Head - Commercial Finance

About the Role

Introduction -

This is a senior commercial finance leadership opportunity that sits at the heart of business decision‑making. The role offers the chance to partner closely with leadership, influence strategic outcomes, and shape commercial performance across the organization.

For professionals already in leadership roles, this represents a positive shift towards greater strategic exposure, deeper involvement in long‑term business planning, and direct ownership of revenue, cost, and profitability drivers. The role combines financial rigor with business partnership, making it well‑aligned for individuals motivated by impact, scale, and transformation.

The position is particularly interesting given its involvement in business expansion, new product launches, pricing and commercial models, and transformation initiatives including SAP S4HANA, CRM, and advanced analytics. It also offers the opportunity to lead regional commercial finance teams and work closely with sales, product, and leadership stakeholders in a collaborative environment.

Opportunity –

On a day‑to‑day basis, the role will focus on:

• Developing dynamic business plans, financial models, and front‑ending commercial decision‑making.
• Driving month‑end close processes, analysing trends across revenue, margins, overheads, and monitoring cost price movements against budgets.
• Leading annual budget closure, quarterly forecasts, and contributing to the 5‑year strategic business outlook.
• Engaging monthly with stakeholders on pricing mix, cost trends, budgets, and variance analysis.
• Deep‑diving into cost structures and co‑creating commercial models including pricing, margins, and product mix.
• Creating detailed monthly dashboards and presenting financial and business performance insights to the India Leadership Team.
• Acting as the single point of contact for new business launches, including developing commercial and financial models for new products, partnerships, and collaborations.
• Driving regional performance by leading commercial finance teams, coordinating with sales teams, finalising regional budgets (sales, overheads, profits, collections, DSO), and conducting regular performance reviews.
• Reviewing and improving sales and commercial protocols to enhance efficiency, customer returns, and sales effectiveness, partnering closely with Sales Directors.
• Leading and supporting change initiatives across SAP S4HANA, CRM systems, data intelligence, and analytics.
• Supporting SBU heads with financial insights to enable informed business decisions and conducting periodic financial reviews.
• Coordinating with product and procurement teams on new initiatives and process improvements.
• Managing teams, stakeholders, and ensuring timely delivery against key financial and business deadlines.

This role has a direct impact on business performance, strategic direction, commercial discipline, and long‑term profitability across the organization.

About You

Essential / Desirable Criteria

• MBA from a Tier‑1 institute or CA, with 15+ years of experience.
• Strong experience in commercial finance, business decision support, budgeting, and forecasting.
• Prior experience in a similar leadership role within a large organization.
• Hands‑on experience working in SAP / ERP environments.
• Solid understanding of internal and external business environments and commercial dynamics.
• Proven people leadership experience.
• Demonstrated ability to drive continuous improvement in a commercial setting.
• Self‑motivated with strong personal initiative.
• Effective communication skills, including the ability to challenge, influence, and partner with non‑finance stakeholders.
• High proficiency in Excel, Word, data extraction, Power BI or similar analytics tools, and Outlook.

Queries

• Please contact shariq.anwar@oup.com with any queries relating to this role.

We are committed to supporting diversity in our workforce and fostering an inclusive environment where all individuals can thrive. We aim to build a workforce that reflects the markets we serve and encourage applications from all backgrounds.