Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Senior Analyst

Card Name: AIOC-S01659236
Designation: Financial Planning & Analysis Senior Analyst
Career Level: CL10
Experience: 5–8 Years
Core Skill: Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
Qualification: B.Com / Graduate Degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, or a related discipline
Preferred Qualification: MBA, CA, or CMA (advantageous but not mandatory)

Job Overview

We are seeking an experienced Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Senior Analyst with 5–8 years of relevant experience in financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, and management reporting.

The candidate will be responsible for preparing accurate financial forecasts, budgets, and management reports while translating financial data into meaningful business insights. The role involves analysing revenue, costs, gross margins, and working capital, partnering with cross-functional stakeholders, supporting business performance reviews, and driving continuous process improvements.

The ideal candidate should have advanced Excel skills, strong analytical capabilities, effective communication skills, and the ability to independently manage recurring financial deliverables in a global delivery environment.

Key Responsibilities

1. Planning and Forecasting

• Prepare accurate budget and forecast inputs within defined timelines.

• Track key financial assumptions, risks, and dependencies across planning cycles.

• Consolidate and validate stakeholder submissions, resolving data inconsistencies.

• Prepare rolling forecasts for revenue and gross margin across assigned categories.

• Support annual budgeting and long-range planning activities for the retail vertical.

2. Financial Analysis and Reporting

• Perform detailed variance analysis across revenue, costs, gross margin, and working capital.

• Prepare monthly and ad hoc management reports with clear financial commentary.

• Analyse financial trends and business drivers to provide actionable insights.

• Support business decisions through financial modelling and driver-based analysis.

• Maintain KPI trackers and assist with periodic business performance reviews.

• Identify emerging financial risks and opportunities and communicate findings to stakeholders.

3. Business Partnering and Stakeholder Management

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand business drivers and validate financial data.

• Respond to stakeholder queries and provide timely financial insights.

• Build effective working relationships with internal teams and service delivery partners.

• Communicate deliverable status, issues, and timelines proactively.

• Support stakeholder meetings through financial analysis and presentation materials.

4. Continuous Improvement and Controls

• Identify opportunities to simplify and improve financial reporting processes.

• Strengthen financial controls and improve data quality.

• Support standardisation and documentation of FP&A processes.

• Leverage Excel, Power BI, and finance systems to improve productivity and reporting efficiency.

5. Team Coordination and Delivery

• Support team leads with work coordination and quality assurance.

• Mentor junior analysts and assist with onboarding and knowledge sharing.

• Take ownership of assigned financial deliverables and ensure timely completion.

• Maintain accuracy and consistency across recurring reporting activities.

Mandatory Skills and Experience

• 5–8 years of experience in FP&A or Commercial Finance.

• Strong knowledge of budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis.

• Experience in management reporting and financial performance analysis.

• Understanding of revenue, cost, gross margin, and working capital analysis.

• Advanced MS Excel skills, including financial modelling, Pivot Tables, large datasets, and complex lookups.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.

• Stakeholder management and ability to work independently.

• Ability to manage deadlines and recurring deliverables in a global delivery environment.

Preferred Skills

• Exposure to manufacturing, retail, wholesale, merchandise, consumer packaged goods (CPG), or other product-driven industries.

• Experience with SAP ECC or equivalent ERP systems.

• Familiarity with cost centre mapping, GL coding, and financial report extraction.

• Exposure to planning tools such as TM1, SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), Anaplan, or OneStream.

• Knowledge of reporting and visualisation tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or Palantir.

• Familiarity with Snowflake or data warehouse reporting layers.

Educational Qualifications

• B.Com or a graduate degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, or a related discipline.

• MBA, CA, or CMA qualification will be an added advantage but is not mandatory.

Key Competencies

• Financial analysis and business acumen.

• Advanced Excel and financial modelling.

• Strong attention to detail and data accuracy.

• Effective written and verbal communication.

• Stakeholder management and business partnering.

• Ownership, accountability, and time management.

• Team collaboration and mentoring.

• Continuous improvement mindset.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Accuracy and timeliness of budgets and forecasts.

• Quality of revenue, cost, and gross margin variance analysis.

• Timely delivery of monthly management reports.

• Accuracy and completeness of KPI trackers.

• Quality of financial commentary and business insights.

• Stakeholder satisfaction and resolution of financial queries.

• Process efficiency, reporting improvements, and adherence to controls.

Preferred Candidate Profile

Candidates with strong FP&A or commercial finance experience, advanced Excel skills, budgeting and forecasting expertise, and exposure to retail or product-driven businesses will be preferred. Experience with SAP, planning tools, and BI/reporting platforms will be an added advantage.