Financial Planning and Analysis Manager

Financial Planning and Analysis Manager

We are seeking a dynamic and strategic Financial Planning and Analysis Manager to lead our corporate financial planning initiatives, ensuring robust financial oversight, insightful analysis, and proactive performance management. In this pivotal role, you will drive the budgeting and rolling forecast processes for the corporate profit and loss (P&L) account, delivering actionable intelligence to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and business leaders. Your expertise will be instrumental in monitoring financial performance, identifying cost and margin trends, and providing early warnings to mitigate risks and optimize financial outcomes.

As the custodian of our financial planning and analysis framework, you will play a critical role in shaping our company’s financial strategy while collaborating closely with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment with business objectives. This position demands a blend of analytical rigor, strategic thinking, and strong communication skills to translate complex financial data into clear, impactful insights that drive informed decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

Your primary focus will be on the following core areas:

• Budget Ownership and Execution: Lead the annual budget cycle for corporate activities, including the development of the budget calendar, submission of templates, and consolidation of budgets for CFO and Board approval. Oversee the budget process, challenge submissions, and ensure adherence to financial guidelines while fostering collaboration with budget holders.
• Rolling Forecast Management: Drive the rolling forecast process, reforecasting revenue, costs, and margins on an approved cycle. Analyze deviations from budget, prior forecasts, and year-over-year performance, providing clear explanations and recommendations to stakeholders.
• Performance Monitoring and Reporting: Develop and maintain the monthly management reporting pack for the corporate P&L, including variance analysis against budget, forecast, and prior-year performance. Obtain commentary from budget holders to enrich reports and escalate emerging risks or opportunities to the CFO and relevant leaders.
• Financial Risk Mitigation: Actively monitor corporate performance against financial plans, identifying overruns, shortfalls, and run-rate risks. Escalate critical issues proactively to prevent financial deviations and support data-driven decision-making.
• Budget Availability and Spend Oversight: Confirm budget availability for procurement and spend requests, flagging unbudgeted or exhausted lines to budget holders and the CFO. Track commitments and open purchase orders to ensure accurate budget consumption reporting, including committed but uninvoiced spend for accrual completeness.
• KPI Framework Development: Define and maintain the financial KPI framework for corporate activities, establishing metrics and their calculation methodologies. Report performance against these KPIs to provide a clear, data-driven view of financial health and operational efficiency.
• Business Case Preparation: Develop and evaluate business cases, scenario analyses, and financial models to support strategic initiatives. Ensure alignment with corporate financial policies and present findings to the CFO and Board for approval.

This role is analytical in nature and does not involve custodianship of sub-ledger or general ledger accounts. Instead, you will leverage certified financial data from the General Ledger Manager to drive insights, challenge variances, and recommend adjustments where necessary. Collaboration with functional custodians and the General Ledger team will be essential to ensure data accuracy and alignment with accounting policies.

Collaboration and Boundaries

While this position does not include transactional responsibilities such as recording, certifying, or posting entries, you will work closely with budget holders, the General Ledger team, and other stakeholders to ensure seamless financial operations. Your role is advisory and analytical, focusing on providing recommendations rather than making final approvals. Approval authorities for budgets, reforecasts, and spend requests rest with designated budget holders and the Delegation of Authority framework.

Join our team and contribute to shaping our company’s financial future with precision, foresight, and strategic acumen. Your ability to translate financial data into actionable strategies will be instrumental in driving sustainable growth and operational excellence.