John Hooker Email & Phone Number

Akron, Oh, Us

Akron, Oh, Us

Akron, Ohio, United States

• Lead the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of business and financial strategies, including long term budgeting, forecasting and investments; oversee a team of 80 Finance, Strategy and IT staff• Developed a value creation strategy, established process and structure to identify and execute a program focused on margin expansion, cost reduction and working capital optimization• Restructured the Finance organization to focus the business on achievement of performance objectives, aligning financial resources with business leaders to provide timely insights, support effective decision making and drive key initiatives

Akron, Ohio, United States

• Lead the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of financial strategies, including long-term budgeting, forecasting, risk management, and investments; oversee a team of 120 IT and finance staff• Created a cost restructuring strategy that delivered significant incremental EBITDA and cashflow• Managed an in-depth due diligence and negotiation process to establish a new financing and lender arrangement, including a new term loan and ABL • Collaborated with a financial advisory firm to identify and solicit potential financial partners and assist in developing a financing strategy and structure that enabled new focus on driving core business• Author internal and external management, Board, and lender reports; led an overhaul of the reporting process for lenders to align with new cashflow and risk management requirements• Participate in the annual audit process in collaboration with the corporate controller and provide guidance on financial risks and audits at monthly Board meetings for the Finance, Risk, and Audit committees

Akron, Ohio, United States

• Oversaw the transformation, strategy, FP&A, and IT functions and led a team of 70 • Created and led the Value Realization Office that focused on identifying and executing transformational strategies, including demand generation, cost reduction, and working capital efforts; VRO drove growth, profitability, and cash flow, delivering $15M in savings during first year• Worked closely with the Vice President of IT, executing multiple data and analytics, digital capability, and cybersecurity development programs, including the implementations of a tool for S&OP demand planning, an application for budgeting, forecasting, and reporting, and an add-on to Salesforce for pricing• Collaborated with leadership to drive multiple profit enhancing initiatives, including supplier accountability, distributor program profitability, and pricing

Akron, Ohio, United States

• Created and oversaw the new financial planning and analysis function, partnering with the CFO to develop a finance team charter and strategy, reorganizing the function into controlling, FP&A, IT, and pricing teams to streamline functions, improve understanding of business, and achieve peak profitability and cashflow in 2019• Developed new demand forecasting methodologies that identified key leading indicators and integrated third-party market data to generate forecasts to support S&OP functions• Created a team of financial resources that partnered with business units and functional leaders to support the transition from top-line growth to full P&L and OCF responsibility• Redesigned financial reporting packages, based on the needs of the operations, management, and Board of Director teams, to be more comprehensive and provide measurement of key enterprise strategy performance• Established strategic processes and plans to improve forecasting, budgeting, financial planning, and accountability, including the creation of the Critical Success Factor dashboard that measured overall health of the organization and redesign of reporting tools during a strategic shift to balance growth, profitability, and ROI• Leveraged machine learning capabilities to create predictive analytic tools to monitor price, volume, and mix trends, and identify high correlation drivers to improve forecasting capabilities

Akron, Ohio, United States

• Reorganized the business analysis team to increase efficiencies and created partnerships between financial experts and various BUs to forge stronger relationships across the organization• Developed and executed a business analytics strategy that provided a better understanding of business needs, created appropriate data sources, and established automated dashboards to provide data, including a Tableau business intelligence application• Established a cross-functional analytics council and created processes to eliminate redundancy and waste and ensure alignment across analytical teams

Akron, Ohio, United States

• Oversaw the full IT function and ensured alignment between business development, operations, and IT• Led the IT transformation from a focus on risk mitigation and cost control to a focus on cost effective, value-added business solution delivery by reestablishing purpose and vision for team, developing roadmap of initiatives, creating processes and structure, and building a culture of achievement• Managed a global technology portfolio, ensuring consistent, on-time, and under-budget delivery of 400+ solutions over four years• Collaborated with the IT team to develop and improve business processes for project delivery, business development, and security

Akron, Ohio, United States

Directed the 18-month implementation of the SAP ERP system for 700 users. Created vision and strategy, selected implementation partner, developed and executed project plan, and managed budget. Project included: process evaluation and development, system design and creation, data transformation, contingency planning, cutover planning, testing, go live, and go live support.

Led the finance function for the supply chain. Oversaw budget, forecasting, and cost management for multisite manufacturing and distribution operation. Managed cost improvement efforts and application of Lean Six Sigma methodologies. Conducted financial analysis that led to the development of new core supply chain strategies.

Led financial management and strategies for Rubbermaid Home Products manufacturing and distribution operations.

Oversaw the finances for Rubbermaid's Food Service manufacturing and distribution operations.

Succeeding As A Strategic Cfo

Master Of Business Administration (Mba), Finance

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Accounting And Finance