Trade Finance Analyst

Lindt & Sprüngli•Stratham, NH

14h•Hybrid

About The Position

The person in this position will be a strategic partner for the Sales department in managing all promotional plans and deductions in the Trade Management system. They will be responsible for plan entry within the finance guidelines, improving the accuracy of customer planning as well as allocating trade expenses to the appropriate GLs to ensure P&L accuracy. They will assist with monitoring trade spending, identifying any gaps and working with our key business partners in Sales, Finance, RGM, Customer Marketing, Customer Service and Accounts Receivable and Payable to resolve them. Create financial reports for key business stakeholders and provide analysis and recommendations to support business decisions. This is a hybrid role that requires three days per week in our Stratham, NH corporate office.

Requirements

3-5 years Trade Management or Customer Service background, CPG company is a plus
Trade Promotion System Experience
Manage and Develop strategic relationships with internal and external business partners
In-depth knowledge of TPM (Trade Promotion System)
Must have solid written and verbal communication, organizational, collaboration, and problem solving skills
Strong Analytical and Reporting Skills
Knowledge of ERP system; SAP is a plus
Bachelors degree required; Master’s degree in related field preferred.

Responsibilities

The analyst will be fully responsible for all trade activities for the assigned key customers. Additionally, the analyst will oversee trade planning by monitoring trade funds and forecasted products, and handle deduction resolution for all types of claims whether promotional or non-promotional.
Become “best in class” for trade planning and true up trade spend throughout the year. Reduce any unnecessary financial risk by confirming all spend is being captured.
Become “best in class” to ensure the open deduction balance that is being carried is little to none, and if the balance goes over 60 days the analyst can justify it.
Create and monitor all volume and non-volume plans to ensure plans are aligned with the Sales Managers trade spend targets.
Ensure Trade Spend is being booked to the correct product so GP can be captured correctly.
Provide assistance with implementations and system enhancements. Assist in the maintenance and improvement of the Trade Management process, including testing and implementing system enhancements. Provide recommendations for improving the process and system.
Provide monthly reporting packages for the assigned key account customers, Open Liability, Trade Spend by Program type, Open Deduction Report, Trade Plan Spend Report (previous year vs. current year) and ad hoc reports when necessary.
Identify gaps for product being forecasted however not being planned. To ensure all planning groups are being properly captured in the TPM system.
A Trade Finance Analyst is a strategic partner working with Lindt Sales and Brokers to drive accountability for trade planning and ensure that they have all the information needed to make sure all trade plans are captured, and reduce missed plans.
Provide assistance to Trade Finance Manager with audit requests and reporting requests.
Provide a monthly reporting package, providing analysis and communicating this information to Sale Managers and Sales Directors.
Provide in-depth reporting for trade planning YTD vs YAG, planned and actuals.
Provide in-depth analytical reports on open liability. These reports provide Sales Managers with detailed information about their annual trade spend which provides better visibility of overall trade spend.
Analyst will be fully responsible for all trade responsibilities for assigned key customers. Trade planning, deduction resolution and AP check process. This will include all promotional and non-promotional trade spend.
Work with Customer Service when pricing is not populating correctly in SAP for the assigned customers, must ensure both systems are communicating correctly and that the data is being captured in the Trade System.
Assist Accounts Receivable by providing updated information for the assigned customers that request a statement of account.
Research Post Audits by using the Trade Management System to validate whether a promotional or non-promotional expense was already reimbursed to a customer for a specific program. Understanding that post audits can occur years after the program occurred.
Assist in other additional Trade Management activities, including working with your peers on other projects.