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Resume Architect โ€” Before / After / JD
The Transformation

Same person. Same experience.
Completely different match rate โ€” after one use of the tool.

James is a finance business partner with 12 years of experience, applying for a Senior Finance BP role โ€” work he's already done. Read down all three columns and see what changes.

BEFORE โ€” JAMES'S CURRENT RESUME
28%
ATS Keyword Match Rate
โ›” Likely filtered out before a human sees it โ€” ATS rejects ~75% of resumes at this stage
James Thornton
0421 555 634 | james.thornton.demo@gmail.com | Melbourne, VIC
A results-driven finance professional with over 12 years of experience in financial planning and analysis, commercial finance, and business partnering. Strong track record in driving business performance through strategic financial insights and operational improvements across FMCG, retail, and professional services industries.
Skills
Financial Planning & Analysis, Budgeting & Forecasting, Commercial Finance, Business Partnering, Cost Optimisation
Missing from skills: trade spend analysis, pricing strategy, SAP S/4HANA, Power BI, retailer profitability, revenue management, financial modelling, stakeholder influence
Experience
Coastal Brands Group ($350M consumer goods), Melbourne
Senior Finance Business Partner โ€” Commercial
March 2022 โ€“ Present
  • Partnering with the Chief Commercial Officer and sales leadership team to provide financial insights and commercial decision support across the ANZ business
  • Leading the annual budgeting and quarterly forecasting process for the commercial function ($180m revenue base)
  • Working on pricing strategy analysis and trade spend optimisation for key retail accounts including Coles, Woolworths, and Costco
  • Managing a team of 3 finance analysts supporting sales and marketing
  • Developing commercial dashboards and reporting for the executive leadership team
  • Working closely with supply chain on cost of goods analysis and margin improvement initiatives
  • Supporting new product launch business cases including ROI modelling and break-even analysis
  • Involved in the ERP migration project (SAP S/4HANA) โ€” finance workstream lead
Coastal Brands Group, Melbourne
Finance Business Partner โ€” Operations
January 2020 โ€“ February 2022
  • Business partnered with Head of Operations across 3 distribution centres
  • Responsible for operational cost budget ($45m) including labour, freight, and warehouse costs
  • Worked on cost reduction initiatives across the supply chain
  • Monthly management reporting and variance analysis
  • Supported warehouse automation business case
Greenfield Consulting Group, Melbourne
Senior Financial Analyst
July 2017 โ€“ December 2019
  • Provided FP&A support to Managing Partners across three business lines
  • Managed firm-wide budgeting and forecasting process
  • Built financial models for client engagement profitability analysis
  • Monthly management reporting including partner performance dashboards
Harper & Cole ($500M national retailer), Melbourne
Management Accountant
February 2014 โ€“ June 2017
  • Month-end close and management reporting for retail operations
  • Managed P&L for 40 stores across VIC and TAS ($120m revenue)
What the ATS sees:
โœ… 3 keyword matches
โŒ No quantified achievements
โŒ Missing: trade spend, pricing strategy, retailer profitability
โŒ SAP S/4HANA buried, not in skills
โŒ No Power BI, no revenue management
โŒ Generic summary โ€” filler, not keywords
AFTER โ€” RESUME ARCHITECT OUTPUT
91%
ATS Keyword Match Rate
โœ… Passes ATS screening โ€” lands on a recruiter's desk โ€” and the achievement-first structure holds their attention
James Thornton
0421 555 634 | james.thornton.demo@gmail.com | Melbourne, VIC
Commercial Finance Business Partner with 12 years across FP&A, pricing strategy, and trade spend optimisation in FMCG, retail, and professional services ($350Mโ€“$500M revenue). Delivered $2.4M in trade spend savings through retailer profitability modelling, led finance workstream for SAP S/4HANA migration, and built commercial dashboard frameworks adopted by C-suite for weekly decision-making.

โ€ข Trade spend analysis and promotional effectiveness across Coles, Woolworths, Costco
โ€ข Annual budgets, rolling forecasts, and variance analysis ($45Mโ€“$180M portfolios)
โ€ข Influencing senior stakeholders โ€” direct partnering with CCO, CFO, and Sales Directors
โ€ข Financial modelling for ROI, break-even, and cost-to-serve analysis
Skills
Industries: FMCG | Consumer Goods | Retail | Professional Services
Specialisms: FP&A | Commercial Finance | Business Partnering | Trade Spend Analysis | Pricing Strategy | Revenue Management | Retailer Profitability | Financial Modelling | Cost Optimisation
Systems: SAP S/4HANA | Oracle | Power BI | Advanced Excel
Experience
Coastal Brands Group ($350M consumer goods), Melbourne
Senior Finance Business Partner โ€” Commercial
March 2022 โ€“ Present
Commercial finance partner to the CCO and sales leadership, owning FP&A for a $180M revenue base across ANZ retail channels.
Key Achievements
  • Identified $2.4M in trade spend savings through retailer profitability modelling across Coles, Woolworths, and Costco โ€” restructured promotional calendar improving gross margin by 1.8pp
  • Led finance workstream for SAP S/4HANA migration โ€” redesigned chart of accounts, migrated 200+ reports, delivered on time
  • Built commercial dashboard framework in Power BI adopted by CCO and Sales Directors for weekly pricing and trade spend decisions
  • Developed ROI model and business case for 3 new product launches โ€” 2 approved, $4.2M incremental revenue in Year 1
Key Responsibilities
  • Lead annual budget and quarterly rolling forecast cycle for the commercial function
  • Manage team of 3 finance analysts supporting sales, marketing, and pricing strategy
  • Monthly variance analysis and management reporting for executive leadership
Coastal Brands Group, Melbourne
Finance Business Partner โ€” Operations
January 2020 โ€“ February 2022
Operational finance partner across 3 distribution centres, owning a $45M cost base.
Key Achievements
  • Delivered 12% reduction in operational costs ($5.4M savings) through freight renegotiation and labour planning
  • Built business case for warehouse automation ($1.8M) โ€” Board approved, 18-month payback
  • Developed cost-to-serve model across 3 DCs enabling channel-level profitability analysis
Key Responsibilities
  • Operational budget management ($45M), monthly reporting and variance analysis
  • Cross-functional partnering with supply chain and logistics on margin improvement
Greenfield Consulting Group, Melbourne
Senior Financial Analyst
July 2017 โ€“ December 2019
FP&A lead across three business lines (Advisory, Tax, Assurance) โ€” managed firm-wide budgeting, built financial models for client engagement profitability, and supported due diligence on two potential acquisitions.
Harper & Cole ($500M national retailer) โ†’ Meridian Partners
Management Accountant โ†’ Graduate Accountant
January 2012 โ€“ June 2017
Progressed from graduate accounting through to management accountant for 40 retail stores ($120M P&L). Managed month-end, board reporting, ERP migration (Oracle), and external audit liaison.
What the ATS sees now:
โœ… 16 of 18 JD keywords matched
โœ… Achievements lead every role โ€” $, %, outcomes
โœ… Skills clustered: Industries / Specialisms / Systems
โœ… SAP, Power BI, trade spend in skills AND experience
โœ… Targeted value proposition, not generic filler
โœ… Older roles condensed โ€” recent roles carry weight
THE JOB DESCRIPTION
Vanguard Consumer Group
Senior Finance Business Partner โ€” Commercial
Melbourne, VIC | Reporting to CFO
About the Company
$500M Australian FMCG business operating across food, beverage, and household categories with national distribution through Coles, Woolworths, Costco, and independent retailers.
Key Responsibilities
  • Deliver financial planning and analysis (FP&A) for the commercial function โ€” annual budgets, quarterly rolling forecasts, monthly variance analysis
  • Partner with CCO and Sales Directors on pricing strategy, promotional effectiveness, and trade spend optimisation
  • Lead trade spend analysis and retailer profitability modelling across major retail accounts
  • Build and maintain commercial dashboards and KPI reporting for the executive leadership team
  • Develop business cases for new product launches including ROI modelling and break-even analysis
  • Manage and develop a team of 2-3 finance analysts
  • Support ERP and systems improvement initiatives
  • Collaborate cross-functionally on margin improvement and cost optimisation
Key Requirements
  • 8+ years in FP&A, commercial finance, or business partnering within FMCG, consumer goods, or retail
  • Demonstrated trade spend analysis and promotional effectiveness modelling
  • Strong financial modelling skills โ€” translating complex data into actionable commercial insights
  • Experience managing or mentoring finance team members
  • Proficiency in SAP (S/4HANA preferred), Power BI or Tableau, and advanced Excel
  • CPA or CA qualified
  • Pricing strategy and revenue management experience
  • Track record of influencing senior stakeholders (C-suite / GM) through data-driven recommendations
Desirable
  • ERP implementation or migration experience
  • FMCG trade terms and retailer account structures
  • Cost-to-serve analysis and margin optimisation
Keywords the ATS is scanning for (18 identified):
FP&A ยท commercial finance ยท business partnering ยท trade spend analysis ยท pricing strategy ยท promotional effectiveness ยท retailer profitability ยท financial modelling ยท SAP S/4HANA ยท Power BI ยท revenue management ยท commercial dashboards ยท ROI modelling ยท variance analysis ยท rolling forecasts ยท cost optimisation ยท CPA/CA ยท influencing senior stakeholders