What are the responsibilities and job description for the Regional Director Finance NA Operations position at Yanfeng?
Yanfeng Automotive Interiors (YFAI) is the global leader in automotive interiors. YFAI is redefining how people relax, work and play in their vehicle interiors today and decades from now. Headquartered in Shanghai, the company has 114 manufacturing plants and technical centers in 20 countries and more than 33,000 employees globally. They design, develop and manufacture interior components for all automakers. Established in 2015, Yanfeng Automotive Interiors is a joint venture between Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems Co., Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Huayu Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. (HASCO), the component group of SAIC Motor Corporation Limited (SAIC Motor), and Adient, the global leader in automotive seating. For more information, please visit www.YFAI.com.
Key Responsibilities
Experience & Education Requirements
Required Skill Set
Technical Skills Operational Costing: Mastery of how materials and manufacturing costs turn into a finished part cost. Regional Consolidation: Ability to roll up dozens of plant spreadsheets into one clear regional report Inventory Control: Keeping a tight grip Inventory to prevent waste – partnering with Supply Chain for accurate system usage and regular cycle counts.
Cross-Border Knowledge: Understanding the basics of doing business in both the US and Mexico (tariffs, labor rates, etc.).
Leadership & Soft Skills Truth-Seeking: Ability to look at a plant's report and quickly see if the numbers are accurate or contain risk or inaccuracies Tough Conversations: Comfortable respectfully challenging operations or functional leaders Executive Presence: Ability to stand in front of North America leadership and explain exactly why the region hit (or missed) its numbers. Simplification: Taking an immense amount of data and turning it into summarized bullet points that the leadership team can act on.
Key Responsibilities
- Team Development: Directly manage and mentor all Plant Controllers in North America. You are responsible for hiring, training, and ensuring every plant has a strong, "CFO-minded" leader in charge with a deep talent bench.
- Forecast Leadership: Drive the monthly, quarterly, and annual "Rolling Forecast" process across all North American sites. You are responsible for ensuring that plant-level projections for volume and manufacturing costs are realistic and grounded in data, reducing the gap between actual results and the forecast.
- Standardization: Ensure every plant calculates its costs the same way, using standard budget development tools and consistent account usage. This allows for clear "apples-to-apples" comparison of plant performance across the entire region.
- Performance Monitoring: Review monthly results for every site to spot trends, catch errors, and identify which plants need extra support to hit their profit goals.
- Financial Integrity: Provide oversight of the region’s balance sheet to proactively minimize risk. You are responsible for driving accurate inventory valuations, proper management of accruals, and maintaining documentation to ensure every plant passes internal and external audits.
- Capital Stewardship: Review and approve all major requests for new equipment or facility upgrades. You will ensure plants deliver the promised return on investment and additionally, help identify opportunities for automation to reduce overall costs.
- Operations Partnering: Work side-by-side with Operations leadership to plan the regional strategy, including manufacturing footprint, product mix, and capabilities. You will play a key role in defining performance targets and driving continuous improvement.
- Operational Integration: Translate complex factory-floor data (such as machine downtime or material waste) into clear financial reports that enable leadership to make better, faster decisions.
Experience & Education Requirements
- At least 12–15 years of finance experience, with a heavy focus on Automotive Tier 1 or Tier 2 supply. You must understand and speak the language of the plant floor.
- Proven experience managing the finances for multiple factories at once, ideally across the US and Mexico.
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance or Accounting is required.
- An MBA or a CMA (Certified Management Accountant) is strongly preferred.
- Expert-level experience with large ERP systems
Required Skill Set
Technical Skills Operational Costing: Mastery of how materials and manufacturing costs turn into a finished part cost. Regional Consolidation: Ability to roll up dozens of plant spreadsheets into one clear regional report Inventory Control: Keeping a tight grip Inventory to prevent waste – partnering with Supply Chain for accurate system usage and regular cycle counts.
Cross-Border Knowledge: Understanding the basics of doing business in both the US and Mexico (tariffs, labor rates, etc.).
Leadership & Soft Skills Truth-Seeking: Ability to look at a plant's report and quickly see if the numbers are accurate or contain risk or inaccuracies Tough Conversations: Comfortable respectfully challenging operations or functional leaders Executive Presence: Ability to stand in front of North America leadership and explain exactly why the region hit (or missed) its numbers. Simplification: Taking an immense amount of data and turning it into summarized bullet points that the leadership team can act on.