Head of Finance, Finland
About the role
Food Folk was formed in 2017, through the acquisition of the McDonald’s operations in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. With approximately 470 restaurants, underpinned by over €700 million of property value, Food Folk is the leading Informal Eating Out (IEO) business in the Nordics, based on market share. The restaurants serve 275 million guests every year and generate over €1.8 billion in sales. 90% of these restaurants are operated by sub-franchisees. In Finland, McDonald’s has been operating since 1984, and has just celebrated its 40th anniversary in the country. Customers are served by 81 McDonald's family restaurants from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. McDonald's restaurants operate mainly with local entrepreneurs and are an important employer in many areas. Working at McDonald’s offers many people a good springboard into working life.
As the Head of Finance Finland you will hold a key role within Food Folk/McDonald’s in Finland. You will be a member of the Finnish leadership team as well as part of the Nordic finance leadership group. You will act as a Finance Business Partner and work closely with the Managing Director to optimize commercial operations, and be an important strategic partner and support for the local franchisees. Together with the Managing Director you will oversee the P&L and be responsible for driving and ensuring achievement of KPIs set by Food Folk and McDonald’s.
In this role, you will be based in Helsinki and report to the CFO of Food Folk, based in Stockholm.
Main Responsibilities
• Responsible for leading the country’s finance team and the daily operation of the finance function, including financial planning and analysis, forecasting, accounting, and follow-up.
• Manage communication with, support and challenge local franchisees – ensuring complex financial data, results and insights are communicated in a way that is clear and actionable.
• Ensure that local business cases are of high quality and generate the required return for both the owners and franchisees.
• Secure high-quality and efficient delivery of financial services, including professional internal controls and risk management in accordance with rules and regulations.
• Participate in cross-functional projects with other departments in the company and act as a professional resource across the organization.
• Manage relations with banks, auditors, tax authorities, and consultants in matters related to accounting and taxation.
• Contribute to the preparation of annual reports and declarations.
Candidate profile
Experiences and functional competencies
• Higher degree in Finance or Economics
• 5+ years of experience from broad, commercially-focused Finance roles
• Experience of formulating business cases
• Preferably experience from FMCG, food production or a similar fast-paced environment
• Experience from Retail is an advantage
• Significant stakeholder management experience, e.g. from working with franchisees, a large matrix organization, or equivalent setting with many external stakeholders
• Experience of working with a franchise model is an advantage
• Leadership experience is a requirement for this role
• Fluency in Finnish and English is essential, both written and spoken.
Abilities and Personal traits
• Independent, with a commercial, strategic and results-oriented mindset, combined with a hands-on, operative approach
• Able to take a holistic and long-term view of business needs, balanced with short-term delivery focus
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills, with an ability to adapt communication style to different audiences
• Team-oriented with strong collaboration skills
• Resilient and solution-driven – able to take on challenging situations as they occur
• Inclusive leadership style with a drive to develop others.
Apply Today
Take the next step in your career by joining Food Folk/McDonald’s! In this recruitment, Food Folk collaborates with Nigel Wright Group. We look forward to receiving your CV with your application. Please note that we will be reviewing applications on an ongoing basis. Feel free to include any questions with your application.