Wholesale Department Manager

At Honda we embrace inclusion in our various policies, so whilst our contracts state that the hours are as required to fulfil the role with a minimum of 35 hours per week, we offer flexibility for when you work.  The regular office hours are 08:00 – 16:00 Monday to Thursday with a half hour lunch break & 08:00 – 13:00 on a Friday.  However, we offer flexibility of when you work with our daily flex-time start of between 07:00 and 11:00 providing that there is no business requirement.
 

Whilst there is no contractual right to work from home, the flexibility we offer is that you can request to work from home 2 days per week, again providing there is no business requirement to attend the office.

Role:
Reporting to the Head of Finance and Credit, this role leads the Wholesale function (dealer funding) and is accountable for growing the wholesale portfolio and managing Honda Finance Europe (HFE) risk across the dealer network.

The role ensures stock funding is delivered efficiently and that dealer facilities, limits and terms support commercial objectives within approved risk appetite. Working closely with Honda Motor Europe-UK Sales and stakeholders across HFE, the role builds strong dealer relationships and converts growth opportunities into well-governed funding, providing independent challenge and approving decisions within delegated authority. Governance is a core deliverable through robust controls, high-quality MI and reporting, documented decision trails, and effective oversight of processes, systems and suppliers.

Main Responsibilities:

LEADERSHIP

• Manage the daily activities of the Wholesale department, through leadership and coaching of Wholesale team.  Drive and develop the team, setting clear objectives and performance expectations through the annual appraisal process. Own the annual business plan for the function and run a regular review cycle to track delivery of growth targets and risk/control actions, reporting progress to the Head of Finance & Credit.
• Be accountable for Wholesale budgeting, forecasting and performance reporting. Ensure risks pertaining to Wholesale or any wider impact on HFE organisation are known and controlled and provisions raised.  Take appropriate action to ensure plans remains on track and deliver department objectives

RISK MANAGEMENT

• Manage, review and approve dealer credit lines within delegated authority, using robust financial analysis, clear documentation and defined approval routes. Structure limits, terms and monitoring to support sustainable dealer growth while protecting portfolio quality.  Escalate material or out-of-policy decisions to the Head of Finance & Credit with a clear recommendation.
• Maintain strong understanding of the HFE Wholesale legal position (including retention of title in stock, debentures and charges over assets) and ensure appropriate, well-documented actions are taken in distressed situations, hostile terminations and recoveries to protect against loss.
• Conduct regular dealer visits and reviews to assess risk, validate information and agree actions to improve portfolio quality and facility utilisation. Track actions to closure and maintain clear documentation and decision trails. Where issues arise, lead or coordinate remediation and, where necessary, engage internal/external auditors, turnaround specialists, insolvency practitioners, receivers and solicitors to deliver the best outcome for HFE.
• Provide support to the Retail Operations team by underwriting Limited company proposals as appropriate.

GROWTH

• Continuously improve department processes and strive to be profitable.  Look for new funding opportunity’s for HFE to sustain growth and support the network.  Understand research and devise new products, pricing, setting rates and monitoring results.  
• Develop polices plans and objectives to deliver long term corporate strategy and objectives and assist in meeting major commercial targets including profitability, product, mix, cashflow and dealer incentives.
• Partner with Sales and Pricing department to explore and deliver any joint objectives, working as one team and contributing to any discussions and reviews relating to dealers.

GOVERNANCE

• Oversee portfolio quality and control, operating clear standards for underwriting, limits, monitoring and early-warning triggers to minimise loss and volatility.
• Manage delegated authority and exception governance for Wholesale, including periodic reviews of limits, appetite/standards, exception reporting and escalation, ensuring decisions are timely, well-evidenced and auditable.
• Set standards for Wholesale MI and reporting (definitions, data quality, reconciliation and sign-off) and act as senior contact for audit and control testing, owning findings, remediation and evidence.
• Alongside Business Solutions support and deliver Wholesale change governance for finance systems and suppliers, ensuring changes are assessed for risk/control impact, tested, documented, approved and embedded into BAU with effective process oversight.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

Required

• Qualified Accountant or similar with significant post qualification experience
• Demonstrable experience partnering with Sales / dealer network to deliver growth within risk appetite
• Experience of people management, team engagement and performance
• Significant experience required to provide the depth and breadth of knowledge and personal credibility to impact decisions at senior level both internally and externally 
• High level communication, presentation and negotiation and influencing skills 

Desirable

• Experience within the automotive industry would be advantageous. 

Honda is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in the workplace for all employees, temporary workers, contractors, applicants and visitors. Honda also encourages respect for the individual differences and talents of others while making full use of one's own abilities, based on Honda's philosophy of respect for the individual.

At Honda, we value and celebrate diversity and are committed to being a fair, non-discriminatory company that promotes and welcomes the uniqueness and differences of people around the world. We recognise that a diverse workforce allows for different ideas and perspectives, and we encourage everyone to share them. We strive to foster a culture of belonging that is consistent with Honda's core values and lived out in the way we work and respect each other. For us at Honda, diversifying our workforce means increasing its overall strength by providing people with equal opportunities - regardless of personal characteristics or previous careers.

This commitment flows directly from the Honda philosophy and the belief that we are all working towards a common goal. Honda recruits, hires, trains and promotes the most qualified/experienced individuals at all levels without regard to race, origin, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or any other protected characteristic.