Job description
Regional Finance Manager, Fondation CHANEL
Location: London, UK – Global Headquarters
Reports to: Head of Finance, Fondation CHANEL
Contract: Full-time
About Fondation CHANEL:
Created in 2011, Fondation CHANEL (the “Fondation”) is a corporate foundation aiming for women and adolescent girls to be free to shape their own destiny. It works in partnership with nonprofit organisations, international organisations, alliances, academic and research institutions, social businesses and other charitable funds and foundations to address the overlapping discriminations against women and young girls and advance gender equality.
The Fondation is guided by a set of core values which lie at the heart of the way in which it carries out its work, both internally and externally with its grantee partners: trust, humility, attentiveness to power and privilege, holistic thinking, collaboration, learning, and supporting sustainable change.
Fondation CHANEL is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion and to building a collaborative work environment where each individual can perform at their best and feel fulfilled and confident in their work.
The Finance team at Fondation CHANEL is comprised of four full-time staff who collectively support all areas of the Fondation’s global and regional financial management and operations: accounts payable, accounting, budgeting and forecasting, financial controls, management reporting and analysis, risk management, statutory reporting and audit, tax, treasury, and T&E processing,
The role:
The Regional Finance Manager (RFM) will serve as a dedicated finance business partner to Fondation CHANEL’s Americas and Europe regional programmatic teams, respectively. They will both support and challenge their programmatic colleagues by contributing financial acumen and analytical insights and ensuring effective financial control measures are fully incorporated throughout the grant lifecycle.
RFMs will also support the overall internal financial management of each region. They lead regional budget and forecast processes, process payments, and provide accurate and timely financial data and analysis to help guide decision-making and contribute to an understanding of progress against strategy.
The ideal candidate will be a proactive, service-oriented financial professional with the ability to multi-task while maintaining high analytical proficiency and integrity. Strong foundational knowledge and experience in finance/accounting is required.
The impact you can create:
The impact you can create:
Programmatic Support - Provide financial expertise and insights to the regional programmatic teams throughout the grant lifecycle:
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During grant prospection:
- Review and provide feedback on the accuracy and coherence of project and organisational budgets as grant proposals are developed with potential partners
- Support the due diligence process, with an eye to understanding an organisation through its financials and identifying potential associated risks
- Verify grant currency, grant size, and organisational budget size in proposals and dockets before formal submission for approval
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During the grant term:
- Liaise with Programs and Grant & Contracts Manager to devise appropriate payment schedules for newly approved grants based on reporting cadence and the nature of the grant
- Review partner annual financial report submissions in parallel with Programs and participate in partner check-in calls, meetings, and occasional site visits, as requested
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At the end of the grant term:
- Support grant closures to ensure all funds have been expended within the charitable purpose of the grant
- Develop the basic financial acumen of programmatic teams, as necessary, through constructive discussion of partner budgets and financial statements
- Support preparation of regional and global portfolio analyses, as requested
Regional Financial Management
- Lead end-to-end budgeting, forecasting, and month-end, and quarter-end close processes at regional level in accordance with global finance process guidelines and calendar
- Provide guidance and support to regional head on budget development, as requested
- Prepare and present budget updates during regional committees and support programmatic teams with presentation design and preparation
- Build and maintain Excel-based grant portfolio simulation model in support of regional financial planning throughout the year
- Collaborate with regional head to update grant pipeline assumptions and expense forecasts, ensuring that future costs have been correctly accounted for
- Track and document forecast variances to budget throughout the year
- Lead monthly financial update meeting with regional head
- Serve as liaison between the Global Accounting Manager and regional team to ensure they understand their role in complying with financial processes and policy
- Serve as the key regional contact for invoice processing, payment issuance and status; answering queries and following up on any issues, as required
- Set-up new grantees and vendors in NetSuite (ERP system)
- Process regional invoices for approval: validate accuracy, set-up in Basware, code, and initiate approval workflow according to internal delegation of authority
- Support coding and processing of expense reports and conduct credit card reconciliations for regional teams
Overall Support of the Finance Function
- Prepare accruals, schedules, and other supporting documentation to facilitate year-end close and annual statutory audit
- Support wider Finance team projects/workstreams, working collaboratively with other teams (Operations, Communications, other Regional Programs) and seeking to anticipate needs and identify further process improvements
- Support and prepare ad hoc analyses and presentations for Fondation leadership as required
- Be at the forefront of helping to generate new processes and systems to improve team working efficiency.
What you will bring to the team:
- At least 5 years of experience in a finance/accounting role with direct involvement in financial planning cycles
- Demonstrated analytical and problem-solving skills with high attention to quality and detail while maintaining focus on the “big picture”
- Strong command of financial statements and budget analysis
- A service-oriented mindset
- Excellent and adaptable communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills with internal and external stakeholders across varied levels of seniority and financial expertise
- Curiosity and a desire to want to know ‘why’ and ‘how’, not just ‘what’, to better understand what needs to be achieved
- Ability to read, grasp, and synthesize grantee proposals and narrative and financial reports efficiently
- Ability to challenge and influence assertively and respectfully
- Self-motivated with the ability to plan, manage and prioritise a varied workload and to take responsibility for issues through to resolution
- A willingness to learn and model trust-based philanthropy and feminist funding principles
- Deep integrity, the ability to act always with discretion, and adherence to Fondation CHANEL’s core values
Position Logistics:
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. Working knowledge of French and/or Spanish would be a strong plus.
- Ability to adapt and be flexible working across different time zones
- Role involves 5%-10% international travel
What you will gain from this experience:
- The opportunity to apply your analytical skills and financial acumen in the service of social justice and impact
- Collaboration with a dynamic, collaborative, and forward-thinking Fondation team
- Leadership experience serving as the key financial business partner providing comprehensive financial support to a designated region(s)
- The opportunity to immerse yourself in the Fondation during a period of tremendous evolution and growth to help test and improve new ways of working
At Chanel, we are focused on creating an inclusive culture that nurtures personal growth, contributing to collective progress. We believe the uniqueness of each individual increases the diversity, complementarity, and effectiveness of our teams. We strongly encourage your application, as we value the perspective, experience, and potential you could bring to CHANEL.
Chanel
www.chanel.com
London, United Kingdom
Leena Nair
$10+ billion (USD)
10000+ Employees
Company - Private
Department, Clothing & Shoe Stores
1924