Trading Finance Business Partner - Sales and Margin

Job Title:

Trading Finance Business Partner – Sales & Margin

Location:

Belgium (with regular travel to London, Italy and other operating sites as appropriate)

About the Role:

We are seeking a highly experienced Commercial Finance leader to drive margin performance and pricing strategy across our €650m ice cream business. This role will partner closely with Sales leadership to ensure robust pricing frameworks, customer profitability analysis, and effective negotiation aligned with raw material cost movements. The successful candidate will provide strategic insight, challenge, and financial leadership to optimise contribution margin across operating companies, while remaining flexible to support major projects such as acquisitions and organisational transformation.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Commercial Finance Leadership

• Support, control review, and ensure consistent and optimal decision making with respect to the pricing and margin strategy across operating companies, ensuring consistency and transparency at SKU and customer level.
• Develop advanced pricing models that reflect raw material cost movements and competitive dynamics.
• Drive cross-selling opportunities between Belgium and Italy operations through harmonised pricing frameworks.
• Provide negotiation support and commercial insight to strengthen pricing discipline and protect margins.

2. Strategic Performance Analysis

• Deliver high-quality analysis of contribution margin, pricing trends, and customer profitability to inform executive decision-making.
• Build capability for scenario modelling (e.g., commodity volatility, FX impact), and therein, prepare playbooks for acquisitions and integration.
• Implement KPI dashboards and accountability frameworks for Sales and Commercial teams to drive pricing discipline, and customer profitability, ensuring real-time visibility for sales and finance leadership.
• Take ownership for commercial decision support, to ensure compliance and optimal decision making in ensuring the delivery of company profitability targets.
• Translate complex data into actionable insights for senior leadership.

3. Planning & Forecasting

• Lead the commercial planning cycle, ensuring forecasts reflect demand, pricing strategy, and margin objectives.
• Align commercial forecasts with group financial targets and strategic priorities.
• Develop tools for SKU-level and customer level contribution margin analysis – linking insight to negotiation strategies for Sales teams.
• Embed raw material cost tracking into pricing decision making.

Skills & Experience:

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA) with extensive commercial finance experience.
• Proven track record in pricing, margin optimisation, and business partnering within FMCG or multinational environments.
• Strong analytical skills with ability to convert data into actionable insights.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills at executive level.

What We Offer:

• Opportunity to shape commercial finance strategy and margin delivery in a growing €650m business.
• Exposure to high-impact projects, including acquisitions and integration.
• Competitive senior-level salary and benefits package.