Categories, Channels, Strategy & Data Tech Lead - MENA
Danone is looking for a talented finance professional based in Cairo, Egypt, to lead the Channels, Strategy & Data Finance agenda for its Specialized Nutrition Business, in the Middle East and North Africa region. This role will work on long-term projects within finance such as value creation across clusters in the region.
The person will carry out the below responsibilities:
CATEGORIES & CHANNELS:
• Prepare subcategory and channel-wise P&L for CBU and drill down to clusters/countries. Benchmark and animate performance and provide ideas to improve financial performance or gaps to address.
• Develop subcategories, cluster/country, and channel mix target and strategy. Propose accordingly the Channel investment strategy & sales/profit targets.
• Prepare Tender and non-tender channels across clusters to animate performance and provide actionable insights.
STRATEGY:
• Together with Finance Director and by working closely with Marketing, supply chain and finance team, prepare strat plan financials and high/low scenarios.
• Prepare quarterly business review content bringing actual, forecasts, strat plan together to clearly articulate progress, resource needs, risks and opportunities to achieve mid-term goals.
• Investigate & integrate relevant facts and insights (Shopper, Customer & Channel - also integrate Consumer insight by closely working with Marketing) to identify growth or realization opportunities.
• Identify and analyze growth drivers and levers like mix and price effects within Net sales and Operating Margin explaining their impacts clearly at the CBU level.
• Bring constructive challenges, provide meaningful analysis and financial insights by developing standardized KPI's.
• Continuous channel and product portfolio financial review for the overall CBU.
AS FINANCE DATA & TECH PROJECT MANAGER,
• Understand current ways of working and design a CBU-wide scalable data model for business and financial performance integrating both internal and external financial data.
• Identify local specificities for each cluster and support gap analysis, and prepare recommendations for arbitration when needed.
• Suggest and drive continuous improvement of major financial tools and reports driving performance and uniformity across clusters.
• Act as a strategic business partner by shifting time from data crunching/reporting to higher added value analysis leading to higher business impact.
• Co-lead workshops with Finance & IT teams to define future ways of working for transformational projects.
• Manage build or deployment plan and monitor achievement of each milestone, being the guardian of planning/budget/quality requirements.
In order for you to be successful in this role, you would ideally have:
Education and Experience:
• Bachelor degree in Finance or equivalent
•Minimum 5-7 years of experience primarily in finance roles
•Experience in an MNC environment is highly preferred; FMCG background is a strong plus
Functional Skills:
• Project Management experience
•Finance experience in business controlling.
• Advanced Excel and Power BI Skills
• By nature an interest in IT topics
• A strong set of interpersonal and communication skills
• Entrepreneurial, leadership, and "can do" mindset
Soft Skills:
• Strong communication & presentation skills.
• A high degree of reliability, agility, initiative, resilience, integrity, confidentiality and empathy.
• Strong stakeholder management, ability to influence
• Ability to perform in a cross-functional, volatile, uncertain and multi-cultural environment
Location: Cairo, Egypt; business trips to MENA countries required
Languages: Fluent in English and Arabic
Danone Values: Candidates are expected to adhere to Danone's core values: Humanism, Openness, Proximity & Enthusiasm.
