Polymer Pricing Analyst

Company:

INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA

Interested in joining a winning team? A team whose employees are empowered to make a difference?

Grade 32 -33

Organisational context
and job purpose

INEOS Organization:

INEOS is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and oil products. It comprises 36 businesses, each with a major chemical company heritage.  Its production network spans 194 sites in 29 countries throughout the world.

Business Context: 

The O&P USA business includes chemical manufacturing, plastic pipe manufacturing, and oil exploration and production. The chemical product lines include Ethylene, Propylene, Butadiene, Polypropylene and Polyethylene.  Chemical manufacturing sites include Chocolate Bayou Works (Alvin, TX), Battleground Manufacturing Complex (LaPorte, TX), and Carson (Carson, CA), with a division office in League City, TX. 

How the Role Fits in: 

The polymers pricing administrator has primary responsibility for accurately maintaining SAP customer product pricing inputs using established delegations of authority and approval processes.  As a result, the pricing coordinator plays a critical role in accurate revenue recognition for the polymers product lines.  The pricing coordinator is part of a professional team that supports the accounting and performance reporting for the O&P USA polymers product lines (polypropylene and polyethylene).

The Main Purpose of the Role: 

The polymers pricing administrator is responsible for collecting price information from the sales force, calculating index and formula prices for input into SAP, updating price tables in SAP by customer and product grade, and processing price adjustments (debit and credit memos) as necessary.  In this role, the pricing administrator must work closely with account managers, sales and business managers, customer service representatives, credit analysts, and the invoice coordinator to price and issue invoices accurately and answer customer inquiries.

Responsibilities AND Accountabilities

• Input current month polymer prices into the SAP pricing tables by customer, product, package type, mode, etc.
• Process approved debit and credit memo requests in SAP for approved price adjustments or as required to clear customer residual balances.
• Process and enter approved customer claim accruals and credits in SAP after receiving settlement documentation.
• Maintain the Price Sherpa application for collecting market price information by customer and product from the field sales team; this includes “seeding” the initial monthly prices, updating the price status as changes are made, and maintaining the exceptions table to exclude certain combinations.
• Support credit and cash application efforts to match and clear customer residual payment balances resulting from invoice price differences.
• Distribute monthly industry reports as required to the INEOS distribution list (e.g., the Chemical Data/ICIS monthly reports).
• Maintain the price formula spreadsheet, including any additions or deletions based on new contracts or expirations; calculate and enter monthly formula prices in SAP after updating the spreadsheet with published industry index markers.
• Support the channel sales team to update SAP with monthly distributor list prices as well as individual order prices for spot sales (customer deal sheets from the CRM application).
• Assist with month end financial closing process to ensure all shipments and product returns are invoiced; provide any known pricing changes after WD2 to product line analysts so ledger revenue accruals can be posted in SAP.
• Maintain customer master tax codes for purposes of adding tax to invoices (GST).
• Provide documentation to support price inputs as required for audit and tax purposes.
• Assist the sales and commercial team with payment terms suggestions to match pricing availability when there is a conflict; also, work with the account managers to determine the best price input/billing approach for specific/unique billing situations.
• Identify and support pricing process enhancements to improve accuracy and efficiency.  This includes working with the INEOS IT team and six sigma resources to implement enhancements or changes.

Skills & Knowledge Required

Education/Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, logistics, or related business field and/or 3 to 5 years of relevant experience.

Skills/Competencies

• Strong Microsoft Office skills, especially Excel, are required.
• SAP SD/MM module knowledge including the complete SAP order fulfilment (order to cash) process and familiarity with the SAP customer and material masters and rebate functionality; (knowledge of other SAP modules such as FI/CO also a plus)
• Good analytical and problem solving ability
• Defines personal success in terms of the whole team.
• Strong organizational and time management skills – much of the work in this role is deadline driven.
• Self-starting individual who can work with a minimum of direction preferred. 
• Must have good communication skills and be able to discuss and explain pricing and invoicing processes in a clear and concise way to individuals across the organization.
• Strong knowledge of internal control and price approval processes.
• Chemical industry experience a plus.

New employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to their start date.

Our culture is one of honesty and integrity with an emphasis on safety, health and environmental performance.On our team, people are acknowledged for embracing new practices that help create real value for customers.