Bricks, Mortar, and Metrics: FP&A Leadership in Building Materials

Client Overview

Our client is a PE-backed leader in the North American building products sector, specializing in the manufacture of roof drainage systems and accessory items in aluminum, steel, copper, and vinyl. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company operates 12 manufacturing facilities across the United States and Canada and distributes its products globally through distributors, contractors, and home centers. As the top supplier in the residential roof drainage and roofing accessories markets, the client enjoys extensive scale and maintains longstanding relationships with the nation’s largest home center retailers and building product distributors.

The Challenge / Mandate

As the company embarked on a large-scale transformation program, it required additional senior FP&A support to ensure financial alignment with strategic initiatives. The Interim Corporate FP&A Lead was brought in to partner closely with the CFO and finance team to lead core FP&A activities across the business. The role involved overseeing financial reporting, updating forecast reporting, and analyzing actuals versus budgets and prior year performance. The consultant was tasked with developing robust monthly reports and KPIs, including tracking Value Creation Projects in collaboration with the PMO lead, and preparing board packs for senior leadership.

Key areas of focus included:

• Conducting spread analysis to assess metal pricing impacts on forecasts
• Developing new reporting structures for recent acquisitions
• Performing SG&A analysis across corporate and North American business units
• Delivering market analysis using industry data to uncover correlations and trends 
• Leading working capital analysis and creating monthly forecasts by business segment
• Refining cash flow forecasting processes with detailed breakouts by business unit

The Interim FP&A Lead also needed to bring rigor and discipline to the finance function, ensuring robust insights to guide decision-making during a pivotal period of organizational change.

Search Strategy

We focused on identifying seasoned FP&A professionals with 10-15 years of experience, ideally combining Big 4 accounting firm training and corporate FP&A expertise. The ideal candidate needed deep experience partnering with CFOs in manufacturing environments, with the ability to operate effectively in complex, matrixed organizations. A CPA designation and strong analytical capabilities were critical, along with exceptional communication skills to influence stakeholders at all levels.

The Placement

We placed a dynamic financial leader with extensive FP&A experience across multi-billion-dollar organizations. Beginning her career at EY, where she obtained her CPA, she transitioned into senior FP&A roles with leading manufacturing companies such as Whirlpool and GM. With a proven track record of impacting organizational performance through strategic financial and operational planning, she brought strong interpersonal skills and the ability to interact cross-functionally across all levels of the organization. Passionate about developing people, systems, and processes, she was well-suited to support the client’s transformation journey.

The Outcome

The Interim FP&A Lead made an immediate impact by introducing a disciplined approach to financial reporting and analysis during the company’s transformation. She developed and implemented a comprehensive monthly reporting package, improving forecast accuracy and enabling more informed decision-making at the executive level. Her work included building detailed spread analyses on raw material costs, refining cash flow forecasting models, and creating KPIs to track progress on value creation initiatives. Her contributions significantly enhanced the finance team’s ability to provide strategic insights and drive alignment across the organization. Impressed with her performance, the client extended her engagement and is considering her for a potential permanent role.