Finance Analyst

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Job description

Finance Analyst - Retail: Clothing & Home - 6 months
Finance Analyst - Retail: Clothing & Home - 6 months

The location of the role is London (hybrid remote working).

The pay rate on offer is up to £350 per day (Inside IR35, via umbrella ONLY).

The client is a large, multinational high-street retailer.

Job purpose

Our Finance team plays a key role in setting the pace for our key business decisions, shaping our budgets, analysing our sales, managing costs and making sure our most vital statistics and data are absolutely accurate.

With a focus on adding value to all business areas by helping them make data-driven decisions and understand what is driving commercial performance - it's our job to make sure the right tools, processes, governance and ways of working are in place to support this.

We are looking a Finance Analyst who will be accountable for delivering Clothing & Home trade reporting, ensuring it is informative, timely and accurate.

You'll also be accountable for the analysis and interpreting performance and trends, both internally and externally, distilling the information needed to enable the Clothing & Home teams to make informed decisions and actions.

We are ideally looking for someone with an inquisitive mind, who will be able to deliver new insight to help steer the Business Unit and Leadership team as we emerge from the pandemic and we continue to transform.

Key Accountabilities & Measures

Reporting

Lead on Clothing & Home trade and performance reporting
Ensuring that the reporting and information provided to the leadership team is timely, accurate and insightful
Accountable for interpreting and analysing trading performance to provide Clothing & Home Leadership team with the relevant information for informed decisions
Finance project lead for Clothing & Home Finance Reporting Transformation, working alongside business partners from across the wider business to produce outstanding reporting, insight and visualisation
Support Investor Relations in understanding the drivers of historical performance, across financial and non-financial metrics
Accountable for reviewing and evaluating competitor trading statements and market performance

Planning

Supporting the Senior Finance Manager to deliver the Clothing & Home planning cycles (Budget, in year forecasts and 3 Year Plans), from Sales to Margin
Delivering Clothing & Home forecast and budget outputs including packs for Clothing & Home Directors and submissions to Group Finance
Provide detailed and insightful analysis into building blocks of the forecasts, advising risks and opportunities and dependencies for delivery

Decision Support Analysis

Provide ad-hoc analysis on all elements of the Clothing & Home performance, including sales trends, volumes and promotion
Having an inquisitive mind, driving new insight to support action in Clothing & Home, working closely with the Leadership Team, Finance Business Partners and Group FP&A

Control

Working with the Business Service Centre and other team members to ensure correct and accurate sales and margin reporting
Ensuring strong financial control across the trading, planning and forecasting processes

Key Skills

Qualified Accountant - CIMA/ACCA/ACA (2 years' PQE minimum)
Retail experience is ideal
Excellent attention to detail
Appetite to challenge and improve the status quo
Inquisitive and curious mentality
Strong analytical capabilities, comfortable working with and accurately manipulating data to provide accurate and insightful reporting
Effective communication skills, both written and verbal
Ability to maintain and further enhance controls and process and ability to implement change
A great teammate but also happy to work independently on own initiative