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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: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennywillhoit/)** 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/her employees are well served. Caring not just about the business goals, but the well-being of every member of his/her team, as only true success can be achieved through effectively mentoring and enriching the lives of others.

+ **Ethics and Values:** Adhere to a code of conduct with a moral compass focused on the highest level of integrity and ethics; lives by Konosuke Matsushita’s Seven Basic Business Principles: Contribution to Society, Fairness and Honesty, Cooperation and Team Spirit, Untiring Effort for Improvement, Courtesy and Humility, Adaptability, and Gratitude.

+ **Leading By Example** : Demonstrating and fostering, by example, a sense of urgency, strong commitment/accountability, client-focus and sound decision making to achieving goals.

+ **Business Acumen** : Knowledge of the competitive landscape, current and emerging practices within the industry.

+ **Vision and Purpose** : Embracing and communicating the business’ vision and its goals and reflecting a dedication to success which inspires and motivates.

+ **Inspirational** : Encouraging and inspiring colleagues and subordinates to stretch beyond what they thought they could accomplish.

+ **Leadership and Conflict Resolution:** Being bold enough to diplomatically state opinions which may not always be popular. Ability to work through controversy making conflicts opportunities for improvement and striving for win/win resolutions.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Requirements:

+ To ensure the health and safety in the workplace and for the protection of our employees, wearing PPE is a requirement for some roles at PECNA and may include equipment such as a full Tyvek suit, safety shoes, gloves, safety glasses, face mask, bump cap, and a full hazmat suit that includes a respirator.

_The foregoing description is not intended and should not be construed to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills and efforts or work conditions associated with the job. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the general nature and level of the job._

Qualifications

Requirements - Required and/or Preferred:

Education

+ Basic/Required: Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or Business Administration is required.

+ Preferred: CPA and/or MBA

Essential Qualifications:

+ 10+ years of progressive finance leadership in complex, high-volume manufacturing environments; experience scaling from startup to enterprise operations.

+ 5+ years leading multi-site teams with a track-record of leadership success.

+ Multi-national experience required, ideally with Japanese or other Asia-based parent companies and cross-border reporting to Corporate/HQ.

+ Strong command of US GAAP and IFRS; SOX design and operationalization; “Big Four” or national firm experience preferred.

+ Demonstrated success rebuilding finance functions, implementing ERPs/EPMs, and establishing enterprise-grade processes and controls.

+ Advanced financial modeling, scenario analysis, and decision-support; proven capital allocation discipline and post-investment review rigor.

+ Strong strategic thinking, problem solving, creative skills, and the ability to exercise sound judgement and decision making based on accurate and timely financial analyses.

+ Ability to develop and maintain excellent working relationships with various stakeholders, customers, vendors, and internal departments.

+ Strong interpersonal skills, with ability to communicate and manage well at all levels of the organization, including staff based at remote locations.

+ Strong operational aptitude with proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally to ensure successful execution of strategic initiatives.

+ Demonstrated track-record building successful teams, including mentoring existing talent and adding capabilities where required to enhance the capabilities of the finance organization.

+ Explicit knowledge of accounting controls and proven success in implementation of compliance programs, both domestically and abroad.

+ Technically astute; hands-on leader possessing strong business analysis skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

+ Experience working in a high-volume continuous manufacturing environment is preferred.

+ Ability to take innovative approaches to improve processes and solve problems

+ Ability to understand different cultures to establish reliable and effective communication within a diverse and complicated environment

+ Skills in MS Office (Word, Power Point, Excel, Outlook)

+ Multi-site and global experience are highly desirable

+ Spanish and/or Japanese desirable, including reading, writing, and speaking

Physical Demands:

Physical Activities: (Percentage of time (equaling 100%) during the normal workday the employee is required to)

+ Sit: 25%

+ Walk: 25%

+ Stand: 25%

+ Lift: 25%

Required Lifting and Carrying: (Required frequency is: Not required (0%), Occasional (1-33%), Frequent (34-66%), Continuous (67-100%)

+ Up to 10 lbs.: Occasional

+ Up to 20 lbs.: Occasional

+ Up to 35 lbs.: Occasional

+ Team-lift only (over 35 lbs.): Occasional

Benefits & Perks - What's In It For You:

Panasonic Energy prioritizes total well-being and offers comprehensive benefits options to support physical, emotional, financial, social, and environmental health:

+ Highly inclusive and class-leading healthcare options to include family planning, mental health, and pet insurance

+ Employee assistance programs that support total well-being with complimentary session offered each and every month

+ Company-matched and fully vested 401K retirement program that starts immediately from date of enrollment

+ Annual bonus program, High5 employee recognition and awards platform, quarterly and annual employee recognition

+ Simplified access to self-guided and representative-supported short and long-term financial wellness and retirement planning

+ Educational Assistance & Reimbursement Program

+ Inclusion programs and associated employee resource groups that promote representation and belonging

+ Leadership, career, and mentorship development programs opportunities at all levels across the organization

+ Collaborative and motivating culture routed in continuous personal and professional growth and much more.

Where You'll Be:

For our onsite roles, Panasonic Energy is committed to fostering an ideal working environment that goes beyond the conventional. We understand the significance of moments that matter in your onsite experience, and we prioritize creating a workspace that not only promotes productivity but also ensures a fulfilling and positive work atmosphere. Join us at Panasonic Energy, where your onsite presence is valued, and we strive to make each moment count in your professional journey.

Who We Are:

Meet Panasonic Energy (https://careers.na.panasonic.com/life-at-panasonic) ! At Panasonic Energy, you'll do work that matters as we are dedicated to transforming the world through the acceleration of sustainable energy. By producing safe, high-quality lithium-ion batteries, you become part of a team that plays a crucial role in creating technologies that move us.

This is an exciting time to join us as we expand our operations to De Soto, Kansas and build the world's largest lithium-ion battery factory. We will provide you with the opportunity to experience career growth in more ways than one.

As an innovative thinker, you'll thrive here, as we continually push the boundaries of lithium-ion battery technology and production capabilities to enhance efficiency and performance in EVs.

Being part of Panasonic Energy means positively contributing to society, aligning with our commitment to building a better world through sustainable energy solutions.

We care about what you care about, fostering an environment where your contributions make a meaningful impact on the future of energy and transportation. Join us and be part of a team that values your work, encourages innovation, and actively contributes to a positive societal impact.

In addition to an environment that is as innovative as our products, we offer competitive salaries and benefits.

We Take Opportunity Seriously:

At Panasonic Energy, we are committed to a workplace that genuinely fosters inclusion and belonging. Fairness and Honesty have been part of our core values for more than 100 years and we are proud of our diverse culture as an equal opportunity employer.

We understand that your career search may look different than others and embrace the professional, personal, educational, and volunteer opportunities through which people gain experience. If you are actively looking or starting to explore new opportunities, submit your application!

Supplemental Information:

Pre-employment drug testing is required.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. All qualified individuals are required to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation.

_Due to the high volume of responses, we will only be able to respond to candidates of interest. All candidates must have valid authorization to work in the U.S. without restriction._

Thank you for your interest in Panasonic Energy Corporation of North America.

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