Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the process of creating and eventually building structures, products, and systems. A manufacturing operation focuses on transforming resources, such as raw materials, into components which form a piece of equipment or a finalised product.
The list below is an example of some of the roles which can be found within this industry. Studying accounts as a subject can aid you to follow a career path which leads to similar roles, amongst many others.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
The CEO is responsible for leading the entire organisation by guiding the strategic, financial, and operational elements of the business. The CEO pushes the organisation in the direction which is advised by the Board of Directors (if any) and the shareholders (owners) of the business. Being the executive decision-maker, the CEO has the overall responsibility for taking decisions on the business’ future and keeping track of how the entity is operating and managing its resources to ensure that deadlines and objectives are met.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
The CFO is an accountant and the ‘right hand’ of the CEO as they (she/he) are responsible for forecasting the future financial standing of the business based on the operational data and the financial reports which are prepared by the Financial Controller and the accounting department. The CFO is essential in that they advise the CEO and the Board of Directors on the strategic direction that the business should take based on a variety of information, such as the business’ profitability and cash flow, as well as market threats and opportunities.
Chief Operations Officer (COO)
A COO is a senior position within the executive team of the business, usually reporting to the CEO, and responsible for overseeing the daily administrative and operational functions of a business. Such areas generally include logistical and operational elements and how these relate to other departments such as finance, sales, marketing, and human resources. Their (her/his) role also includes cooperation between these different functions and finding a compromise in case of differences between them.
Risk Manager
The role of a Risk Manager is to understand and effectively communicate the risks involved in the business and specific projects. They (she/he) will question what could go wrong in terms of operations (such as a machine stopping the entire production), financial (such as an investment doing badly), health and safety (such as an employee getting hurt at the place of work), resources (such as an employee leaving the business to join a competitor), amongst other types of risk. The role of the Risk Manager is to then develop measures to reduce such risks.
Quality Assurance Manager
This person takes on the responsibility to ensure that the products or services offered by the business are of the utmost quality, and the manufacturing processes which are in place are efficient and able to reach the standards of the business, as well as meeting customer and legal requirements. The objective of the Quality Assurance Manager is that all products produced by the business and all services offered to customers are safe and reliable.