About this Senior Financial Planning & Analysis role at Ircagroup
IRCA Group is an Italian leader in premium ingredients for the pastry, bakery, gelato and chocolate industries, owned by a global tier-1 private equity firm. From chocolate, chocolate decoration, creams and pastry mixes to specialty inclusions, variegates and fruit purées, we serve artisans and large food manufacturers alike, with 22 manufacturing facilities across Europe, the US and Vietnam and revenue above €1 billion. Our growth has been fueled by targeted acquisitions, including Cesarin, Anastasi and the Sweet Ingredients business carved out from Kerry.
IRCA Group USA LLC is the Group’s US subsidiary and the hub of our Americas business, including Dobla USA, with offices in Duluth, GA and Chicago, IL. The Americas are a priority growth market for the Group, combining organic expansion with an active M&A agenda.
Role
Reporting to the Director, FP&A, the Senior FP&A Analyst will play a critical role in driving the performance of the Americas business. The role owns the budgeting, forecasting and performance-analysis cycle and provides leadership with clear visibility on profitability by plant, product and customer, supporting pricing, sourcing and investment decisions. This is a highly visible position, working closely with Commercial, Operations, Procurement and Accounting in the US, and with Group Finance in Italy.
Responsibilities
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Budgeting and forecasting: Lead the bottom-up annual budget, interim forecasts and monthly outlooks for the Americas, including Gross Margin estimate and SG&A costs, and turn the methodology into the backbone of monthly performance reviews.
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Variance analysis: Perform critical analysis of Monthly results and collect and synthesize business insights on variances
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Insight for leadership and the Board: Analyze monthly results, explain variances in plain business terms and deliver the financial content for leadership and Board decks. Support business cases and the integration of acquired businesses as part of our M&A agenda.
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Automation and scale: Automate data flows and turn one-off analyses into reliable, recurring reporting processes.
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Product and customer profitability. Build and own SKU (product) and customer-level profitability models that link revenue, raw materials, conversion costs and operating expenses. Partner with Pricing, Sales, Procurement and Operations to pinpoint the true margin drivers and close the gap between contracted and actual margins
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Sourcing and raw material economics. Compare contractual pricing assumptions with actual supplier costs, surface margin leakage and unprofitable contracts, quantify the impact and give management a recurring view that sharpens pricing and procurement decisions. Track and validate Procurement savings initiatives.
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Reporting integrity: Review GL accounts, cost centers and P&L mapping, fix misclassifications at the root with Accounting, HR and headquarters, and embed standardized allocation frameworks that make monthly results accurate and comparable.
Qualifications
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Education. Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics or Engineering.
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Experience. 3+ years in FP&A, commercial finance or cost accounting, ideally in manufacturing, food or ingredients.
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Cost accounting and variance analysis. Hands-on experience building and analyzing detailed, multi-site P&Ls. A track record of investigating manufacturing variances, reviewing GL and cost-center allocations and quantifying the financial impact of what you find.
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Profitability and pricing analysis. Experience building product- and customer-level profitability models that support pricing and customer portfolio decisions.
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Forecasting and budgeting. Bottom-up forecasting and budgeting experience, including designing methodologies and coordinating inputs across functions.
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Tools. Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills; experience with ERP systems and BI tools (e.g., Power BI) is a strong plus.
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Communication. The ability to go from granular detail to a crisp executive narrative, and to influence stakeholders at every level.
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Mindset. Hands-on, curious and driven by ownership: you dive into the details without losing sight of the big picture.
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Languages. Italian or Spanish is a plus.
