Senior Commercial Finance Business Partner - FTC Mat Cover (01.05.2026 - 30.06.2027)

Please note, we are aiming to interview for this position on 16th & 17th March so please do not delay in submitting your application.

Yeo Valley Production is a Purposeful, co-owned business. We are committed to Nurture & Nourish People & Planet by Making Great Food the Right Way. Forever. This is an exciting time. We have an ambitious growth strategy and are expanding our portfolio of brands into new categories.  

This role is about enabling great decisions across Commercial whilst also providing strong governance. You will play a key role as an independent, critical friend to the Commercial teams in service of great evidence-based decision making to achieve ambitious, impactful growth across existing and new product categories. You use great data and analysis to draw meaningful insights, help to identify solutions and ensure that decisions are implemented effectively.

You work collaboratively and flexibly, working within cross-functional teams on start-stop initiatives as required to meet immediate business needs.

You provide inspiration to your line reports, providing inspiration and support through regular high-quality coaching conversations to ensure high engagement and performance.

Your responsibilities:

• Partnering: You are a trusted advisor to the Commercial teams, focusing on performance of our revenue streams, direct material costs, MGP and related impacts.
• Partnering: Enable the delivery of budgetary and strategic objectives through the timely identification of required interventions to address performance challenges, mitigate risks and capitalise on opportunities.
• Partnering: work collaboratively and flexibly within cross-functional teams as required, e.g. constructing economic evaluation for individual business cases (in line with our investment appraisal framework)
• Financial management: play the role of independent, critical friend to ensure accurate budgeting and forecasting of our revenue streams, direct material costs, MGP and related impacts, ensuring consistent and justifiable assumptions as a result of strong business partnering relationships and supportive challenge. Ensure strong buy-in of the budget and rolling forecast process through stakeholder management.   
• Financial management: Assume responsibility for establishing and maintaining open book costing models, where appropriate, with our key customers and suppliers, to optimise margin, mitigate risk and secure long-term agreements.
• Financial management: Provide effective financial management, including independent assessment and challenge. Support compliance activities as required (risk management, audit, tax etc). Support the Head of Finance in ad hoc projects and technical accounting matters as required.
• Strategic partnering: Work with YV Customer Strategy teams, retailers and strategic co-packers as required to drive partnership ways of working and desired strategic outcomes on multiple accounts.
•  Strategic partnering: Work with Marketing leadership team to ensure clear multi-year brands plans and to drive long-term brand value, including by leading by leading the financial assessment of Brand opportunities to support the decision to enter new categories, products and ranges.
• Strategic partnering: Providing governance and cross functional support fo rthe development of new brand ideas from concept to post launch review to ensure we launch products tha are desirable, viable and feasible as a member of the Brand Launch process Gate team.
• Leadership: Provide inspiration and support to your team through regular high-quality coaching conversations to ensure high engagement and performance.
• Leadership: Lead your team, focusing on coaching, performance and development to ensure a highly engaged and effective team.
•  Leadership: Member of Finance Leadership Team, providing functional leadership to the wider Finance team ensuring a highly engaged and effective finance team.
• Performance insights: Use external and internal data and analysis to ensure a deep understanding of performance and to draw meaningful performance insights, for example, through identifying and understanding trends, performance deficiencies, risks and opportunities. Play the role of independent, critical friend with strategic teams and challenge assumptions as needed.

Essential:

• Qualified accountant with substantial post qualification experience;
• Experience within the manufacturing sector, and ideally of multi-site FMCG;
• Proven track record in partnering role, influencing senior internal stakeholders to drive growth;
• Commercial and data-driven approach to drive growth through sound decision making;
• Deep understanding and experience of standard costing;
• Experience of implementing great budgeting, forecasting and performance management across multi-site/departmental organisations
• Comfortable analysing and assessing data to draw insights, assess performance and identify required interventions
• Significant experience in performing economic evaluations in support of great decision making
• Demonstrate a confident, solution-oriented approach with an ability to challenge assumptions and maintain objectivity
• Excellent communication and influencing skills
• Strong coaching skills to support and develop your team

We’re independent, British and proud to be making the highest quality yogurts, desserts and ice cream under the Yeo Valley brand and for many of the UK’s major retailers. Operating from four dairies and two logistics centres in Somerset and Devon, we employ over 1700 staff and produce more than 25% of the UK’s packaged yogurt.

We’re sure you don’t need convincing, but there’s a whole host of benefits that we offer including:

• 25 days holiday allowance
• non-contributory pension scheme
• life cover
• healthcare cash back plan
• cycle to work scheme
• subsidised Yeo Valley products and services
• preferential rates with our partners
• annual bonus (as part of the Employee Benefit Trust, based on company performance for the year)
• learning and development opportunities; we’re committed to ensuring all of our employees have the chance to grow

Our closing dates are a guide for when the application window should close, although we may close the advert sooner if we can. So, we recommend you get your application in straight away – and don’t miss the opportunity to join us!

Unfortunately, we’re not able to provide employment sponsorship to candidates at this moment in time.

Please note that Yeo Valley do not accept speculative agency applications; we will only accept applications from preferred suppliers that have been submitted to us via our recruitment portal at the point of instruction.