Working Capital and Free Cash Flow, Senior Director

Description:

Robert Walters are excited to be partnered with Condé Nast in the search for Working Capital and Free Cash Flow Senior Director 1 year FTC, based in London.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Condé Nast is a global media company, home to iconic brands including Vogue, The New Yorker, GQ, Glamour, AD, Vanity Fair and Wired, among many others. The company's award-winning content reaches 84 million consumers in print, 367 million in digital and 379 million across social platforms, and generates more than 1 billion video views each month.

The company is headquartered in London and New York, and operates in 32 markets worldwide, including China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico & Latin America, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, the U.K. and the U.S., with local license partners across the globe.

Reporting to the Global Controller, and managing a team of two, the Working Capital Management and Free Cash Flow Reporting Director will be responsible for driving global improvements in working capital performance and Free Cash Flow reporting. The role will bring greater focus and discipline to managing cash conversion across CN and so achieve corporate Free Cash Flow targets, which is a significant area of focus for the CN Executive team.

The role has three primary objectives: Firstly, improving the underlying accuracy and integrity of Working Capital data and forecasts models. Secondly, to identify, obtain approval and drive transformational improvements in our global Working Capital performance. And thirdly to deliver accurate, insightful, and timely Free Cash Flow ('FCF') reporting that will support Executive decision making. [Note: FCF is one of Conde Nast's primary internal KPIs, and is a non-standard GAAP measure.]

To achieve these objectives it will be necessary to work with a range of senior stakeholders within and outside of Finance to understand current approaches and to develop, implement and secure adoption to the actions that will drive performance improvement. Key responsibilities include:

Transformational Improvements

Partner across a wide range of leaders and stakeholders in HQ, Markets and Functional Business Partnering teams to lead the development, prioritisation and approval of a portfolio of FCF initiatives, primarily working capital improvements, that will support the achievement of FCF targets
Once approved, champion all FCF initiatives to ensure their widespread adoption and track performance to ensure realisation of anticipated benefits.
Work with HQ and Market teams driving improvement in Days Sales Outstanding, including improvements to billing accuracy to reduce disputed payments and enhancements to the collections process, are clearly defined, targets and KPIs are established and teams collaborate to maximise cash collection
Work with teams that are looking to drive improvement in Days Payments Outstanding are clearly defined and actioned including supplier terms of trade are maximised and payments to suppliers ahead of terms are minimised
Work with CN Executives and their senior leadership teams to advocate for Free Cash Flow improvements, educate on its importance and bring to life ways of working that the Exec's and their teams can adopt to support the achievement of cash targets
Work with Advance Finance Group to ensure that the target setting and performance measurement processes are aligned and that any areas of inconsistency are swiftly addressed
Work with Finance teams to define and develop simple and effective Free Cash Flow reporting and KPIs, with insightful commentary and proposed actions to mitigate risks to the achievement of FCF targets
Work with Finance teams in HQ and Markets to develop stretching but achievable cash flow forecasts and FCF budgets and plans, and educate the Finance teams on the ways to improve forecast accuracy
Contribute to the development of accounting policies to ensure that any relevant measures to maximise Free Cash Flow and track compliance are documented
Create a network of Finance team members that can collaborate and share ideas and opportunities that drive working capital and FCF improvements
Participate in various CN-wide projects and initiatives to ensure that FCF and working capital improvements are considered

Underlying Data Accuracy, Consistency and Integrity

Enhance FCF computation process through standardisation, automation, and simplification, thereby reducing manual steps, eliminating risk of errors, and delivering associated benefits.
Enhance FCF forecasting models to improve integrity and insights on actual performance, as well as upgrade forecasting models and leverage a driver-based approach.

Reporting

Create insightful performance and variance reporting for the CFO and Board, partnering with HQ and Markets teams.
Analyse performance versus budget and prior year to generate insights for driving proactive improvement and management.
Continually develop and refine KPIs such that they meaningfully measure deliverables against the primary objectives.

Other

Manage the activities of two experienced team members, setting targets and providing coaching and feedback to develop capabilities and improve performance

ESSENTIAL SKILLS & REQUIREMENTS

Qualified accountant (CCAB, ACA, ACCA, CIMA), with 5+ years post-qualification experience.
Technically strong and analytical finance professional
Ability to manage and influence change and deal effectively with change management initiatives
Language skills: fluent English is a must; additional language skills an advantage
Good understanding and practical experience in financial audit and accounting.
Practical and hands on experience implementing and/or monitoring internal control systems; internal audit experience appreciated
Broad knowledge of Workday and Oracle EPM is a plus.
Team worker and strong communication skills
Focused on delivering, pushing projects forward
Able to work under pressure and respect deadlines

If you're interested in this exciting opportunity then please apply, or contact Katie Slingo at .

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