Senior Finance Manager

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Finance Manager to be a part of the finance team based in Port Colborne, ON. This position is responsible for leading the business unit's financial organization, directs the organization's financial planning and accounting practices, maintains day-to-day financial affairs, and oversees relationships within the company's financial community for the company and its subsidiary. As a key member of the company's senior leadership team, the Finance Manager is actively engaged in strategy planning and deployment, along with driving business decisions that are key to the company achieving its long- and short-term performance goals.

Reporting Relationships

This position directly reports to the Secretary and Treasurer and supervises the Accounts Payable / Receivable Specialists, and the General Accounting Specialists.

Asahi Kasei Values

• Sincerity – Being sincere with everyone
• Challenge – Bolding taking challenges, continually seeking change
• Creativity – Creating new value through unity and synergy

Key Accountabilities

• Financial Management & Reporting
• Oversee day-to-day financial operations, including accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), payroll, and treasury.
• Coordinate with Asahi Kasei Battery Separator Corporation (AKBSC / Head office locating in Japan) to execute timely and appropriate capital injections basing on rigid cash flow management, leading the optimal utilization of internal funds.
• Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports, including balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements.
• Conduct financial analysis and generate reports on budget performance, forecasts, and financial trends to support senior management and AKBSC Head office in decision-making.
• Ensure compliance with Canadian tax regulations and financial reporting standards. With dotted line to AKBSC Head office.
• Capital expenditures management
• Review all capital expenditures spendings and ensure they are in line with overall budget.
• Implement a strong system to track fixed assets (including physical identification and in ERP).
• Provide monthly reporting of actual spending vs plan to AKBSC Head office.
• Budgeting & Forecasting
• Develop, manage, and monitor the annual budget in collaboration with senior management and department heads.
• Analyze financial data and trends to prepare long-term financial forecasts.
• Identify variances and provide recommendations to maintain budget adherence and cost control.
• Audit & Compliance
• Ensure internal controls are effectively maintained to meet audit standards and regulatory requirements.
• Support and coordinate external audits and prepare necessary documentation.
• Support compliance with government contracts, ensuring adherence to contribution agreements and financial regulations.
• Team Leadership & Development
• Lead and mentor a finance team, providing training, guidance, and career development opportunities.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of financial processes with other departments.
• Process Improvement & System Implementation
• Spearhead process improvement initiatives to increase operational efficiency, including automation of financial processes.
• Oversee the implementation and management of ERP and accounting software, ensuring data integrity and smooth transition to new systems (e.g., Dynamics D365, Concur, SharePoint…).
• Continuously evaluate financial procedures and systems, recommending enhancements where needed.
• Strategic Financial Planning
• Provide strategic financial guidance to support long-term organizational goals.
• Work closely with senior management when support is required
• Participate in key business decisions, offering financial insights to optimize company performance and profitability.
• Tax management
• Coordinate tax filing and reduction of federal, state or local taxes, and ensure domestic or international tax compliances.
• Incentive management
• Direct optimal accounting practices, tax procedures and audit responses to maximize benefits from incentives including tax credit / exemption and provide progress reports of each incentives with senior management and AKBSC Head office.

Qualifications

Education Background:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration required
• Master's/MBA with a finance or accounting concentration is preferred
• CPA, CFA or CMA designation is required

Knowledge & Experience :

• 7+ years of related financial experience is required; 4+ years of financial leadership required, 7+ years of financial leadership experience preferred
• Public accounting experience preferred
• Must have strong understanding of Canada GAAP (ASPE: Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises) and accounting for manufacturing companies, including cost accounting
• Experience with budgets and forecasting is required
• Must be able to assess business risk and develop and execute business-wide growth and improvement plans
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience of senior management responsibilities in finance and financial practices is required
• Must be proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (excellent spreadsheet skills in Excel), Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Financial Statement Analysis, and Operation of Accounting Information Systems
• Experience in a multinational company and the ability to work with people across cultures is required

Travel

Must be able and willing to travel up to 20% domestically and abroad for training and visiting other company locations.

About Us

Asahi Kasei Battery Separator Canada, an Asahi Kasei Company, is a pioneer in battery technology and a long-trusted supplier of lithium battery separators, which are polymer-based microporous membranes that are key components of lithium-ion batteries (LIB) used in consumer electronics and electric vehicles.

The company's Hipore brand of separators have been commercially available since the lithium battery market's inception in the early 1990s and they are found primarily in electric drive vehicles (EDVs) as well as in consumer electronics (CE) such as smartphones, tablets and personal computers. Hipore membrane separators bring high porosity and excellent energy transfer, while contributing to battery safety and reliability, and they are especially well matched for the high-capacity batteries required for power plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and full battery (BEV) vehicles.

Asahi Kasei is accelerating its next phase of global growth with proactive investment and capacity expansion in battery separators to meet increasing demand for electric vehicle applications. We are now in the early phases of staffing our new greenfield site, in Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada, which will further build our LIB separator infrastructure for automotive applications to meet growing demand in North America where significant expansion of electric vehicle production is forecasted.

The Asahi Kasei Group is a diversified group of companies led by holding company Asahi Kasei Corp., with operations in the material, homes, and health care business sectors. With more than 49,000 employees around the world, the Asahi Kasei Group serves customers in more than 100 countries. We are Creating for Tomorrow

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The Company is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities in its workplaces. If accommodation is required in the application process, please contact Human Resources at .

Asahi Kasei Battery Separator Canada is an equal opportunity employer that embraces diversity in the workplace and encourages applications from qualified women, men, visible minorities, aboriginal peoples, and persons with disabilities. We are committed to providing accommodations throughout the interview process for needs that are made known in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).