What are the responsibilities and job description for the FP&A Manager position at KiddeFenwal?
About KiddeFenwal
KiddeFenwal is a global leader in the design and manufacturing of industrial and commercial fire suppression systems and safety controls. Our trusted brands—Kidde Fire Systems and Kidde Fire Protection—deliver certified fire detection, suppression, and control solutions across the industrial, commercial, and marine sectors. Fenwal Controls supports OEMs with advanced gas ignition, temperature control, and overheat detection products.
Headquartered in Ashland, Massachusetts, we operate globally with facilities in the United States, United Kingdom (KFI-UK), and India (KTI-India). Learn more at www.kiddefenwal.com.
Our Purpose
We protect lives, livelihoods, and iconic assets through innovative solutions, strong partnerships, and an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction. Built on a foundation of integrity and safety, we deliver results with agility, excellence, and teamwork.
Position Overview
The FP&A Manager is a key member of the finance leadership team in a PE-backed engineered manufacturing company, responsible for managing liquidity, driving working capital efficiency, overseeing OPEX, and delivering data-driven insights that support value creation.
This position drives liquidity management, working capital efficiency, and operating expense discipline to support enterprise value creation, partnering closely with Operations and Procurement to optimize inventory management and ensure alignment between financial and operational objectives. The role combines rigorous financial planning with hands-on operational partnership, ensuring tight alignment between production, supply chain, and financial goals to maximize cash flow and profitability.
The FP&A Manager will enhance business visibility into cash flow and OPEX spending by establishing performance KPIs, tracking results, and providing proactive guidance to improve liquidity, cost efficiency, and profitability across the enterprise.
This individual manages, assesses and trains the existing team to build up a functional team. The FP&A Manager, together with the team, will also support the FP&A director in external reporting.
Key Responsibilities
Cash Flow Management
- Develop and maintain detailed weekly, monthly, and quarterly cash flow forecasts with precision expected in a PE-owned environment.
- Monitor liquidity and funding needs to support production schedules, capital investments, and growth initiatives.
- Partner with Accounting and other functions to ensure accurate reporting and proactive management of cash requirements.
- Support CFO and PE stakeholders with scenario modeling, cash bridge analyses, and liquidity risk assessments.
Working Capital Optimization
- Drive continuous improvement in the cash conversion cycle (CCC) by optimizing receivables, payables, and inventory performance.
- Collaborate with Operations and Procurement to establish best practices in order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, and inventory management, ensuring optimal working capital utilization.
- Lead initiatives to unlock working capital and improve free cash flow, in line with PE performance metrics.
- Report and analyze working capital KPIs, providing actionable recommendations for improvement.
- Assist the preparation of reports to the investors and lenders, assist in the monthly operations review and board meeting presentation.
OPEX Oversight, Financial Planning and Reporting
- Monitor OPEX across departments and manufacturing sites, ensuring alignment with budgets and cost-efficiency targets.
- Proactively lead periodic reviews with various functions to ensure the business understands cost drivers and improvement opportunities.
- Identify and explain variances versus forecast and prior year, with a focus on operational levers and cost savings.
- Support the annual operating plan, reforecast cycles, and board reporting requirements.
Team Management
- Evaluate the current FP&A team structure, skills, and workload to ensure alignment with business needs
- Provide coaching, development, and clear direction to strengthen team capabilities and performance
- Team up with the director to build an effective, collaborative FP&A team that delivers timely, high-quality financial insights
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, or related field; MBA, CPA, or CMA preferred.
- 8 to 10 years of progressive FP&A experience, with direct exposure to PE-backed manufacturing or industrial companies. Proven track record of building up a functional team that thrives in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong knowledge of manufacturing finance, including cost, OPEX, production cycles, and supply chain drivers.
- Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills; experience with ERP systems (JDE, Oracle, NetSuite, or similar).
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, able to interact effectively with other finance leaders, various functions within the company and other external parties.
- Proactive, hands-on, and results-oriented, with a strong ability for execution in a fast-paced environment.
- Proven ability to thrive in a performance-driven and highly analytical environment.
Success Indicators
- Consistently accurate and actionable cash flow forecasts.
- Reduction in working capital days and improvement in free cash flow generation.
- Optimized inventory levels that support business growth while minimizing excess.
- Clear, data-driven financial insights delivered to management and investors.
- Strong collaboration between Finance, Operations, Procurement, and PE stakeholders to drive enterprise value.
KiddeFenwal, LLC is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We welcome all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, or other protected
Salary : $150,000 - $180,000