ZEISS in India
ZEISS in India is headquartered in Bengaluru and present in the fields of Industrial Quality Solutions, Research Microscopy Solutions, Medical Technology, Vision Care and Sports & Cine Optics.
ZEISS India has 3 production facilities, R&D center, Global IT services and about 40 Sales & Service offices in almost all Tier I and Tier II cities in India. With 2200+ employees and continued investments over 25 years in India, ZEISS’ success story in India is continuing at a rapid pace.
Further information at ZEISS India.
A. Role Purpose:
The Manager – Plant Finance will partner with the IQS Manufacturing function, which produces high-precision CNC machines used in the automobile and heavy manufacturing industries. This role will be responsible for driving cost transparency, profitability, and financial governance for IQS manufacturing operations through robust costing, budgeting, forecasting, and performance management, while aligning with global best practices across plants in USA, Germany, and China. The role will also closely collaborate with Business Finance to ensure clear visibility of cost and margin and enable sound commercial and operational decision-making.
B. Key Responsibilities:
1. Plant Financial Management:
- Provide end-to-end financial support to IQS manufacturing operations.
- Own plant-level OPEX and CAPEX control, including planning, monitoring, and variance analysis.
- Ensure strong financial governance for all plant-related expenditures.
2. Cost Transparency & Costing:
- Establish and maintain high cost transparency across products, processes, and operations.
- Drive detailed product and process costing (standard costing, absorption costing, variance analysis).
- Provide clear visibility of cost drivers (material, labor, overheads) to plant and business leadership.
- Identify and drive cost reduction and efficiency improvement opportunities through structured analysis.
3. Inventory & Working Capital:
- Monitor and control inventory levels, including slow-moving and obsolete stock.
- Ensure accurate inventory valuation, provisioning, and reporting.
- Partner with production and supply chain teams to improve working capital efficiency.
4. Budgeting, Forecasting & P&L:
- Prepare and manage annual budgets and rolling forecasts for IQS manufacturing.
- Own and manage the manufacturing P&L for IQS, ensuring profitability and cost discipline.
- Perform variance analysis (actual vs budget/forecast) and recommend corrective actions.
- Partner with Business Finance for budget preparation, cost and margin visibility, pricing and margin analysis, and commercial decision support.
5. Global Benchmarking & Best Practices:
- Benchmark plant costs, KPIs, and financial performance with global IQS plants in USA, Germany, and China.
- Drive implementation of global best practices in cost management and financial controlling.
- Participate in global finance reviews and projects and ensure alignment with global standards.
6. Business Partnering & Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Act as a finance business partner to Production & Operations, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Business Finance.
- Provide financial support for new product introductions, process improvements, localization and sourcing strategies, and capacity, manpower, and productivity planning.
- Enable data-driven decision-making on yield, scrap, rework, and process efficiency.
7. Projects & Investment Support:
- Lead and support cost improvement and productivity projects across manufacturing.
- Support make-or-buy, localization, and automation decisions through financial analysis.
- Prepare and evaluate CAPEX proposals using NPV, IRR, and payback analysis.
8. SAP & Systems:
- Ensure accurate financial accounting and controlling in SAP (FI, CO, MM).
- Maintain product costing, BOM costing, inventory accounting, and CAPEX tracking in SAP.
- Drive system-based reporting and automation for plant finance processes.
9. Compliance & Controls:
- Ensure compliance with internal controls, accounting policies, and audit requirements.
- Support statutory and internal audits related to plant operations.
- Ensure correct capitalization and depreciation of plant assets.
C. Desired Profile:
Qualification:
- CA / CMA / MBA (Finance) or equivalent professional qualification.
Experience:
- 5 to 8 years of relevant experience in manufacturing or plant finance.
- Mandatory experience in a plant-based finance role.
- Experience in capital goods, machinery, automotive, or precision manufacturing preferred.
- Exposure to working in a global organization is an advantage.
Technical Skills:
- Strong knowledge of costing and inventory accounting, budgeting and forecasting, P&L management, CAPEX evaluation, and cost transparency.
- Hands-on working experience in SAP (FI/CO/MM).
- Strong Excel and financial modeling skills.
Behavioral & Leadership Skills:
- Strong business partnering and stakeholder management capability.
- Ability to work in a matrix and global environment.
- High ownership mindset with independent problem-solving ability.
- Structured, analytical, and detail-oriented.
- Comfortable working in a factory environment and interacting with shop-floor teams.
D. Key Outcomes of the Role:
- High cost transparency across IQS manufacturing operations.
- Improved plant profitability and cost efficiency.
- Strong alignment with global finance standards and benchmarks.
- Reliable budgets and forecasts supporting business decisions.
- Robust financial governance and decision support for CNC and Other Machines manufacturing.
Your ZEISS Recruiting Team:
Manoj Badaik