Financial Planning & Analysis Manager

Purpose of the post

The Financial Planning & Analysis Manager will support the Associate Director of Finance to provide insightful analysis of financial trends and oversee the recoverability of funds.

They will coordinate the month-end process and work with Finance Business Partners to coordinate the quarterly forecast and the 2026/27 budget.

They will also act as Finance Business Partner to a number of teams, working closely with Budget Holders and external partners to provide effective management of resources and risk, and monitoring of quarterly partner reporting.

Main responsibilities

Financial Planning & Analysis element of role (60%):

• Coordination of month-end process: overseeing the month-end checklist and coordination of FBPs; production of monthly management accounts using JET reports
• Coordination of quarterly forecasting and annual budgeting across cost centres and funds: preparation of forecasting templates; coordination of FBPs; upload and review of forecast onto finance system
• Coordination of long-term (high level) forecasting across all cost centres and funds to end of current Core Funding cycle
• Oversee the cost recovery process of new and existing funds (overhead recovery and monitoring of funding gaps)

Finance Business Partnering element of role (40%):

• Work with Budget Holders to manage financial performance, forecasts, and budgeting including understanding financial opportunities and risk for the area of business partnership.
• Provide donor reporting and analysis as required to funders of specific programmes.
• Consolidation of quarterly partner reporting

Experience

• CCAB qualified with a minimum of 5 years practical experience in financial analysis or business partnering roles

Desirable

• Experience of fund management
• Experience of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
• Experience of JET reports 
• Experience in the academic or scientific research sector
• Experience working with UKRI and/or Research Councils
• Experience of funding under Full Economic Costing (FEC) model
• Experience of managing stakeholder relationships within an academic or not-for-profit environment

Skills

• Excellent quantitative skills, use of Excel and finance systems
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively and confidently with people at all levels.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to handle sensitive issues positively
• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment and to working in an agile, flexible and pragmatic way
• Ability to quickly learn and adapt to new environments
• Ability to lead and work as part of a team
• Ability to work autonomously and make decisions without supervision
• Ability to process complex information and present targeted messages to different audiences.