VP Finance & Compliance F/H

THE ROLE

As Vice President Finance & Compliance, you will be a key member of the Leach International Europe leadership team and a strategic business partner to the President and the operational leadership team.

This is not a traditional corporate finance role. The VP Finance is expected to be deeply connected to the business and to play an active role in driving performance, profitability and cash generation. You will combine strong financial leadership with a hands‑on understanding of operations, customers, pricing, programs, working capital and organizational performance.

You will own the financial agenda of the business and provide the President and leadership with the financial visibility, challenge and discipline required to make fast, fact‑based decisions.

You will be expected to:

• Translate operational performance into financial impact.

• Protect and improve EBITDA.

• Drive cash generation and working capital discipline.

• Support profitable growth and value‑based pricing.

• Improve productivity and cost structure.

• Ensure rigorous forecasting and accountability.

• Provide clear, concise and fact‑based information to leadership.

• Develop a high‑performing Finance organization.

• Act as an owner of the business, not simply as its financial reporter.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Business and Financial Leadership

Own the financial performance of Leach International Europe and provide the President with a clear and actionable view of business performance.

• Translate business objectives into measurable financial targets.

• Monitor revenue, gross margin, EBITDA, working capital, cash flow and profitability.

• Identify performance gaps early and drive corrective actions.

• Challenge business assumptions and ensure financial consequences are understood before decisions are made.

• Establish a strong performance management rhythm across the organization.

• Ensure that financial performance is understood and owned by operational leaders.

• Provide clear recommendations rather than simply reporting financial information.

• The successful candidate will be comfortable asking difficult questions and challenging senior leaders when the facts do not support the proposed course of action.

2. EBITDA and Profitability Improvement

A central responsibility of the VP Finance will be to drive EBITDA improvement and sustainable profitability.

You will work closely with Operations, Sales, Supply Chain, Engineering and Program Management to:

• EBITDA improvement opportunities.

• Monitor productivity and cost performance.

• Challenge labor and overhead structures.

• Analyze manufacturing performance and absorption.

• Improve cost visibility and accountability.

• Identify margin leakage.

• Support make‑or‑buy and sourcing decisions.

• Evaluate product and customer profitability.

• Identify underperforming activities and develop recovery plans.

• Ensure that improvement initiatives deliver measurable financial results.

• You will have a strong bias toward action and measurable results.

3. Cash and Working Capital

Cash generation is a core component of the role. You will establish a strong cash culture throughout the organization and actively manage:

• Accounts receivable.

• Accounts payable.

• Inventory.

• Customer payment terms.

• Supplier payment terms.

• Excess and obsolete inventory.

• Working capital requirements.

• Capital expenditure.

• Cash forecasting.

• You will challenge the organization to understand that profit is not cash and ensure that operational decisions are evaluated for their cash impact.

• You will establish clear ownership of working capital metrics and drive corrective actions when performance deviates from target.

4. Forecasting, Budgeting and Performance Management

Lead the annual budget, strategic planning and forecasting processes in close partnership with the President and Finance organization.

Responsibilities include:

• Annual operating plan.

• Monthly forecasting.

• Long-range planning.

• Monthly financial reviews.

• Variance analysis.

• Scenario modelling.

• Business cases.

• Productivity tracking.

• Capital expenditure planning.

• Headcount and labor cost planning.

• Forecasts must be accurate, transparent and actionable.

The VP Finance will ensure that forecasts reflect the latest operational reality rather than simply rolling forward historical assumptions.

5. Commercial Finance and Value Creation

The VP Finance will be an active partner to Sales and the commercial organization.

You will support:

• Pricing strategy.

• Customer negotiations.

• Contract profitability.

• Program economics.

• Customer and product profitability.

• Long‑term agreements.

• Business development decisions.

• New product and program evaluations.

• Value‑based pricing initiatives.

• You will ensure that commercial decisions are evaluated based on economic value, profitability and cash generation, not revenue growth alone.

6. Operational Finance

The role requires a strong understanding of manufacturing operations.

You will work closely with Operations to understand and improve:

• Direct labor productivity.

• Indirect labor.

• Manufacturing overhead.

• Capacity utilization.

• Scrap and rework.

• Material usage.

• Inventory turns.

• Production efficiency.

• Overtime.

• Industrialization costs.

• Capital investments.

• The VP Finance should be comfortable spending time on the shop floor and discussing operational performance directly with plant leadership.

Finance must be connected to what is actually happening in the business.

7. Financial Control, Compliance and Governance

Ensure a robust financial control environment consistent with Leach International Europe requirements and applicable regulatory standards.

Responsibilities include:

• Financial reporting.

• Internal controls.

• SOX compliance.

• Audit management.

• Statutory accounts.

• Tax coordination.

• Treasury.

• Accounting policies.

• Risk management.

• Compliance.

• Internal and external audit relationships…

LEADERSHIP & ORGANIZATION

The VP Finance will lead and develop the Finance organization across the relevant Leach International Europe operations.

Build a high‑performance Finance team.

• Develop strong financial talent.

• Establish clear roles and accountability.

• Raise the quality and speed of financial analysis.

• Develop successors and future Finance leaders.

• Promote continuous improvement.

• Ensure Finance is viewed as a business partner rather than an administrative function.

• The company places significant emphasis on developing internal leadership talent and filling a substantial proportion of senior leadership positions through internal promotion.

The successful VP Finance will therefore be expected to build both financial performance and organizational capability.

TRANSFORMING FINANCE

The successful candidate will be expected to continuously improve the Finance function.

Key priorities may include:

• Ensure Finance is viewed as a business partner rather than an administrative function.

• Simplifying reporting.

• Improving data quality.

• Increasing reporting speed.

• Automating repetitive activities.

• Strengthening management dashboards.

• Improving forecasting accuracy.

• Increasing financial transparency.

• Establishing standardized performance indicators.

• Improving cost accounting.

• Strengthening business partnering.

• Increasing the use of data in decision‑making.

• Turn that information into better decisions.

LEADERSHIP EXPECTATIONS

Leach International Culture requires leaders who are:

• Owner‑minded

• You take personal responsibility for results.

• You do not wait for someone else to solve a problem.

• You identify the issue, quantify the impact, define the action and follow through.

• Fact‑based

• Decisions are driven by facts, data and financial impact.

• Entrepreneurial

• Performance‑oriented

• Operationally engaged

We are looking for a senior Finance leader with significant experience in an industrial, manufacturing or aerospace environment, ideally within a decentralized or performance‑driven organization. You will demonstrate: Strong technical financial and accounting foundations. Proven experience managing a manufacturing P&L. Strong understanding of EBITDA and cash generation. Demonstrated track record of improving profitability. Experience with budgeting, forecasting and strategic planning. Strong commercial finance capabilities. Experience partnering with Operations and Sales. Strong internal control and compliance awareness. Excellent analytical capabilities. Ability to operate effectively in an international environment. Experience within aerospace, automotive, industrial manufacturing, engineered products or another complex manufacturing environment would be highly valued. Experience in a private‑equity‑style, decentralized or highly performance‑oriented environment would be a strong advantage. Master’s degree, MBA or equivalent qualification preferred. Professional accounting qualification such as CPA, ACCA, CIMA, DSCG or equivalent would be an advantage. Fluent English is required. French is strongly preferred given the French operating environment. Results‑driven. Pragmatic. Resilient. Intellectually curious. Commercially minded. Comfortable with ambiguity. Comfortable challenging senior management. Able to move quickly from analysis to action. Highly credible with operational leaders. Able to communicate complex financial matters simply. Comfortable operating in a demanding, high‑accountability environment. Most importantly, you should have a genuine ownership mentality.