Commodities Financial Analyst

Schaumburg, IL or Decatur, IL

Ready for a Finance career with more impact? Join a market leader in ingredient manufacturing that is poised for a new era of success.

ABOUT PRIMIENT

Established yet entrepreneurial: Primient is an industry leader with proven products, six manufacturing plants, 1500+ employees and deep roots in corn wet milling. Yet we’re also a brand-new company that is ready to drive change and create impact.

Inspired by a meaningful purpose: we use renewable sources to produce plant-based ingredients for some of the world’s best-known brands. It feels good to produce safe, high-quality, sustainable products – that go into everything from sodas to hand cream and cardboard to clothing.

Poised for a new era of success: we’re investing in our plants and people to unlock our potential in the industrial and food sectors. Guided by our values of Safety, Excellence, Integrity, and Growth, we’re focused on growing our business, our reputation, and the career of every colleague.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The contribution of our Finance teams is vital to the performance, profitability, and continued growth of the Primient business. Across Finance, we are exploring new and better ways to harness data, improve decision-making and add value – while optimizing the investment we are making in our plants and people.

The Commodities Finance Analyst is responsible for all commercial finance matters across the Commodities organization with >$800m in annual sales and >$1.5B in corn purchases per year. This critical role will support and partner with our internal organization that manages our customer partnerships and accounting by providing timely and insightful decision support analysis to drive better decision making enabled by delivery of efficiency and effective commodities reporting and planning, analysis, processes, and tools. This person will also help challenge the current systems and tools in place, data collection and protocol, and impacts to financial statements to modify and refine reporting and ensure the expectation of accountability and credibility within the organization. This position will report to the VP of FP&A but working directly with the Director of Commodities Accounting and be based in either Decatur, IL or Schaumburg, IL; Primient employees are currently working a hybrid schedule.

This is an exciting opportunity to come into a private equity-backed, market leading industrial manufacturer with a history of success and a strong reputation in the market. It has a long track record of success, a reputation for superior capabilities, and a diversified and marquee customer base for whom it creates mission critical products.

Key responsibilities: Commodities Financial Analyst

Flawlessly deliver on core FP&A responsibilities & help improve the function.

• Drive improvements in forecast accuracy and Finance-related NRM (net raw materials) and co-product processes; Collaborate with Commodity team to develop more rigor regarding planning/forecasting impacts on raw material inputs and co-products pricing.
• Create consistency across the messaging, reporting and all elements in the way that the business is presented both internally and externally.
• Help improve the Annual Operations Planning (AOP) process.
• Take financial data and use it to influence operational decision-making, contributing to long-range strategic planning and an impact on the business.
• Use authority and influence to drive strategic improvement and continuously improve quality, efficiency, and effectiveness within both the FP&A and Commodities functions.

Be a Finance partner across the company and connect with leaders to drive good financial decisions, performance, and accountability.

• Quickly develop a detailed understanding of the Commodities group and market, including products/services, business segments, customers, and competitors
• Provide analytical support and rigor to strategic decisions, while helping the Director of Accounting and other Sr. leaders understand what questions to ask and the levers to drive value. Elevate above the minutia to assess the big picture (don’t get “stuck in the weeds”)
• Help the Director and VP of FP&A explain key drivers of performance and underlying details (vs. reporting financials) and help translate this understanding into actionable priorities for the Company to drive growth.

Execute on all core FP&A responsibilities, including accurate, timely, and actionable reporting, forecasting accuracy for the business, and partnering with VP of FP&A on system enhancements to free up analytical horsepower. Help create and provide profitability metrics by product and segment and enable and promote data-driven decisions.

• Help bring financial planning and analysis acumen to complex Commodity function, oversight for company’s largest raw material input cost.
• Proactively engage the right resources from across the organization to understand and explain financial results to senior leadership.
• Understand the key revenue and cost drivers of the business and incorporate them into solutions and operational metrics to help drive business initiatives.
• Collaborate with Accounting, Sales, Operations, and other management regarding existing product mixes, general cost and labor requirements for specific products, product demand and production schedules, product yields, and existing capacities.

ABOUT YOU

• BA/BS Degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field; MBA preferred.
• 3 to 5 years of experience in financial analysis, financial/strategic planning or FP&A
• Prior experience in developing trend analysis, cost impact plans based upon market movement and scenario development specifically aligned with commodity markets and hedging instruments.
• Prior experience with financial reporting systems and visualization tools, such as SAP, Hyperion and MS Power BI
• Must possess exceptional analytical, evaluative, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Demonstrated success working with internal customers to build rapport and effective relationships; prefer demonstrated ability influencing senior non-Finance managers and executives.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze financial results and apply variance analysis effectively to explain impacts of commodity movement, hedging implications and overall connection to cost of goods sold and pricing decisions across multiple business units.
• Experience in commodity markets and utilization of hedging instruments (and associated accounting) strongly preferred.
• Hands on, deadline & detail oriented
• Occasional travel, typically less than 20%
• Proficiency in Word, PowerPoint, Outlook required; Advanced Microsoft Excel skills includes analytical modeling, robust chart prep and data mining for large data sets; Power Pivot experience is ideal.
• Keen attention to detail in planning, organization and execution of tasks, while still maintaining focus on overall company objectives (“the big picture”)
• Demonstration of innovation and initiative – always looking at improving our processes and displaying a willingness to dive into the details and help wherever necessary.
• Resilient and hands on – can handle volume and pace.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Rewards & benefits
Competitive salary / 401 K matching and non-contingent matching plans / Healthcare / Medical insurance

Career development

Our structure provides autonomy and accountability in your role. You have scope to develop a depth of expertise and the opportunity to follow career pathways outside the norm.

This position will be based in our Headquarters in Schaumburg, IL or offices in Decatur, IL.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

We are passionate believers in the power of difference. We strive to represent the communities in which we operate and to provide an inclusive, welcoming environment for all. We want Primient to be a place where every employee feels they belong and knows they are seen, heard, valued and safe to speak up. Our aspiration is to unlock the full potential in diverse perspectives, while offering everyone an equal chance to grow, thrive and progress.

Primient is an equal opportunity employer, committed to the strength of an inclusive workforce.

California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA")

The Company is committed to complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) and all data privacy and laws in the jurisdictions in which it recruits and hires employees. We collect the following categories of personal information for the purpose of hiring the best qualified applicants and to comply with applicable employment laws: Name and contact information; Job preference and work availability; Social Security Number and/or other identification information; Education and qualifications; Employment history and experience; Military service; Reference and background check information, including relevant criminal history and credit history; Social media information; Pre-employment test results; Post-offer medical examination information and results, including drug test results; Voluntary self-disclosure information regarding minority, veteran, and disability status; and Information provided by you during the hiring process.