Finance Manager - Commercial Food

All the detailsSummary At M&S, our Finance team is at the heart of every decision we make. We set the pace for key business strategies, shape budgets, analyse performance, and ensure accuracy in the data that drives our success. We don’t just report numbers, we add value by helping the business make data-driven decisions and understand what drives commercial performance. We’re looking for a Commercial Finance Manager to join our Food division – home of the iconic “Dine In” experience. This is a critical role where you’ll partner with trading teams to deliver revenue and profit targets through insightful analysis, challenge, and strategic support. You’ll influence decisions on pricing, promotions, supplier performance, and cost optimisation, ensuring robust governance and commercial impact. To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected. What’s In It For You Being a part of M&S is exactly that, playing your part to bring the magic of M&S to our customers every day. We’re an inclusive, dynamic, exciting, and ever evolving business built on doing the right thing and bringing exceptional quality, value, service to every customer, whenever, wherever and however they want to shop with us. Here are some of the benefits we offer that make working for M&S just that little bit more special…

• After completing your probationary period, you’ll receive 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and
• many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.
• Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days!
• Discretionary bonus schemes awarded based on how you achieve your personal objectives and our performance as a business.
• A generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.
• A dedicated welcome to our teams with a tailored induction and a wide range of training programmes to develop your skills.
• Amazing perks and discounts via our M&S Choices portal to maximise your financial and personal wellbeing.
• Industry-leading parental, adoption and neonatal policies, providing support and flexibility for your family.
• Access to a fantastic range of wellbeing support for all colleagues including access to our 24/7 Virtual GP and PAM Assist to support you and your family.
• A charity volunteer day to support a charity or cause you're passionate about through a dedicated day away from work.

What You’ll Do Your key accountabilities will include

• Drive P&L performance by partnering with trading teams on pricing, promotions, supplier negotiations, and cost-out initiatives, ensuring robust governance and compliance.
• Deliver strategic projects including Plan A, benchmarking, inflation tracking, and commodity pricing, while supporting Joint Business Plans and supplier performance optimization.
• Lead budgeting, forecasting, and performance reviews, identifying risks and opportunities through weekly trade reviews and monthly analysis.
• Provide commercial insights and reporting for senior stakeholders, supporting month-end, quarter-end, and continuous improvement in finance capability and processes.
• Enhance governance and process efficiency, ensuring compliance with GSCOP obligations and implementing improvements across pricing, benefits tracking, and risk management.

Who You Are Your skills and experience will include

• Qualified Accountant (CIMA/ACCA/ACA/CA) or equivalent
• Commercial acumen with a deep understanding of sales-to-gross profit dynamics.
• Experience in retail or FMCG finance, with expertise in budgeting, forecasting, and business partnering.
• Advanced Excel skills and ability to influence senior stakeholders.
• Enthusiastic, solution-driven, and thrives in a fast-paced environment.

Everyone’s welcome We are ambitious about the future of retail. We’re disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We’re transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen. We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together. If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don’t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.