Two Job Opportunities - Assistant Controller and SFA

There are two job opportunities (Assistant Controller and SFA) that I have been made aware of through one of my executive recruiter contacts. If you are interested in applying and think you will be a good fit, please email me (cmacasemaster (at) gmail (dot) com) and I will refer you (in the email please include a short summary of your qualifications because I don't want to refer anyone who is unqualified).

 

Here is the job info that my contact has provided: 

 

My client, a very well known, tier one, Foodservice company, is in need of an ASSISTANT CONTROLLER (also am in need of a sharp SFA, 75-85k).

This is a KEY position within the finance department, responsible for meeting the monthly, quarterly and annual reporting requirements. You will also be managing the accounting functions of the Finance Team, monitoring cash flow, treasury transactions, monthly analysis and reporting of variances between actual and budgeted revenues, G&A and capital expenditures, overseeing day to day operations, account reconciliations, etc.

You will also be coaching a highly motivated group.

The Controller is a CA but has a strong FP&A background. So she is looking for someone who also has a strategic outlook, not just a number cruncher, and someone who will be able to business partner effectively with different teams and coach and mentor their staff.

We ideally are in need of a CA or CMA, who has 5-8 years of related accounting and finance experience. A minimum of 3 years supervisory/managerial experience would be ideal as well.

It is paying up to 95k, plus a 10% bonus.

This is an urgent need and the company is a fast growing, extremely profitable and fast paced organization that offers room for advancement and great benefits!

Where To Hold SLP Year 2 Group Meetings?

One issue our group in year 2 of the CMA SLP had was where to hold our group meetings. We met every single weekend, sometimes both Saturday and Sunday. We tried various locations and here are some of the pros and cons that we found on the various locations and what we eventually settled on:

Coffee Shops

We tried meeting at coffee shops but that was a fail. Even though there are many locations to choose from which was great, we had issues with no available plugs, small tables where we were not able to fit all of our laptops and notes, and sometimes not enough free tables at all. We gave up on this fast.

Reserving Public Library Rooms

For a while we would meet at public libraries, where a member would book a room. It was a great set up. Large conference style table, a board where we could write things out, a lot of space for notes and laptops and many plugs. But the amount of time that we were able to reserve the rooms for was limited and we were not allowed to book a room back to back and often we would run out of time and have to leave even though we still had things to address so we had to look for another option. Another con was that since the room was in the Library (and it had poor sound insulation), we were often reminded to keep it down, which was hard when we were having (sometimes heated) debates about topics.

Meeting at a University

Our CMA SLP used to take place at a University for a while, before moving to the downtown location. So one day we just went for a walk throughout the university building to look for some available free space and we found one. Universities sometimes have areas with some tables and chairs and plugs so students can study/spend time there between classes. This was working well but the con was that we had to pay for parking each time we were there and since we met a lot this added up quickly. 

Meeting at Someone's Home

We tried meeting in someone's home. This was a great option in that we had plenty of space, we were not limited in time, free parking, snacks available, etc. The con was that someone's family home would get taken over for hours and other family members may not be too happy about this. If you have a large home with a separate area where you can accommodate this without disrupting your spouse/kids/family then I think this is the best option. Group members would bring snacks to share and I think this helped foster a more friendly group environment - the last thing you want is to argue with a bunch of hungry and tired people.  

Image courtesy of Sura Nualpradid FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How To Prepare For CMA SLP Year 2

I have received several emails as well as a forum question on how to prepare for Year 2 of the CMA Strategic Leadership Program (SLP). Looks like this is something that quite a few people are wondering about so I put together this post to share my view on how to prepare for Year 2 of the CMA SLP program: 

I would be one of those to tell you 'enjoy your summer and when Year 2 of the CMA SLP program starts, you will review and refresh yourself on anything that you feel you may have forgotten and catch up on things you may not know'.

But if I were really set on reviewing things during the summer this is what I would do:

• I would review all the various case components (situational analysis, NPV, recommendations, action plan, situational analysis, SWOT, etc.) as well as quantitative methods like payback period, IRR, variances and general concepts like the value chain and balanced scorecard. I wouldn't study these in depth, rather I would just review these before the start of year 2 to make sure that I remember and understand what these are and how to approach them properly.
• I would get myself comfortable with powerpoint (creating slides, visuals, graphs, links, etc.) for all the presentations that you will be doing in year
• I would also get comfortable with excel for all the quants you will be doing. The quants in year 2 are more detailed and lengthy and being comfortable with excel could help you streamline these quants.
• I would practice presenting and speaking in front of a crowd as you will be doing a lot of that.