Senior Finance Manager - Commercial Food

This is not just any Finance team… this is the M&S Food Finance team!

M&S Food is on a mission to deliver exceptional quality, innovation, and value for our customers every day. We’re redefining what great food retail looks like, combining trusted sourcing with bold ideas to create products that excite and inspire. Our vision is to lead the market in quality and sustainability, while driving growth through data‑driven decisions and customer‑focused strategies. This is your opportunity to be part of a brand that’s proud of its heritage but focused firmly on shaping the future of food retail.

Fully woven into the DNA of M&S, our Finance team plays a fundamental role in shaping business decisions, delivering targets, analysing performance, managing costs, and ensuring our most vital data is accurate. We add value by helping every area of the business make data‑driven decisions and understand what drives commercial performance.

We’re looking for a highly motivated and commercially minded Senior Finance Manager to join our Food Commercial Finance team. In this role, you’ll lead a team of three and partner with our Ambient Trading teams to deliver the ambitious Food transformation programme, driving revenue and profit to meet business unit targets.

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.

Due to high interest, this role may close earlier than advertised. We recommend applying as soon as possible.

Your key accountabilities will include:

• Lead financial performance for Ambient Trading: Take ownership of the P&L, balance sheet, and controls, ensuring delivery of revenue and profit targets while influencing pricing, promotions, and supplier negotiations.
• Provide insight and challenge
  :
  Use data and analytics to inform decisions, identify risks and opportunities, and assess strategic initiatives, ensuring shareholder value is at the heart of every decision.
• Drive commercial planning and governance: Oversee budgets, forecasts, and performance reviews; manage robust governance processes around pricing, supplier performance, and compliance with GSCOP obligations.
• Optimise supplier and commodity management: Support Joint Business Plans, track inflation impacts, and work with buying teams and suppliers to ensure competitive pricing and maximise supplier income opportunities.
• Enhance reporting and capability: Collaborate with Business Service Centre and Analytics teams to improve reporting processes, deliver month‑end insights, and participate in initiatives to build finance capability across the team.

Your skills and experience will include:

• Qualified accountant (CIMA, ACCA, ACA, CA) with at least 5 years’ post‑qualification experience.
• Strong commercial acumen and experience in business partnering, ideally in retail or FMCG.
• Proven ability to communicate and influence at senior levels, with a collaborative and solution‑driven approach.
• Expertise in budgeting, forecasting, business case appraisal, and governance.
• Leadership experience with a track record of developing teams and driving performance.

Working at M&S means being part of something bigger - helping to deliver quality, value and service to millions of customers every day. We’re inclusive, fast‑moving and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.

Here are just a few of the benefits that make working here even more rewarding:

• 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and many third‑party brands for you and someone in your household, available once you’ve completed your probation
• Competitive holiday allowance with the option to buy more
• Discretionary bonus schemes linked to your performance and ours
• Strong pension and life assurance to help plan for the future
• Tailored induction and training to support your development from day one
• Exclusive perks and savings through our M&S Choices portal
• Market‑leading family policies, including parental, adoption and neonatal leave
• 24/7 wellbeing support, including virtual…