Job Information
Jack Link's IT Business Relationship Manager - Finance in Minneapolis, Minnesota
When it comes to being wild, we know a thing or two. We're not afraid of trying something new or the hard work it takes to make it happen. It's in our DNA. We've turned a family recipe into a new snacking category. And the wilderness into the world's largest meat snack business, that's still proudly family owned and operated.
We're a company built by innovators, and are driven to not only satisfy your hunger, but to also feed your journey – whether that journey is on the road, on the run, at the campground, at the playground, in the office or in the moment. It’s a journey we share with you. It’s the journey forward of our people, of our communities, of our category…with a reverence for quality and an irreverence for the status quo.
At Jack Link's Protein Snacks, we see every moment of every day as an opportunity to move forward, to forge new ground. To realize our vision of becoming the World’s #1 Protein Snack Company. We never give up. You never give up. Together, we keep going. Are you wild enough to join us?
Jack Link's Protein Snacks is a global leader in snacking and the No. 1 meat snack manufacturer worldwide. Family-owned and operated with headquarters in Minong, Wisconsin, Jack Link’s Protein Snacks also has a large corporate hub in Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company is made up of over 4,000 passionate team members, across 11 countries, who share an uncompromising commitment to delivering awesome products and feeding the journey of those who move things forward. The Jack Link’s Protein Snacks portfolio of brands includes, Jack Link’s, Lorissa’s Kitchen, MATADOR Jerky, BiFi and Peperami.
The IT Business Relationship Manager (BRM) for our Finance function is a senior-level, strategic partner whose primary objective is to bridge the gap between different functions (Technology, People, Finance and external suppliers) by breaking down silos and optimizing cohesive effectiveness.
Accountable for building trust, competency, and value, this role will drive transformational growth through innovative technology, industry leading best practices/processes and the full scope of IT capabilities and services. As the trusted technology advisor to/for the Jack Link’s Finance Team, this role is the primary interface between our Finance and IT teams, sharing ownership of organizational strategy and value results.
The ideal candidate will possess exceptional Finance platform domain knowledge and should be an expert in both shaping demand and translating business requirements into technical requirements. As Jack Link’s pursues IT-supported business transformation initiatives, this role will collaborate with domain and functional leaders, IT partners, and members of global Jack Link’s Finance teams, driving solutions that reduce friction, optimizing business processes, improving user experience and promoting data driven decision-making.
Objectives Of This Role
Provide leadership and discipline, earning a trusted advisor role with the Jack Link’s Finance team
Establish, foster and maintain relationships with client stakeholders, solving problems and providing day-to-day contact on project status, changes, spend and risks/solutions.
Manage resources from project discovery and requirements gathering all the way through deployment. Influence schedules and budgets, lead implementation planning, manage risks.
Provide purpose, direction, and motivation for initiatives and project teams.
Manage value realization of projects. Measure benefits and outcomes, communicate about success and opportunities, cross-promote benefits to other business teams where similar work would improve performance.
Develop, share, and deploy best practices across IT Develop the project team to ensure maximum performance, by providing purpose, direction, and motivation. Develop, share, and leverage best practices across IT
Communicate business needs to gain alignment between business needs and technical capabilities
Promotes business projects and their value to the IT leaders and community
Analyze project status and, when necessary, revise the scope, schedule, or budget to ensure that project requirements can be met
Maintain up-to-date awareness of the current and future directions of the industry and associated technologies, and, where appropriate, makes recommendations for implementation of new/upgraded systems and technologies
Assist in the business case development for strategic roadmap projects
Define programs and projects, and provides recommendations for prioritization
The duties and responsibilities of this position consist of be are not limited to the following:
Leadership and Strategic Partnership: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to jointly determine strategic direction. Align business goals with technology solutions and financial outcomes. Provide coaching and development of direct and/or matrix reports, driving individual and team success by providing actionable, evidence-based feedback to drive results, grow skills and optimize resources. Effectively promote business projects and value to the IT leaders and community. Help define and communicate new services to support business needs. Participate in development of IT and business strategic planning. Lead the development of business cases requiring IT-based solutions. Establish initial vendor relationships and maintains a forward-looking view of vendor direction.
Relationship Building: Act as the liaison and broker for IT resources required for joint IT/Business initiatives. Cultivate strong relationships with internal stakeholders, external partners, and clients, understanding their needs, challenges, and pain points. Develop and maintain partnerships with third-party resources, including vendors and researchers. Build and maintain strong relationships with business partners and act as a liaison between IT teams and the business partners.
Collaboration: Work closely with finance teams, business leaders, and project managers. Ensure alignment between financial goals and operational execution. Interfaces with vendors to understand whether vendor products will meet business requirements. Monitors that the solutions are meeting the business partner’s expectations. Refines SLAs based on business need, skillfully setting/re-setting expectations. Maintains up-to-date awareness of industry and technology trends, and makes recommendations for implementation of new/upgraded systems and technologies
Communication: Communicate complex financial concepts to non-finance stakeholders. Influence decision-making through effective communication. Communicates business needs with appropriate IT solution center to gain alignment between business needs and technical capabilities
Value Delivery: Drive value creation by identifying opportunities for process improvement, cost reduction, and revenue growth. Translate business requirements into actionable initiatives. Acts as innovator, seeking to optimize solutions, processes via automation and other methods. Continuously drive ‘the art of the possible’. Acts an embedded, trusted advisor to business partners to shape their technology strategy, ensuring awareness of and access to, the full scope of IT service offerings
Risk Management: Assess risks related to financial decisions, investments, and projects. Provide recommendations to mitigate risks. Assists in the identification and development of key metrics used to track results and value delivery. Provides details on cost, value, and opportunity to optimize IT spend (initiatives and support services).
Change Management: Facilitate organizational change by promoting a culture of creativity, innovation, and shared ownership. Partners with Business Analysts, IT and Business Process Owners, to help business units define new capabilities, new solutions. Gathers high-level business requirements and defines scope during initial discovery by conducting meetings/interviews and facilitating large group/cross-functional sessions with partners and defines, prioritizes, and manages program and project initiatives.
Education: BS/BA Degree or equivalent work experience
Experience:
10 years of experience in a professional, dynamic, collaborative information systems environment
5+ years of functional experience across Accounting/Finance. CPA credential is a plus.
5+ years business relationship management skills with customer facing experience
5+ years of experience with SAP FI/CO, S4/HANA
Strong experience with requirements gathering, prioritization, collaborating across multiple business teams
Proven experience in defining, aligning, and influencing strategy and identifying technology solutions which support the strategy
Ability to lead requirements gathering workshops
Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate with a variety of audiences including various levels of management, vendors, business teams with varied levels of skill/experience.
Ability to clearly communicate technical subject matter to a non-technical audience. Strong interpersonal skills in a diverse cultural environment.
Experience managing vendor relationships
Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a fast-paced environment and make sound decisions in urgent situations. Strong analytical, problem-solving, and prioritization skills.
Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams without formal authority
Required Skills, Knowledge & Experience:
Influential leader able to facilitate discussions between multi-functional teams and enable them to discover solutions to complex problems, manage stakeholder expectations and resolve conflicts
Demonstrated thought leadership, critical thinking skills, common sense and creativity
Finance and financial systems domain knowledge
Strong analytical skills to critically evaluate information gathered from multiple sources
Ability to distinguish requirements from nice-to-have features and recognize root causes behind business issues.
Expert collaborator, capable of managing multiple initiatives with conflicting priorities simultaneously with a high degree of independence
Ability to validate data obtained via other techniques and expose new areas for elicitation
Understanding of contemporary requirements gathering practices and the ability to apply
Experience in coaching project team members to strengthen their abilities and skill sets
Strong attention to deadlines and budgetary guidelines
Proven success working with all levels of management
Strong written and verbal communication and excellent presentation skills
Professional certifications such as PMP, CPA is a plus but not required
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:
Jack Link’s provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic that is protected by federal, state or local law.
E-VERIFY:
Jack Link’s is participant in the federal E-Verify program to confirm the identity and employment authorization of all newly hired employees. For information about the E-Verify program, please visit: http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify/employees
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.