Finance Director, Actives

Department: Finance
Reports To: Chief Financial Officer
Ideal Location: Ludwigshafen, Germany site . Alternative Location: Septèmes, France Site (near Marseille)

Position Summary:

The Finance Director, Actives will be a key member of the leadership team for the Actives for Digestive Health business unit within SPI Pharma. Reporting directly to the SPI Pharma Chief Financial Officer with a dotted-line reporting to the Vice President of Actives, this role will bridge operational realities with financial understanding. The role is responsible for all finance activities related to commercial proposals, manufacturing and SG&A cost within the BU, as well as strategic projects.

The finance teams at each of our four Actives manufacturing plants report to the Finance Director. This is a truly global business with Actives sites in the US, France, Germany and South Africa – as well as office sites in the US and Malta.

The Finance Director will serve on the Actives leadership team and will be the key finance business partner, providing analysis, insights and challenges to the other functions. Key partners in the role will be the Actives commercial and product teams.

The Actives business is undergoing a period of transformation and growth – with the recent acquisitions of the Lactulose JV from ABF Sugar in FY25 and of Elementis Pharma in FY26. Current growth priorities include price assessments across the portfolio, increasing manufacturing efficiencies/stability, and optimization of the manufacturing location for each product line.

Key Responsibilities:

·         Pricing and margin analysis, in partnership with the commercial and product team for Actives and the manufacturing site directors and teams

·         Serve as the main finance business partner on all Actives strategic projects

·         Support the Actives manufacturing sites, including cost reduction projects and variance analysis.

·         Develop deep operational understanding of the business unit (commercial and operational) to determine trends and gaps

·         Monthly review of manufacturing site reporting (prepared by site teams) developing executive summaries and key business insights for management and divisional reporting.

·         Create improved financial reporting for the Actives leadership team

·         Use a controllership mindset to maintain compliance and accuracy within Actives

·         Partner with the rest of the finance team to drive process improvements in planning, budgeting, forecasting and managerial reporting

·         Conduct Ad-hoc financial analysis to assist in management decisions and projects

Requirements:

·         Bachelor's degree (or equivalent college degree program) preferably in Accounting, Business, or Finance

·         A minimum of 10+ years of finance business partnering, financial analysis, FP&A or similar finance experience; manufacturing experience is a requirement.

·         Fluency in spoken and written business English is required.

·         Proficiency in German and/or French would be a plus.

·         The position will be based at our manufacturing site in Ludwigshafen, Germany.  Alternatively, our site in Septèmes, France (near Marseille) may also be considered.

·         Global travel expected to be approximately 30%.

Desired Skills:

·      Thriving in this position requires the ability to build strong partnerships with the CFO/finance team and with the Vice President Actives and communicating frequently with peers and management 

·      Technical financial proficiency and eagerness to grow in a fast-paced, evolving environment

·       High energy, result-oriented manager who is prepared to lead and has a strong bias for action

·       Takes initiatives, willingness to learn and a strong drive to achieve results

·        Able to manage multiple priorities while being detail-oriented

·       Effective interpersonal, communication and presentation skills, with the ability to effectively engage and collaborate with remote direct reports and diverse, multilingual teams.

·       A team player willing to step in and help on projects when necessary

·       Able to build relationships across all levels in the organization

·       Able to work in a cross functional, matrixed global environment.

·       Able to respectfully challenge and question results and assumptions, identifying root causes and underlying trends

·      Demonstrates effective leadership in managing and developing teams, especially in virtual/remote settings

·       Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office products (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.)

·       Familiarity with Tableau, Adage, JD Edwards, or Microsoft D365 is a plus