Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Analyst

Designation: Financial Planning & Analysis Senior Analyst
Career Level: CL10
Experience: 5–8 Years
Core Skill: Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
Qualification: B.Com. A graduate degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, or a related discipline is preferred. MBA, CA, or CMA is an advantage but not mandatory.

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Senior Analyst to support financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, management reporting, and business performance analysis. The successful candidate will analyse financial data, identify business trends, explain performance variances, and provide actionable insights to support strategic and operational decision-making.

The role involves collaborating with cross-functional stakeholders, managing recurring financial deliverables, improving reporting processes, and maintaining high standards of accuracy and data quality. The Senior Analyst will also support team coordination, mentor junior analysts, and contribute to the continuous improvement of FP&A operations.

Key Responsibilities

1. Financial Planning and Forecasting

• Prepare accurate budget and forecast inputs within established timelines.

• Support annual budgeting, rolling forecasts, and long-range financial planning for the retail vertical.

• Develop and maintain revenue and gross margin forecasts for assigned business categories.

• Consolidate, validate, and reconcile financial submissions from business stakeholders.

• Track key financial assumptions, risks, dependencies, and business performance indicators.

• Investigate discrepancies and resolve inconsistencies before finalising reports.

2. Financial Analysis and Management Reporting

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

• Prepare monthly management reports, financial dashboards, and ad hoc analytical reports.

• Interpret financial results and provide clear commentary explaining performance drivers.

• Conduct trend analysis, financial modelling, and driver-based analysis to identify risks and opportunities.

• Maintain key performance indicator (KPI) trackers and support periodic business performance reviews.

• Deliver accurate and consistent management information to FP&A leadership and business stakeholders.

3. Business Partnering and Stakeholder Management

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand business requirements and financial performance drivers.

• Partner with internal stakeholders to validate financial data, clarify assumptions, and resolve reporting queries.

• Communicate financial insights, deliverable status, issues, and timelines effectively.

• Support stakeholder meetings and business reviews by preparing financial analysis and presentation materials.

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

• Translate complex financial information into clear, actionable business insights.

4. Reporting, Systems, and Process Improvement

• Use advanced Excel and financial reporting tools to analyse large datasets and improve reporting efficiency.

• Extract financial information from SAP ECC or equivalent ERP systems.

• Support cost centre mapping, general ledger (GL) coding, and financial data validation.

• Identify opportunities to automate recurring reports and streamline financial processes.

• Improve data quality, strengthen reporting controls, and support standardisation of FP&A activities.

• Maintain process documentation and follow established financial governance requirements.

• Leverage business intelligence tools to improve financial visibility and reporting accuracy.

5. Team Coordination and Knowledge Sharing

• Take ownership of assigned financial deliverables and ensure timely, high-quality completion.

• Support team leads with work coordination, quality checks, and process monitoring.

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

• Share best practices and contribute to continuous learning within the FP&A team.

• Manage multiple priorities independently in a global finance delivery environment.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• 5–8 years of relevant experience in Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), commercial finance, or a related finance function.

• Strong knowledge of budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, financial modelling, and management reporting.

• Good understanding of revenue, cost structures, gross margin, working capital, and financial performance drivers.

• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including pivot tables, complex lookups, financial modelling, and large dataset analysis.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and numerical reasoning skills.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to present financial findings and provide meaningful business commentary.

• Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills.

• Ability to manage recurring reporting cycles, meet strict deadlines, and maintain accuracy.

• Good attention to detail and the ability to work independently in a global delivery environment.

• Bachelor's degree in Commerce, Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related discipline.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience in manufacturing, retail, wholesale, merchandising, consumer packaged goods (CPG), or other product-driven industries.

• Exposure to SAP ECC or equivalent ERP systems for financial data extraction, cost centre mapping, and GL coding.

• Familiarity with financial planning tools such as IBM Planning Analytics (TM1), SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC), Anaplan, or OneStream.

• Experience with reporting and visualisation tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or Palantir.

• Familiarity with Snowflake or other data warehouse reporting environments.

• MBA, Chartered Accountant (CA), or Certified Management Accountant (CMA) qualification is an advantage.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Accuracy and timeliness of budgets, forecasts, and management reports.

• Quality of financial variance analysis and business commentary.

• Reliability of financial data and reporting outputs.

• Timely completion of recurring and ad hoc deliverables.

• Effectiveness of stakeholder communication and query resolution.

• Improvements in reporting efficiency, process standardisation, and data quality.

• Contribution to team productivity, knowledge sharing, and junior analyst development.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a detail-oriented finance professional with strong FP&A expertise, advanced Excel capabilities, and the ability to convert financial data into actionable business insights. The candidate should demonstrate ownership, sound analytical judgement, effective communication, and the ability to work collaboratively with global stakeholders while managing multiple deadlines.

Keywords: Financial Planning & Analysis, FP&A, Budgeting, Forecasting, Variance Analysis, Financial Modelling, Management Reporting, Revenue Analysis, Gross Margin, Working Capital, Advanced Excel, SAP ECC, Power BI, Anaplan, TM1, Financial Performance Analysis, Business Partnering.