Job Description

Are you ready to join a community that values shared fate, collaboration, and a commitment to operational excellence? Do you want to contribute to a brand known for quality, sustainability, and a passion for healthy living? Do you thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment that fosters innovation, problem-solving, and continuous improvement? Whole Foods Market is seeking a passionate Finance professional to join our Operations Finance team.

Note: By applying to this position, you will have the opportunity to share your preferred working location: Austin, TX (Global HQ), or Chicago, IL (regional office).

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Serve as a strategic and analytical partner, financial steward and global advocate to Store Support and Retail Operations, Workforce Planning and/or Supply Chain.
  • Act independently to leverage cross-functional partnerships to provide actionable financial analysis and consultation on key business initiatives.
  • Act as financial consultant and steward to business partners in developing financial metrics, goals and assessment relevancy aligned with financial targets.
  • Provide regular portfolio reviews with cross functional senior leadership to inform strategy and prioritize resources focused on driving sales and improving profitability.
• Provide and deliver actionable and informed insights on key financial metrics, highlights opportunities, and quantifies benchmarking goals and milestones.
  • Seek to better understand business drivers, identify notable trends and validate forecast accuracy.
  • Facilitate conversations between store support partners where forecasts and initiatives are at risk based on economic trends, business trend performance and conflicting assumptions.
  • Produce Financial Reporting to provide insight to relevant business partners on results for month-end review and associated calls and presentations.
    • Coordinate Monthly and Quarterly Review content for Store Support and Retail Operations Leadership.
  • Identify profit improvement areas and proactively lead the development of financial analysis and models to solve complex challenges facing the business and evaluate growth opportunities.
  • Support financial analysis and financial outlook on Stores with Losses and New Stores’ performance.
  • Engage in data mining and ad hoc business analysis to solve complex problems and benchmark performance and outliers.
• Partner with Corporate Planning and Merch Finance to understand holistic profitability opportunities, determine the most accurate targeting assumptions, and identify process improvements.
  • Contribute thought leadership within Finance on process improvement and automation, report streamlining opportunities and assumption validation considerations.   
  • Provide operational insights, trends and challenges to incorporate into performance review and forecast update conversations with cross-functional business partners (e.g., Merch teams, Store Development Team, Tech, etc.).
  • Continually improve Accounting & Financial management processes to most effectively meet the organization’s growth projections.
• Partner with the Ops Finance leadership to understand underlying retail business drivers and to manage team deadlines, drive continuous improvement and ensure the team produces strong modeling and analytics.
  • Communicate clearly to all stakeholders on goals / expectations to meet defined timelines.
  • Focused on gaining experience and demonstrating readiness for Senior Team Leader role.
  • Ensure wide-spread sharing and application of lessons learned.
  • Mentor analysts and oversee work product to develop, coach and elevate team performance and deliverables.
• Develop and recommend improved data collection and analysis methods, including methods to:
  • Improve automation and standardization,
  • Rapidly respond to changing business conditions,
  • Ensure data security, availability and integrity.
• Generate high quality, error-free deliverables appropriate for executive presentations.
• Maintain a high level of curiosity about our business and collaborate with or lead peers and business leaders to better understand primary drivers of financial performance.
• Willing to travel up to 10%, domestically and internationally, as required.
• Other ad hoc duties as required.

PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE

• Advanced understanding of Financial Planning & Analysis concepts, principles and practices.
• Excellent ability to compile, monitor, and examine financial statements, reports & accounts.
• Excellent understanding of multiple reporting and Accounting and Financial systems.
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, Workday, Tableau, Everclear & other WFM reporting tools.
• Able to identify improved methods of performing database management, manipulation and analysis.

ADAPTABILITY

• Engages with leadership to ensure priorities align with and support strategic business objectives.

COMMUNICATION, IMPACT & INFLUENCE

• Demonstrates exceptional interpersonal communication skills and levels of tact, diplomacy and confidentiality.
• Communicates effectively with all types of audiences, internally and externally, including senior leadership.
• Conveys and consults on complex matters with broad organizational significance.

TEAMWORK

• Cultivates a sense of community by collaborating with fellow Team Members to achieve group or organizational goals.
• Supports a philosophy of ‘shared fate’.

EMPOWERMENT & ACCOUNTABILITY

• Provides consultation and advice to others within and beyond the team.

JUDGEMENT & DECISION MAKING

• Develops complex solutions to business problems through in-depth analysis and coordination / negotiation with key decision makers.
• Uses experience, innovation, and judgment to make decisions that may be based on partial information.
• Considers enterprise-wide implications of decisions and recommendations.

BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE

• Demonstrates strategic understanding of business objectives, competitive strengths and opportunities of WFM and supported region / stores.
• Leverages knowledge of customer, market and industry trends and emerging challenges to make business improvement recommendations.
• Demonstrates exceptional knowledge of the WFM product mix, supply base and retail operations.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• BA/BS and/or Masters degree and 6-8 years relevant experience OR equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Education in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance or Economics preferred.

At Whole Foods Market, we provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all Team Members and candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, marital status, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic. Whole Foods Market hires and promotes individuals solely based on qualifications for the position to be filled and business needs.

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