Purpose and Scope:
The Head, International Markets VALUE Delivery Finance has overall accountability for Finance across the VALUE delivery organisation in the International Markets region. S/he will be responsible for providing strategic financial support to the President Commercial of International, International Regional Leadership team including Head of Medical Affairs and Head VALUE delivery finance in order to optimise short-term and long-term operating results. Financial support, a thought partner and financial advisor encompasses:
- Drives financial performance and (shadow) responsible for delivering the International P&L
- Understands the International business, and able to credibly articulate performance and results to top management and senior leaders.
- Drives credibility through deep financial expertise and insight, providing the necessary challenge to pursue the interests of the organisation, and support the global strategy.
- Leads a team who will collectively partner with the business. This team governs the preparation and analysis of managerial financial results and provide financial insight to the business to drive informed decision making and value creation.
- Proactively formulate regional strategy and initiatives in collaboration with relevant teams - challenging and influencing the Leadership team and global stakeholders to safeguard the assets of the business.
- Ensure that optimal resource allocation decisions are made across brands and markets in the region, and non-brand related spend (shared services, G&A, etc)
- Advises on margin transformation activities and challenges / influences those activities to improve margin for the Region and Enterprise
- S/he is a senior leader within finance and is expected to proactively input into and help drive CFO function related strategies.
Responsibilities and Accountabilities:
Leadership:
- Shape and evolve the ways of working with the business to optimise the value delivered by the Finance team.
- Provide financial leadership, relevant insight and challenge in determining and delivering the strategic Business direction (e.g. pricing/gross to net, portfolio & resource decisions, improving margin, etc.).
- Stimulate behaviours and alignment across the organisation, supporting the delivery of the business strategy.
- Lead and motivate the VALUE delivery Finance department, building an effective team of direct reports who can effectively develop and drive finance partnering in the region/markets/brands.
- In all finance related activities (budgeting, planning, reporting, etc) in international region to ensure that the integrity and independence of Medical Affairs is not compromised
Investments:
- Evaluation of investment proposals and formulation of recommendations for the approval of senior management.
- Act as a catalyst in moving forward initiatives critical to delivering the regional strategy and results.
- Assess viability of investment decisions including impact of medical investments
- Articulate financial risks and opportunities and drive post-investment appraisal of business initiatives.
- Develop tools and solutions to maximise financial return on investments across the Region.
Planning and Budgeting:
- Accountable for implementing the regional planning processes in alignment with the global process and influencing the global process to work effectively within the region.
- Driving forward the financial forecasting process, and effectively managing risks and opportunities, allowing opportunities for the business to create value through adjustments and reallocations of investments.
- Lead the budgeting process, including target setting, challenging the region (affiliates, areas, regional functions) and finalisation of stretched but achievable targets.
- Bring enterprise thinking to the region, to challenge the plans / results as well as bringing insights to the above-region teams to support effective enterprise decisions
- Support effective business performance management, including setting appropriate KPIs, reporting and challenging the business to improve results, grow profits and create sustainable value.
- Leverage business knowledge and relationships to effectively support and challenge business performance and Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting.
Compliance:
- Embed Compliance Culture across all markets of the Region ensuring Integrity in Action is actively applied in all initiatives and proactively address non-compliance.
- Ensure adherence to Astellas policies relating to Finance Controls and Compliance standards.
- Ensure a culture of Ethics and Compliance lead by example and incorporate cross-cultural perspectives when addressing challenging situations.
- The group operates as an integrated model across Commercial (Sales/Marketing), Market Access, Customer Engagement Excellence and Medical Affairs providing Financial management leadership to those units to maximise brand performance, whilst prioritizing ethical decision making. During all finance related activities (budgeting, planning, reporting, etc) there is a need to ensure that the integrity and independence of Medical Affairs is not compromised. You are expected to proactively communicate and consult with Head VALUE delivery finance, Global Medical Affairs Finance SME and Head International Medical Affairs as necessary to ensure that such the integrity and independence of Medical Affairs is always maintained.
Other:
- Promote operational culture within the region, continuously improving processes and ways of working across the region and in alignment with API and RHQ.
- Build and lead strong, effective teams of highly capable professionals, focussing on development of commercial finance capability across the Region.
Required Qualifications:
- Minimum 15 years of experience in finance functions including accounting, costing and/or FP&A, with 5+ years in FP&A roles. Pharma experience preferred.
- Bachelor Degree required. MBA/CPA preferred.
- Experiences in comprehensive P&L and working capital management
- Strong business understanding and acumen Proficiency in financial analysis able to identify variations and trends that indicate possible exposures and the need for countermeasures
- Demonstrated track record of business partnering skills in a matrix organization
- Strong interpersonal skills able to serve as a business partner
- Use of financial reporting tools such as BPC, SAP to improve productivity in providing timely and accurate financial statements
Working Environment
- This position is a global role.
- At Astellas we recognize the importance of work/life balance, and we are proud to offer a hybrid working solution allowing time to connect with colleagues at the office with the flexibility to also work from home. We believe this will optimize the most productive work environment for all employees to succeed and deliver. Hybrid work from certain locations may be permitted in accordance with Astellas Responsible Flexibility Guidelines.
- Ability to manage several projects and matters simultaneously under demanding time pressures from both Japan and RHQ.
- Ability to operate effectively within an international business environment and deal with people from various cultures. International business environment includes flexible working hours (i.e. need to work at evenings or mornings at times due to time zone).
- Frequent international travel required.
