Senior Finance Manager - Greenfield Finance Function

About the role

An international consumer brand is bringing its Australian operation in-house and is creating a local finance function for the first time. This is a newly created role in a greenfield set-up, leading finance for the Australian entity and reporting to the Country Manager with a close link to the CFO and Group Finance team. The role combines financial discipline with commercial partnering, and there is scope for growth as the organisation builds its APAC hub.

Key responsibilities

• Own month-end and management reporting and sign-off for the Australian entity, ensuring compliance with Australian statutory, tax, payroll and audit requirements and group accounting policies.
• Lead the annual budget, rolling forecasts and FP&A for Australia, working closely with the Global FP&A team.
• Act as finance partner to the Country Manager and local sales and marketing teams, supporting commercial decisions, business cases and cost initiatives.
• Manage cash flow, working capital and local credit control with the global Credit Risk and Treasury teams, with local procedures to collect cash and enforce customer terms.
• Oversee the local D365 and Power BI reporting during the transition to direct sales.
• Build relationships with Group Finance, auditors, banks and the local tax adviser, adapting global processes to the Australian market.
• Recruit and lead two direct reports, a Finance Assistant and a Credit Controller.

Required profile

• CA or CPA qualified, with significant finance leadership experience, ideally in a multi-entity or matrixed business.
• Senior finance experience in retail or FMCG, including strong FP&A capability.
• A hands-on, low-ego approach, willing to manage AP/AR and day-to-day processing while the team is established.
• Sound knowledge of Australian statutory, tax, payroll and audit requirements.
• Ability to lead finance for a region and explain financial information clearly to non-finance stakeholders.
• Comfortable working from the Melbourne office, with some flexibility for calls across time zones.

Required skills

• ERP systems and Power BI; exposure to D365 is highly regarded.
• Experience with a remote head office or setting up a finance function in a greenfield environment is highly regarded.