Senior Manager, Commercial Finance and Transformation

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Senior Manager, Commercial Finance and Transformation

The Senior Manager, Commercial Finance & Transformation plays a critical role in driving financial, commercial, and operational performance across the organization. The role leads a portfolio of high-impact initiatives focused on accelerating revenue growth, optimizing pricing, and improving margin through data-driven insight, disciplined execution, and cross-functional partnership.

As part of the Transformation Office and the UnivarONE program, this role partners closely with the business, Finance, and the Innovation Office to identify opportunities, shape solutions with subject matter experts, and move initiatives from idea through pilot to validated, finance-signed value. The role is expected to leverage AI, automation, and analytics capabilities delivered through UnivarONE and the FRONTIER Factory, ensuring commercial initiatives are grounded in real business context and translate into measurable EBITDA and cash impact.

The ideal candidate brings a strong background in Commercial Finance, Sales Finance, Strategy, or Consulting, exceptional analytical capability, and a proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional projects. This role works in close partnership with Sales, Operations, and Finance leadership to influence strategy and guide critical commercial decisions.

What You’ll Do:

Business Analysis & Opportunity Identification

• Analyze commercial, operational, and financial data to develop and test hypotheses about performance drivers, particularly for complex, multi-stakeholder decisions with downstream impact.
• Translate pain points, observations, and current-state KPIs into clearly defined opportunities, partnering with the business and SMEs to get the context and problem statement right before jumping to recommendations.
• Model and quantify the financial and operational impact of proposed improvements, mapping value levers to the P&L and sizing opportunity at proof-of-concept, pilot, and scale.
• Monitor and interpret sales and margin performance to generate actionable insight supporting revenue growth and margin expansion.

AI-Enabled Transformation & UnivarONE Delivery

• Identify where AI, automation, and analytics capabilities delivered through UnivarONE can accelerate commercial and margin outcomes, partnering with the Innovation Office and FRONTIER Factory.
• Route qualifying AI and technology ideas through Factory intake, and partner with product owners and SMEs to co-develop solutions grounded in business context.
• Support adoption of AI-enabled tools (e.g., pricing, Next Best Action, margin management) within commercial workflows, driving behavior change and sustained usage, not just deployment.
• Ensure initiatives progress through stage gates with clear value hypotheses, and align technology work to proven business value rather than technology for its own sake.

Value Realization & Finance Discipline

• Build comprehensive business cases to validate ROI, assess feasibility, and secure funding for high-impact initiatives.
• Partner with Finance/FP&A so value is validated and signed off before it is counted, and reflected in OneStream, the AOP, and Strategic Plan.
• Distinguish opportunity sizing, targeted value, and finance-validated value, maintaining credible, investor-grade reporting.
• Track realized versus committed value and drive corrective action when results deviate from plan.

Growth Transformation & Commercial Excellence

• Lead development and execution of go-to-market and growth strategies across priority end markets, applications, customer segments, products, and geographies.
• Identify and prioritize attractive growth opportunities based on market attractiveness, competitive position, customer needs, profitability, and the company’s differentiated right-to-win.
• Lead customer segmentation, value proposition development, channel strategy, sales coverage, and commercial operating-model design
• Lead commercial transformation initiatives spanning sales effectiveness, strategic account management, pricing, channel optimization, pipeline management, and commercial capabilities
• Drive pricing and margin improvement through improved commercial governance, optimized pricing strategy and/or model, customer/product profitability transparency, and disciplined commercial terms.
• Identify cross-selling and customer white space opportunities across business units and establish mechanisms to capture enterprise-level customer value
• Support M&A strategy, commercial due diligence, synergy identification and post-merger commercial integration when/where appropriate.

Change Management

• Lead cross-functional projects through structured frameworks, ensuring delivery aligns with scope, timeline, budget, and quality.
• Identify and document risks and dependencies, coordinating mitigation proactively across the enterprise.
• Run steering and review cadences with project sponsors to report progress, escalate issues, and drive decisions through a stage-gate review process
• Align diverse stakeholders around a shared vision, priorities, and understanding of portfolio value, timelines, risks, and status.
• Bring business owners and SMEs in early so solutions reflect the nuance of the business and stay owned by the business.
• Organize portfolio and value reviews for multiple audiences, including executive and Apollo-facing forums.
• Escalate roadblocks quickly and with urgency to mobilize resources proactively.

What You’ll Need:

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree (MBA or quantitative field such as Finance, Economics, Statistics) preferred.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience, preferably in Commercial Finance, Sales Finance, Strategic Finance, Consulting, or similar.
• Experience leading multiple large ($1M+) projects, preferably around process improvement or finance/commercial transformation.
• Proficient in financial software and tools; experience with ERP e.g., SAP & OneStream systems preferred.
• Proven ability to lead projects across Commercial, Operations, and Finance functions.
• Exposure to AI, automation, or analytics-enabled business initiatives, and comfort partnering with technology and data teams.
• Strong analytical skills with a proven track record in data analysis and reporting.
• Strong communication (written and verbal), planning, and organizing skills.
• Experience managing consultants, contractors, and internal project teams.
• Influence strategy and outcomes without formal operational authority.
• Open-minded questioning: “What would need to be true for this to work?”
• Creativity in problem solving, especially complex processes involving many teams and decisions.
• Familiarity with AI/automation use cases in commercial, pricing, or finance (e.g., pricing tools, Next Best Action, margin management, agentic workflows).
• Understanding of value realization discipline and finance validation in a private-equity-backed / value creation plan environment.
• Project management best practices across all lifecycle phases, including risk management.
• Business process mapping, future-state design, and change management.
• Technology and analytics fluency, including agile development approaches.
• Adaptable communication across diverse stakeholder groups; ability to work across all levels including frontline, analysts, executives, and Board.
• Strong data fluency and data storytelling. MS Office (PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Outlook) and Tableau required.

Where You'll Work:

This is a hybrid-based role that will sit out of our corporate headquarters in Downers Grove, IL.

Pay & Benefits:

• The salary range is $150,000 - $185,000. This role is also eligible for incentive pay.
• The specific salary offered to a candidate may be motivated by a variety of factors including the candidate’s meaningful experience, education, training, certifications, qualifications, and work location.
• Available employee benefits include health, vision, and dental. We also provide 401k matching for retirement and flexible time off.

What You Can Expect:

• Strong work/life flexibility
• To be surrounded by an inclusive team who is collaborative and committed to the achievement of the company
• To be rewarded for your contributions with a targeted annual company bonus and annual salary reviews
• Competitive pay and benefits

Univar Solutions is a leading, global distributor of chemicals and ingredients essential to the safety, health, and wellbeing of our daily lives from life-saving medicines and vitamins to hand sanitizers and industrial materials used for cleaning, construction, and more. Our global team of more than 9,500 employees support our vision to redefine distribution and be the most valued chemical and ingredient distributor on the planet!

We offer a Total Rewards package that includes market aligned pay and incentives as well as a diverse benefits offering to support our employees’ physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing.

Univar Solutions supports sustainable solutions for the world around us so that we can do our part to help keep our communities healthy, fed, clean, and safe!

We are committed to a diverse workforce and a culture of inclusion. Together, we are building a culture that acknowledges the unique experiences, perspectives and expertise of individuals and provides the development and growth opportunities to empower us to redefine our industry.

Univar Solutions is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or other protected classification. We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the hiring process, please contact us at View email address on aiapply.co.

Univar Solutions does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters, employment agencies, or staffing firms (collectively Recruiting Firms). Recruiting Firms must enter into a Master Services Agreement (MSA) with Univar Solutions prior to submitting any information relating to a potential candidate. All searches must be initiated by Univar Solutions' Talent Acquisition team and candidates must be submitted via Applicant Tracking System (ATS) by approved vendors who have been expressly requested to make a submission for a specific job opening. No placement fees will be paid to any firm unless the aforementioned conditions have been met. Contacting our hiring managers directly is prohibited.

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