Sr. Purchasing Financial Analyst

At Lactalis in the USA, we're committed to providing meaningful opportunities for our people to learn, grow, and thrive-whether you're just starting your journey with us or looking to take the next step in your career. From day one, we offer the tools and support to help you succeed.

As the world leader in dairy, Lactalis is a family-owned company with over 85,000 pragmatic and ambitious professionals across the globe. Each day, we're proud to produce award-winning dairy products that bring people together.

In the US, we proudly offer an unrivaled house of beloved brands, including Galbani Italian cheeses and ricotta, President specialty cheeses and butters, Kraft natural and grated cheeses, Breakstone's cottage cheese, Cracker Barrel, Black Diamond cheddar, and Parmalat milk. Our yogurt portfolio includes siggi's, Stonyfield Organic, Brown Cow, Oui, Yoplait, Go-Gurt, :ratio, Green Mountain Creamery, and Mountain High, along with a growing family of ethnic favorites like Karoun, Gopi, and Arz.

At Lactalis, we live by our core values-Ambition, Engagement, and Simplicity. We foster a workplace where innovation thrives, diverse perspectives are celebrated, and everyone's unique background and ideas are valued.

Even if you don't meet every qualification, we encourage you to apply. We want to hear about your PASSION, your STORY, and how your EXPERTISE can help us shape the future of dairy.

From your PASSION to ours

Lactalis USA, part of the Lactalis family of companies, is currently hiring a Sr. Purchasing Financial Analyst, based in Buffalo, NY. This position is a 12-month, temporary assignment.

Responsible for supporting the financial and strategic goals of the Purchasing Department within North America. Responsibilities will be Budget management, strategic planning, and financial support for North America. Utilize existing, in addition to developing and implementing new, methodologies for analytical models as well as statistical data analysis and interpretation. Forecast business impact of data trends and make recommendations for action to the Team. Produce weekly, monthly and annual reports and also assist in budget preparation. Track all the KPI's to assist the department in understanding and managing the business. Core of the responsibility will center around purchase price variances and the cost/benefits associated with those activities as well as producing and engaging with our parent company Groupe Lactalis for worldwide consolidation of figures.

From your EXPERTISE to ours

Key responsibilities for this position include:

• Provide interpretation of and create financial information to assist Purchasing Business Unit in achieving its' targets and help to maximize efficiencies and thus reducing costs.
• Report on how performance is tracking against the budget, forecasts, and prior year results
• Identify and communicate risks and opportunities to the forecast and budget
• Prepare monthly financial reports for North American VP of FP&A and North American VP of Purchasing, to present to the Board of Directors; conduct formal and informal presentations on an ad hoc basis
• Evaluate existing corporate reporting standards, and recommend and implement updated practices as necessary
• Develop annual strategic plan in concert with Finance teams and North American VP of Purchasing
• Represent the Financial point of view on all cross functional projects including collaborations with other BU's and Departments
• Partner with Business Unit to provide financial value-added support that is consistent with the overall strategy of the business specifically including: full budget management and supporting key business initiatives
• Work closely with industrial controllers during the month-end close to identify, challenge and review financials results in order to understand variances, trends and potential risk and opportunities
• Work closely with Business Unit on the monthly close process. This includes working with FP&A personnel in various BU's in the USA
• Closely examine Purchase Price Variance expenses and mitigate gaps between purchasing and industrial results.
• Regularly collaborate with other members of the Financial Planning and Analysis team to share best-practices throughout the organization
• Display excellent accuracy, analytical skills, and judgment with confidence to make recommendations, while also collaboratively working with cross-functional teams
• Follow the market trends in Purchasing activity and understand how those trends will impact the financial result of the BU's
• Maintain ability to travel, approximately 10% of the time
• Behave in a professional manner that always represents the Company in the highest ethical standard
• Provide support on other projects as needed, and accomplish all tasks as appropriately assigned or requested
• Occasionally work with other departments to achieve overall company objectives
• Responsible for maintaining a clean and safe working environment
• This description reflects management's assignment of essential functions, it does not proscribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned.

From your STORY to ours

Qualified applicants will contribute the following:

Education & Experience

• Position requires a bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, or another appropriate discipline; MBA is highly desirable.
• Must possess a minimum of 5-7 years financial reporting experience, preferably in a purchasing or manufacturing department of a consumer foods products company.
• Significant experience in the procurement field will strongly be preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Individual needs to possess leadership, organizational and communication skills appropriate to the position.
• High level of initiative, and strong interpersonal skills
• Strong analytical skills
• Strong planning and execution skills
• Very Proficient with standard office computer technology such as Lotus Notes, Microsoft Office products and the Internet. Intermediate and above skill level with spreadsheets.

This position is a temporary, 12-month assignment and is not benefits-eligible. It is designed to support a specific project or initiative within our organization. While temporary, this role offers a valuable opportunity to contribute meaningfully to our team and gain experience in a dynamic corporate environment.

Lactalis is an equal employment opportunity employer. We will not discriminate against applicants with regard to any legally-recognized basis including, but not limited to: veteran status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disabilities. Further, any division of the Company that is an Affirmative Action Employer will comply with all related legal obligations.