Divisional Chief Financial Officer — Aftermarket And Services Unit

The mandate

An aftermarket and services unit attached to a Japanese equipment manufacturer has expanded through maintenance agreements, field upgrades and a broader spare-parts catalogue. The Divisional Chief Financial Officer will build cost-to-serve capability across the contract portfolio, improve productivity measurement in plant and field operations, and expose where value is created across the service model.

Approximately 2,850 employees and material partners sit within the perimeter across parts manufacturing, distribution centres, field service, remote support, refurbishment and commercial teams. Finance includes divisional control, planning, service-contract accounting, parts economics, pricing, inventory and capital. The role reports to the Group Chief Executive and relevant board committee and partners closely with the service president.

The productivity gap begins with measurement. Technician utilisation may improve on paper when travel, diagnosis, training or repeat visits are coded elsewhere. Parts plants can meet absorption targets while building slow inventory. The CFO will define operational measures that reconcile to economic value: first-time fix, response fulfilment, planned versus emergency work, remanufacturing yield, inventory availability and contract contribution after all field effort.

Long-term service agreements require cohort economics. Some contracts inherit ageing fleets, poor asset histories or coverage promises written before remote diagnostics existed. The finance leader will distinguish initial underperformance from structurally inadequate pricing and will support transparent customer remedies. Revenue allocation, warranty boundaries and variable consideration must reflect the actual obligation.

Parts pricing needs judgement rather than blanket increases. Critical low-volume components carry tooling, obsolescence and availability cost, but customers reasonably expect support for installed equipment. The CFO will create lifecycle economics, identify alternates and remanufacturing options and ensure end-of-support decisions are communicated with engineering and legal input.

The planned replacement follows a long-serving divisional CFO’s retirement at the end of the financial year. A structured overlap is available, including transfer of bank, auditor and customer-contract knowledge. The board expects the incoming leader to respect durable local controls while challenging measures that reward activity over customer outcome.

Capital choices include warehouse automation, remote-monitoring platforms and regional refurbishment capacity. Each proposal must show which bottleneck it removes, which labour or inventory assumption changes and how adoption will be measured. Technology expenditure cannot be justified by digital ambition alone.

What you will own

• Reconstruct profitability by contract, fleet cohort, service channel, part family and customer obligation.
• Align field and plant productivity measures with financial outcomes and customer performance.
• Govern service revenue, warranty, provisions, variable consideration and contract modifications.
• Establish lifecycle inventory and pricing decisions for critical, slow and obsolete parts.
• Lead budget, forecast, cash, control, tax and statutory finance for the division.
• Challenge automation, digital service and refurbishment investments with post-investment reviews.
• Improve commercial renewal and exception authority using complete cost-to-serve evidence.
• Develop finance leaders able to work credibly in plants, depots and field operations.

The first 12 months

In the first quarter, review the fifty largest service contracts, trace representative technician days and reconcile parts inventory to installed-base demand. Identify loss-making obligations, distorted productivity measures and the highest-risk accounting judgements. Agree handover priorities with the incumbent and present a sequenced recovery without disrupting customer uptime.

By month six, introduce contract cohort reporting, field productivity and parts lifecycle governance. Renegotiate or remediate priority agreements, improve emergency-parts planning and close material gaps between operational systems and the ledger. Complete investment cases for warehouse and remote-service initiatives with measurable adoption gates.

By year end, improve service contribution by four percentage points, raise first-time fix by eight points, reduce repeat field visits by 20% and release ¥8 billion from parts and receivables. Forecast divisional operating profit should remain within 5% for three quarters. No result may depend on deferring required customer work, releasing unsupported provisions or restricting critical safety parts.

What the board will measure

• Service growth translated into cash and reliable contribution.
• Field activity recorded honestly and linked to customer resolution.
• Parts availability balanced with lifecycle and obsolescence economics.
• Contracts renewed or repaired using complete obligation data.
• Automation capital supported by bottleneck removal and realised benefits.
• Strong transition from incumbent knowledge to a modern finance team.

The person

You bring 22–28 years in divisional finance for industrial services, capital equipment, automotive aftermarket or another installed-base business. You have owned contract accounting and operational finance, not merely corporate consolidation. Japanese manufacturing governance and customer expectations should be familiar.

Your prior scope should include at least ¥120 billion revenue, 1,800 employees and partners or an equivalent complex service network. Evidence must cover a fixed-price contract recovery, parts working-capital decision and field-productivity redesign. Japanese fluency and strong business English are necessary, as is the ability to challenge respectfully within a consensus-oriented organisation.

Compensation and terms

The base range is ¥52–72 million plus annual incentive and long-term incentive linked to service economics, customer outcomes, cash, control and succession. The permanent onsite role is based in Osaka and reports to the Group Chief Executive and relevant board committee. Timing will accommodate an orderly retirement handover.

Confidentiality

The manufacturer, installed base, contract cohorts, parts data and transition arrangements remain private. Access is staged after suitability and conflict checks and signed confidentiality. Candidates should not contact dealers, service employees or customers in an attempt to identify the unit.