Trade Spend Analyst

Trade Spend Analyst

North Andover, MA

Family-owned and operated, Bake’n Joy Foods, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of top-quality bakery products, founded in 1941. We manufacture a variety of products for professional bakers, including frozen scoop batters, pre-deposited muffins, cornbread, loaf cakes, and Boston Coffee Cakes, as well as mixes, and an expanding line of fully baked items such as coffee cakes, loaf cakes, and more. We remain committed to providing top-quality products, service, and value to our customers.

Summary of Position

The Trade Spend Analyst owns the financial administration and full lifecycle of customer promotional spend, from program review and system setup through accrual management, deduction resolution, payment, and balance sheet reconciliation. Serving as an independent financial control between Finance and Sales, this role ensures promotional programs are accurately configured, properly supported, and fully substantiated before payment or deduction clearance.

The analyst maintains clear visibility to open deductions and financial exposure, partners with Sales, Accounts Receivable, brokers, and customers to resolve disputes, and supports month-end close through account reconciliations and variance investigation. The role also analyzes trade spend and deduction activity to identify recurring issues, strengthen controls, and improve upstream processes.

This is a hands-on role for someone who is equally comfortable configuring pricing and accruals in an ERP, obtaining support through customer portals, following claims through resolution, and preparing a reconciliation that clearly supports the balance.

Primary Job Duties

• Review and validate marketing and customer promotional programs before system setup.
• Develop, input, and maintain advanced pricing, accrual specifications, and trade program information in the ERP system.
• Determine and prepare payment requests for end-user and customer promotional programs.
• Validate customer deductions against approved promotional programs, agreements, and supporting documentation.
• Own the customer deduction lifecycle from identification through research, validation, documentation, dispute, follow-up, clearing, and final resolution.
• Maintain detailed deduction aging and open-item reporting, including status, ownership, next steps, and financial exposure.
• Partner proactively with Sales, Accounts Receivable, brokers, and customers to resolve unsupported or outstanding deductions in a timely manner.
• Access customer portals and other available resources to obtain documentation, research deductions, and manage disputes.
• Reconcile promotional programs, accruals, deductions, payments, and related balance sheet accounts; maintain monthly supporting schedules and investigate discrepancies.
• Support month-end close activities related to trade spend, including accrual validation, account reconciliation, and investigation of significant variances.
• Prepare recurring trade spend and deduction reporting that highlights spending trends, aging, risks, root causes, and opportunities for action.
• Analyze deduction activity to identify recurring issues and partner cross-functionally to address upstream process gaps and prevent future deductions.
• Identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, and strengthen trade spend processes, controls, documentation, and reporting.
• Serve as primary backup for daily cash receipts and application, as needed.
• Assist with annual audit requirements and other Finance projects as needed.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or equivalent relevant work experience.
• Prior experience in trade spend, customer deductions, Accounts Receivable, Finance, or a related function preferred.
• Consumer packaged goods or food manufacturing experience preferred.
• Experience with an integrated ERP/accounting system; JD Edwards experience and hands-on advanced pricing, accrual, or deduction management experience are a plus.
• Intermediate to advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel and other Microsoft Office applications.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to identify trends, investigate root causes, and recommend solutions.
• Demonstrated attention to detail and commitment to financial accuracy and complete supporting documentation.
• Highly disciplined organizational skills and the ability to manage a high volume of concurrent promotional programs, deductions, and open items.
• Proactive self-starter who can manage changing priorities and follow issues through to resolution.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including the confidence to challenge unsupported claims and work effectively with internal and external partners.
• Demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement and stronger, more sustainable processes.

What Success Looks Like

Success means maintaining strong control and visibility over trade spend and customer deductions, completing accurate and timely reconciliations, driving open items to resolution, and improving promotional accuracy. Over time, this role should help Finance and Sales move from reacting to deduction issues to preventing them through better documentation, reporting, controls, and cross-functional follow-through.

Compensation

The typical starting salary range for this position is $60,000-$80,000 per year. Several factors, including skills, experience, education, certifications, and location, will determine the actual pay offered. The salary range for this role reflects the competitive labor market value for associates in these positions.

This position may also be eligible to receive a variable annual bonus based on company, team, and/or individual performance results in accordance with company policy. Bake’n Joy offers a comprehensive Total Rewards package that includes affordable, high-quality healthcare for our associates and their families, life insurance and disability benefits for security, and retirement benefits to help plan for the future.

Bake’n Joy is committed to fostering an environment where associates from all backgrounds can build long and meaningful careers. Through strong relationships, comprehensive benefits, and continuous learning opportunities, we seek to create an environment where associates can succeed, both professionally and personally.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Bake’n Joy provides equal employment opportunities to all associates and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.