Senior Financial Analyst

Pearson is the world's lifelong learning company. We help people realize the life they imagine through learning.

Role Summary:

We are recruiting this Senior Financial Analyst role within Pearson Finance Services (PFS) to support the Pearson Virtual Schools (PVS). This role will prepare and deliver financial planning and analysis to business areas enabling effective business decision making. This role will also be expected to contribute to aspects of the budgeting and forecasting cycle. 

About Pearson Financial Services (PFS)

PFS is Pearson's center of excellence for all FP&A and financial control activity.   We partner with the business, Finance business partners and group reporting to provide outstanding financial support and service

Key Responsibilities:

Financial Analysis (both at month-end and on ad-hoc basis)

• Responsible for the delivery of subdivisional P&L reporting and analysis for the business
• Review products & projects to ensure accounting is in line with policies 
• Request accrual or other accounting adjustments that are judgement based 
• Provides analysis to support decision-making, including presenting economic outcomes, identifying the key value drivers, benefits, sensitivities and risks, accounting, and fiscal implications.
• Prepares and analyses problems using sensitivity analysis and other techniques; reviews variance analyses and account reconciliations and identifies significant items requiring the attention of higher-level management.
• Has experience working with multiple business models.

Cost Management

• Applies various techniques such as target costing, value analysis, life cycle and discuss implications.
• Prepares analysis and reports that enable the business management to effectively challenge costs and inform decision-making.
• Participates in waste elimination efforts with the business to understand key drivers and cost reduction opportunities.

Investment Analysis & Allocation

• Applies a combination of quantitative methods, qualitative judgement, and forward estimates in the development of sophisticated capital investment analysis.
• Assures the analysis and planning beyond the scope of capital spending to the wider expenditure (R&D, marketing, talent, etc.). 
• Communicates investment analysis criteria to non-finance professionals in a clear and concise manner to support decision making in resource that drives revenue growth.

 Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting

• Supports planning processes, including setting targets, communicating assumptions, coordinating budget preparation, challenging submissions, and seeking synergies upon consolidation.
• Provides the business with relevant financial support to enable effective planning while applying sensible budgeting and forecasting techniques.
• Provides reasoned advice on modelling, planning, and forecasting with reference to cost, time and quality which incorporate the organization strategic direction.

Strategy & Resource Planning

• Applies a strategic planning approach, identifying tools, techniques and practices that are business enablers and enhance improvements in cost/performance or sustainability.
• Monitors the finance progress against leadership team strategic goals and identifies bottlenecks to progress, identifying potential solutions, providing advice and escalating as needed to ensure goals are achieved

Leadership Capabilities:

• Ability to Influence Others – Identifies the agendas, concerns, and motivations of interested others, and is persuasive when positioning ideas and arguments to address them. Proactively cultivates networks with key individuals across functions to gain support for ideas, creating a foundation for future influence. Ensures that all proposals or arguments are fully supported by strong logic and a compelling business case, addressing all relevant factors.
• Communication – Communicates financial information and concepts in a clear, precise, thorough manner to meet the needs of both finance and non-finance audiences. Ensures that own positions effectively address others' needs and priorities, and that concerns are openly discussed and addressed. Projects self-assurance and unshakable confidence to influence outcomes with persuasiveness and candor. Appreciates the diversity of stakeholder interactions and adapts personal style as well as approach accordingly. 
• Strategic Decision Making – Critically and logically evaluates potential short- and long-term costs, risks, and benefits of alternatives before making key decisions. Critically and logically evaluates the costs, risks, and benefits of alternatives before making decisions.
• Accountability and Ownership – Prioritizes and balances, organizes, and allocates time, actions, and resources to generate significant positive results and achieve critical goals, even in fast-moving or uncertain situations. Anticipates and decisively intervenes, addressing and removing obstacles, and redirects efforts to accelerate work, improves quality, moves the work forward, and/or gets efforts back on track.
• Collaboration and Partnering – Identifies opportunities and take actions to build relationships between own area and other teams/departments to help achieve business goals.
• Change Management Capability – Understands the change management process.  Able to influence and lead others to embrace change positively in support of organizational objectives. 
• Prioritization – Juggles many priorities and competing demands for one's time. Understands the importance of materiality when prioritizing work

Qualifications/Experience Required:

• 5 years minimum experience in a Financial Planning and Analysis role
• Strong accounting knowledge with experience in project accounting– holding a recognized professional accountancy qualification (consideration will be given to candidates without a qualification who can demonstrate they meet the other experience requirements) 
• Excellent understanding of materiality and ability to prioritize across competing demands 
• Experience of finance ERP systems (Oracle preferred but not essential) 
• Experience with predictive modeling & data visualization tools (i.e., Alteryx and Tableau) is a plus.
• Understanding of financial control, business performance management and process optimization and experience of working in more than one of these areas 
• Advanced user of Microsoft Office suite, particularly Excel (v-lookups, sum-ifs, pivot tables etc.)
• High commitment to quality to ensure reports are prepared accurately first time 
• A self-starter who is motivated to work under own initiative demonstrating initiative and sound judgement. 
• Ability to work as part of a wider management team, identifying and providing support to colleagues 
• Ability to work to strict deadlines and to be able to prioritize to meet those deadlines 
• Experience working in a multi-national matrix organization 
• Experience transitioning finance activities between locations/groups.

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