challenge CFO and CEO-level stakeholders.

• Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams without direct reporting authority.

• Strong analytical mindset with advanced scenario modeling and business analysis capabilities.

• Ability to operate effectively within ambiguity while driving decisions to closure during structured planning cycles.

• Process-oriented with exceptional organizational discipline and the ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities.

• Proficiency with IBP planning platforms such as SAP IBP, Kinaxis, or Anaplan.

• Experience using business intelligence and visualization tools including Power BI, Tableau, or equivalent platforms.

• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.

• Experience working within ERP-integrated planning environments.

Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business, Supply Chain, or a related discipline required.

• MBA and/or CPA preferred.

• Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience in Finance, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Supply Chain Planning, or Integrated Business Planning (IBP/S&OP).

• Minimum of 3 years serving in a lead role or senior individual contributor capacity within a multi-entity or multinational manufacturing organization.

• Demonstrated experience designing, governing, implementing, or continuously improving Integrated Business Planning processes.

• Proven track record presenting financial insights and planning recommendations to CFO and executive leadership teams.

• Experience implementing, enhancing, or owning enterprise IBP systems such as SAP IBP, Kinaxis, or Anaplan is strongly preferred.

• Exposure to Lean, Six Sigma, or other structured process improvement methodologies is considered an asset.

• Experience within manufacturing environments is required.

• Experience within the oleochemicals, chemicals, or broader process manufacturing industry is strongly preferred.