Regional Finance Manager - New Orleans, LA

Job Summary:
The Regional Finance Manager is responsible for overseeing all accounting and financial operations within the region, including monthly reporting, forecasting, and budgeting. This role plays a critical part in supporting strategic financial initiatives, ensuring compliance with company policies, and driving operational performance. Additionally, the Finance Manager will be responsible for monitoring internal controls, facilitating financial training and development for regional leaders and operations teams, and communicating effectively with both internal and external stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:
* Lead the preparation and analysis of monthly financial statements, including revenue, cost of goods sold, labor, and operational expenses. Compare performance against prior year, budget, and forecast, and provide insights and solutions to mitigate risks and manage costs.
* Analyze financial performance using key business metrics, highlighting significant trends to assist management in evaluating performance and achieving business goals.
* Identify and resolve billing, collections, and financial processing issues within the unit; recommend improvements as needed.
* Validate financial dashboards and ensure consistency between dashboard data and the general ledger.
* Support the month-end close process, including variance analysis of key financial drivers such as food costs and payroll.
* Develop and monitor benchmarks for key performance indicators and drivers.
* Lead the budgeting and forecasting process, working collaboratively with regional leadership and operations teams to align financial targets with business trends and outlook.
* Deliver financial training and development programs for regional leaders and operational staff to enhance financial literacy and accountability.
* Assist in new business development efforts, including methodology and proposal preparation.
* Perform ad hoc financial analyses to support strategic decision-making.
* Ensure compliance with company policies and procedures.
* Perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

Education & Experience:
* Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related field is preferred. Equivalent professional experience will be considered.
* MBA or CPA designation is a plus, but not required.
* Minimum of 5 years of experience in Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Accounting, or related field.
* Proven ability to collaborate across departments and manage tight deadlines, with a positive, proactive attitude.

Technical Skills:
* Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables and VLOOKUPs.
* Experience with SAP, Essbase, and dashboard/reporting tools preferred.
* Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

Soft Skills:
* Excellent organizational, analytical, and interpersonal skills.
* Strong written and verbal communication abilities.
* Professional demeanor with the ability to present confidently to both internal and external stakeholders.

Mathematical & Analytical Skills:
* Proficient in basic and advanced mathematical operations, including rates, ratios, percentages, and interpreting bar graphs.
* Ability to perform complex financial calculations using financial tools and calculators.

Reasoning & Decision-Making:
* Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to work through non-standardized situations.
* Demonstrated ability to multitask and manage competing priorities with keen attention to detail..

Travel Requirement:
* This employee may work from remote offices while traveling; 25% including unit visits, annual budgeting, and quarterly finance reviews.