Chief Financial Officer

				Overview:

Do you want to join a team that's changing the world? Do you have a strong background as a Chief Financial Officer? Then we're looking for you! Check out the job description and apply now! Put your skills to meaningful use, gain unique experience, and work with world-class team members with diverse backgrounds and expertise who share the same vision. Join the PECNA team today!

Responsibilities:

Meet the Recruiter: Jenny Willhoit

Summary: 

Join us at Panasonic Energy as we expand to De Soto, Kansas, where we're building the world's largest lithium-ion battery factory. This is an exciting opportunity to grow your career while contributing to the future of electric vehicles. As part of our team, you'll help push the limits of battery technology, enhancing performance and efficiency in sustainable transportation.

Our state-of-the-art facility, just outside the Kansas City Metro, will be a hub for innovation in green energy solutions. If you're passionate about sustainability and eager to contribute to the electric vehicle revolution, we invite you to be part of our dynamic team. Join us and make a meaningful impact on the future of energy and transportation.

Job Summary: 

The criticality of this role cannot be overstated. Panasonic Energy Corporation of North America (PECNA) is scaling from a single high-velocity site to an enterprise-grade, multi-site manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries. The CFO is a key member of PECNA's executive leadership team, reporting directly to the President and dotted line to the CFO of the business segment.

The CFO will be a highly strategic business advisor and operator who leads all finance functions for PECNA's Nevada (NV) and Kansas (KS) giga-factory sites and serves as a critical bridge to Panasonic North America Corporate Finance and Panasonic HQ in Japan. The CFO will work to build the capabilities of the finance/accounting team, ensure tactical execution, and provide the leadership necessary to support the continued growth of the business. Experience working in a multi-national, high-volume continuous manufacturing environment will be a major benefit to the CFO and PECNA.

The ideal candidate must be able to work well in a dynamic, growth oriented, and collaborative environment. The Company's leadership team prides itself on its ability to make key decisions as a team, all working very hard toward the same objectives. This role will be very strategic in nature, as the CFO will lead execution of strategic financial operational objectives across the business providing accuracy, transparency, and efficiency while building world-class finance capabilities to support a rapidly evolving, complex, and matrixed organization. The successful candidate will bring the right level of executive presence, combined with an entrepreneurial, hands-on approach to the table.

Scope and Impact

* Enterprise-scale ownership of FP&A, Accounting, Costing, Tax (state/local), Treasury & Cash Management, Internal Controls, and Capital Planning for NV & KS sites.
* Primary finance interface with Panasonic North America and Japan HQ for governance, reporting, and strategic initiatives, including IFRS/US GAAP, SOX, and corporate policies.
* Team leadership of a growing, multi-site finance organization; responsible for capability building, succession planning, and culture.

Strategic Leadership and Business Partnership

* Serve as consultant to the President and all of the Company's senior managers with respect to problems and/or opportunities of a financial and general management nature.
* Proactively advise the President and Parent Company by extracting and clearly communicating conclusions from key indicators, metrics, and analyses.
* Be a strategic business partner to the various functions; inform and guide strategy and key business decisions.
* Build strong relationships cross functionally so that finance can better support the business.
* Provide the analytical framework to enable informed business decisions that identify trends early to capitalize on opportunities and manage risk.

Scaling to Enterprise

* Translate enterprise strategy into financial roadmaps and measurable operational targets.
* Continuously improve the financial infrastructure, operational controls, and the integrity/quality of financial metrics and KPIs.
* Refine and elevate the finance function; org design, role clarity, talent upgrades, competency development, and robust performance management.
* Implement a modern enterprise finance stack (e.g., ERP, consolidation, planning/forecasting, costing, analytics) with strong master data governance.

Financial Operations and Control Excellence

* Lead and manage the full finance function, including financial planning and analysis, financial operations, accounting, state and local taxes, internal control, and capital expenditures.
* Pursue and implement best practices for planning, executing, reporting, and analyzing business performance.
* Establish and maintain cash flow policies and procedures to ensure cash resources are available for daily operations and new business development initiative.
* Build cost transparency and manufacturing finance rigor: standard costing, variance analysis, yield/throughput, scrap, OEE, labor/overhead absorption, and CI economics.

Planning, Forecasting, and Performance Management

* Oversee budgeting/forecasting, purchasing, and cash management, for the organization.
* Establish a best-in-class KPI framework and management cadence; daily/weekly operational dashboards, monthly performance reviews, early warning indicators, and countermeasures.
* Evaluate and prioritize capex and strategic investments; build business cases, scenario models, and IRR/NPV analyses; ensure post-investment reviews and learnings.

Treasury, Liquidity, and Risk

* Manage site-level cash operations, working capital, and liquidity risk; optimize inventory, vendor terms, and production planning impacts on cash flow.
* Extract conclusions from data to assist in decision making.
* Partner with Corporate on insurance, hedging, credit, and risk transfer mechanisms; proactively assess and mitigate operational, financial, and compliance risks.
* Provide leadership in the development and execution of short and long-term strategic financial objectives.
* Evaluate new investment opportunities and provide recommendations on potential returns and risks.
* Provide recommendations to strategically enhance financial performance and business opportunities.

Stakeholder Management and Global Interface

* Produce concise, insight-rich packs for Corporate Finance, Risk, IR, and Japan HQ; harmonize reporting calendars and disclosure standards.
* Maintain strong relationships with internal/external auditors; ensure timely remediation of control gaps and continuous improvement in audit readiness.

First 12-Month Objectives (Mission Critical)

* Stand up a unified, site-level KPI and performance management system with real-time visibility for NV & KS; implement countermeasure discipline.
* Improve forecast accuracy and close timelines; achieve predictable monthly actuals and cash flow with variance within agreed tolerances.
* Deploy a standardized manufacturing costing model across NV & KS; enhance BOM/routing accuracy and variance root cause tracking.
* Establish robust capex governance and portfolio management tied to capacity, quality, and cost-out roadmaps.
* Recruit, upskill, and organize the finance team for scale; embed a culture of humility, accountability, and "go-and-see" on the factory floor.

Leadership Traits and Working Style

The CFO must be visionary and influential, with an ability to engage internal stakeholders at all levels. Most importantly, the candidate must have a positive attitude and a strong work ethic while also being respectful, friendly, and caring. The CFO will be known for the following characteristics:

* Servant Leadership: Firmly believes that the company will be most successful when his
			

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Panasonic Corporation of North America