Director, Finance - Personal Care

Are you the kind of person that is always thinking, sketching, seeking, and adjusting? Who needs to understand how things work and then figure out how they can work better? Are you a passionate, tenacious, solver who loves to work with others who share your drive? Are you positive, constructive, and ingenious?

Are you always solving?

Then we’d like to meet you and bet you’d like to meet us.

Ashland has an exciting opportunity for a Director, Finance – Personal Care to join our team. This is a hybrid position ideally based in our Bridgewater, NJ or Wilmington, DE office; however, other locations will be considered for the exceptional candidate.

This highly visible role partners with business leadership to drive financial performance, enable growth initiatives, and ensure disciplined execution across a global portfolio. The successful candidate will combine strong commercial acumen, advanced financial analysis skills, and operational rigor with a track record of leading high‑performing finance teams.

This role offers the opportunity to shape the financial strategy of a flagship business and influence decisions at the highest levels of the company. You will work alongside leaders who value rigorous analysis, clear communication, and decisive action.

The Director, Finance - Personal Care will report to the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, with accountability to the Senior Vice President and GM, Personal Care.

The responsibilities of the position include, but are not limited to, the following:

Strategic partnership

• Serve as a core member of the Personal Care leadership team, contributing to strategy setting, operating plans, and decision making.
• Provide proactive insights and recommendations that improve business performance, growth, and margin discipline.

Financial leadership

• Own monthly, quarterly, and annual forecasts and budgets for Personal Care.
• Prepare and analyze monthly business performance reporting with clear, actionable commentary.
• Deliver robust variance analysis and bridges for volume, price, cost, and foreign exchange, highlighting drivers and corrective actions.

Decision support

• Lead economic evaluations for major initiatives including R&D programs, capital investments, portfolio actions, and potential acquisitions or divestitures.
• Develop investment cases and scenario analyses that align resources with strategy and return thresholds.

Performance management

• Define, track, and communicate key performance indicators across the business.
• Identify risks and opportunities early and drive corrective actions with business partners.

Team leadership

• Manage and develop the business finance team supporting Personal Care.
• Engage collaboratively with centralized finance to ensure adherence to policies, accuracy in reporting cycles, and continuous improvement in financial operations.

Travel

• As required but likely under 20%

In order to be qualified for this role, you must possess the following:

• BA/BS Degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics or Business Management
• 10+ years of progressive experience in FP&A, cost accounting, or business analysis within a complex, integrated, multi‑plant, global environment.
• Strong knowledge of general accounting, financial reporting, planning, and analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to work under tight deadlines with adaptability and sound judgment.
• Proven capability to partner with commercial and operations leaders on growth, margin improvement, and execution.
• Executive presence and ability to influence in a matrixed organization

The following skill sets are preferred by the Business Unit:

• MBA, CPA, CFA or CMA a plus
• Demonstrated ability to lead a global team
• Experience with SAP and/or Qliktech