Director of Finance

Portland, OR

Columbia Sportswear Finance & Accounting teams oversee the financial health and forward strategy for a portfolio of four global brands. These teams exercise expertise across Compliance, Credit, Financial Planning and Reporting, Tax, Treasury, Procurement and Strategy. Advancing traditional Finance & Accounting functions, the organization is also driving exciting innovation in the application of advanced analytics and automated intelligence. 

The Director of FP&A, Supply Chain role is a key leadership position responsible for financial planning and leadership across Columbia Sportswear Company’s (CSC) Supply Chain. This position leads financial planning and analysis for Global Supply Chain, including Supply Chain Operations & Distribution, working directly with executive leadership in those functions.

The role serves on the leadership teams for both Supply Chain and Strategic & Financial Planning, bringing thought leadership, broad business acumen and financial expertise while challenging and influencing strategic and operational decisions to drive productivity. The Director will establish reporting capabilities and supporting processes to enhance visibility to global performance across the supply chain, ultimately driving improved alignment and decision making across a global organization.

This position contributes to the development of CSC’s strategic plan for the Supply Chain, leading the development of financial plans including long-range (3-year) plans, annual budget, and quarterly forecasts, and ultimately providing deep business and financial analysis to inform and influence decision making at the brand and corporate levels. The role also leads financial modeling and development of business cases, informing strategic decisions through financial and business analysis on investments and operational improvements. Additionally, the role will collaborate and communicate with FP&A counterparts across the matrix of Brands, Regions and Channels on supply chain impacts including sourcing, manufacturing, logistics and distribution.

The role also leads the Gross Margin Planning program and is responsible for driving the gross margin expansion efforts across finance, product, merchandising, supply chain, and sales functions. The role is responsible for continuous improvement of the process, tools, and forums to target, plan and land seasonal gross margin improvement.

HOW YOU’LL MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Build & maintain strong business partnership with Supply Chain leadership team, building working knowledge of operational strategies and acting as thought partner to challenge and influence decision making.

Financial Planning

Lead the development and compilation of the long-range (3-year) plan, annual budget and quarterly forecasts for the Supply Chain functions. Ensure that the objectives inherent in financial plans are consistent with the strategic plan for CSC and the Supply Chain organization.
Perform financial analysis to track variances against financial plans and prior year results, and address root causes, as appropriate. Identify and recommend potential risks and opportunities and resource allocation-based decisions.
Develop executive review materials to communicate financial plans and to inform related decisions including strategic initiatives, marketing, capital expenditures, headcount, and other forms of investment. Clearly articulate and present financial plans and business cases to executive leadership.

Financial & Management Reporting

Develop and distribute global financial and management reporting to inform leadership regarding business performance and to aid in influencing decisions that impacts financial performance including profitability and cash flow.
Analyze financial performance and lead discussions with Corporate Finance and Accounting to review monthly and quarterly financial performance including performance of Quarterly Financial Reviews (QFR). Ensure the financial performance across the Supply Chain is thoroughly analyzed and that issues are addressed to drive accurate recording and reporting of financial results.
Lead and support the development and presentation of Quarterly Business Review (QBR) with the Supply Chain leadership team, corporate executives, and other relevant leadership. Ensure QBR represents global Supply Chain performance and isolate key decisions and business issues requiring executive visibility and input.
Contribute to efforts improving CSC’s capability in measuring, reporting, and analyzing all aspects related to Supply Chain performance. Develop and support ongoing reporting to track KPIs across Global Supply Chain in collaboration with Information Technology, Human Resources, and other cross-functional partners (near term focus on Distribution).
Establish and manage process to provide Supply Chain leadership team with global visibility to KPIs and ongoing performance, including regular touchpoints with global FP&A partners and operational leadership.

Business and Financial Analysis

Proactively engage with the Supply Chain leadership team in conducting business and financial analysis to identify issues, problem-solve and recommend decisions and courses of action.
Lead creation of financial and operational plans to support US Distribution and other Supply Chain strategies, including planning of capital expenditure, working closely with third party consultants and internal partners as appropriate, and ensuring functional knowledge of approach, assumptions, scenarios, and results.
Develop financial models to inform strategic decision making, providing visibility to impact of decisions on total cost, performance, and productivity of Supply Chain.

Ad Hoc Analysis

Support the FP&A team and the Supply Chain leadership team with other ad hoc analysis and special projects including identifying, prioritizing, and helping to execute the activities required to support brand strategic objectives, priorities, and initiatives.

YOU ARE 

A leader, capable of guiding teams, facilitating collaboration, and influencing across a highly matrixed environment
An excellent communicator across written, verbal and presentation mediums
Adept at building global relationships and identifying areas where your team intersects with others
A problem solver, partnering across the business to address issues of high complexity or difficulty
Courageous in support of change, and empathizing across the frustrations that come with change
Able to exercise a high degree of professionalism and confidentiality
Analytical by nature, applying superior attention to detail
Organizational, prioritizing projects to meet business needs and key deliverables

YOU HAVE

Minimum Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting or a business-related field, MBA and/or CPA preferred
12+ years of relevant business experience with accountability for financial planning, reporting and analysis
8-10 years of experience in operations or supply chain finance required
Demonstrated ability to engage at the senior executive level and translate abstract concepts into defined objectives
Expertise supporting strategy development, recommending decisions using knowledge of industry trends, market risks and overall market health, and designing programs with multiple functions and regions in mind
Advanced problem–solving skills with the ability to identify potential and/or existing issues, evaluate available options and recommend corrective action
Strong knowledge and ability to apply advanced financial analysis, budgeting, and strategic planning concepts
Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and provide project management support
Demonstrated ability to work effectively with internal and external contacts both domestically and on an international basis
Experience working for a multi-national consumer products company is strongly preferred

Columbia Sportswear Company and our portfolio of brands, including Columbia, SOREL, Mountain Hardwear and prAna, know a thing or two about adventures. After all, we've been on one since 1938, working to perfect the art of enjoying the outdoors. Behind everything we make is an employee who's found that the greatest adventure starts with joining a company that strives to do the right thing.

This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of duties and responsibilities, but constitutes a general definition of the position’s scope and function in the company.

At Columbia Sportswear Company (CSC), we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law. CSC believes that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical to our success as a global company, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.