Interim Operations Finance Consultant Contract

Interim Operations Finance Consultant 

Background
We are commencing a major operations improvement programme, supported by an external operations consulting firm. Operational performance, including OTIF, OEE, customer service levels, planning, new product launch delivery and quality efficiency, is below the standard the business requires. Finance has a critical role in supporting this programme, however, internal finance capacity is fully committed in the short term to year end audit sign off (end September) and the SAP go live (1 September). We therefore intend to engage an experienced operations finance consultant to provide dedicated support to the programme, and then transfer that capability in house.
 

Objective
Provide the operations improvement programme with high quality finance support from day one, without drawing on internal finance capacity during the audit/SAP period, and embed the resulting metrics and decision support capability within the finance team thereafter.

Scope Phase 1. Partner with the operations consultants (from start)

• Act as the finance point of contact for the operations consulting team.
• Work with them to define what good looks like, a full operations KPI framework covering the standard suite of operational metrics (OTIF, OEE, quality, safety, engineering, yields, launch adherence, cost and capacity drivers) and the decision making support the programme requires.
• Source, prepare and validate the underlying data, leveraging SAP following the 1 September go live.
• Establish the benefits case for the programme, independently quantify the expected savings and put a benefits tracking mechanism in place from the outset.
• Provide financial appraisal of investment proposals arising from the programme, including business cases for capital expenditure.
• Operate with light touch interaction with the internal finance team, essential requests to be channeled through the CFO (TBC)

Scope Phase 2. Embed and transfer (from November)

• Work alongside the Group Financial Controller/Operations Business Partner to embed the KPI framework, reporting and decision support into the organisation.
• Build internal ops finance capability, document processes, and deliver a structured handover.

Engagement parameters

• Full time engagement, 3 to 4 months, starting in line with Operations Consultants timeline.
• Reports to the CFO (Michael Burke), significant on site presence in Loughrea expected.
• Must be able to operate independently with minimal internal support until end October.

Consultant profile

• Senior operations/manufacturing finance experience, pharmaceutical or regulated manufacturing preferred.
• Proven track record designing operational KPI frameworks and decision support reporting.
• Experience of benefits tracking and business case appraisal on improvement or transformation programmes.
• SAP experience (data extraction, reporting), comfortable working alongside external consulting teams.

Key deliverables

• Agreed operations KPI framework and definitions, developed with the operations consultants.
• Baseline operational reporting and decision support for the programme.
• Benefits case and tracking mechanism for the programme, agreed with the CFO and the operations consultants.
• Capability transfer and handover plan agreed with the Group Financial Controller.

Success criteria
The engagement is complete when the KPI framework and benefits tracking are operating as part of normal monthly reporting, and the Group Financial Controller has taken ownership with no ongoing dependency on the consultant.