General Manager – Financial Planning & Control (Automotive)

Role Purpose

The General Manager – Financial Planning & Control is responsible for end-to-end financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and financial control across industrial, services, manufacturing, and ancillary businesses, with a mandatory focus on automotive manufacturing or vehicle assembly operations.

The role is hands-on and execution-driven, owning financial modelling, CAPEX and OPEX management, cash flow forecasting, fund management, incentives analysis, and decision-gateway support. The position supports OEM commercial negotiations, works with government ministries and regulators, and coordinates with financial institutions for project funding and incentives.

Key Responsibilities

1. Financial Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting

• Lead annual budgets, rolling forecasts, and medium-term financial plans across manufacturing, services, and ancillary units.
• Develop integrated financial forecasts covering volumes, revenues, cost structures, margins, overheads, and cash flows.
• Perform variance and driver analysis and support corrective actions with operational teams.

2. Financial Modelling & Decision Support

• Build and maintain robust, bottom-up financial models for plants, projects, and ancillary businesses.
• Develop integrated P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow models with scenario and sensitivity analysis.
• Support management and investment committees with decision-ready financial analysis.

3. CAPEX Planning, Control & Decision Gateways

• Own CAPEX planning and control for manufacturing plants, industrial projects, service expansions, and ancillary facilities.
• Prepare stage-gate and decision-gateway financial packs including updated forecasts, ROI, risks, and sensitivities.
• Track approvals, commitments, utilization, and conduct post-investment reviews.

4. OPEX Management & Cost Control

• Lead OPEX planning and monitoring across automotive and industrial operations.
• Analyze fixed and variable cost structures, absorption, and efficiency drivers.
• Partner with operations and supply chain teams to support cost optimization initiatives.

5. Cash Flow Forecasting, Working Capital & Fund Management

• Prepare short- and medium-term cash flow forecasts aligned with production and CAPEX plans.
• Monitor and optimize working capital across inventory, receivables, and payables.
• Track utilization of project loans, working capital facilities, and incentive-linked funding.

6. Investment & Incentives Analysis

• Develop investment business cases for plants, expansions, localization programs, and ancillaries.
• Perform ROI, IRR, NPV, payback, and break-even analysis.
• Analyze government incentives, subsidies, tax benefits, and duty exemptions and embed them into financial models.

7. OEM Negotiations & External Stakeholder Engagement

• Provide financial modelling and analytical support for negotiations with global automotive OEMs.
• Support discussions with government ministries and regulators on financial approvals and incentives.
• Coordinate with banks and DFIs on project finance, working capital, and covenant reporting.

Mandatory Skills & Experience (Must Have)

• Automotive manufacturing or vehicle assembly experience is mandatory (OEM plant or assembly operations only).

• Strong industrial / manufacturing finance background.

• Hands-on FP&A, financial modelling, CAPEX and OPEX control experience.

• Cash flow forecasting, working capital, and fund management expertise.

• Investment appraisal, decision-gateway, and incentives analysis exposure.

• Experience working with OEMs, government bodies, and financial institutions.

Education & Professional Background

• MBA / Master’s in Finance, Accounting, or Business

• CA / ACCA / CFA preferred

Success Measures

• Accuracy and robustness of financial plans and models

• Effective CAPEX governance and incentive realization

• Improved cash flow visibility and discipline

• Strong financial support to plant and investment decisions