Head of Financial Planning & Analysis
Job Type:
Full-Time
United Kingdom
Benefits
Salary: £75,000 - £85,000 per annum
About the Role
CR3 are currently representing a growing technology business operating within the SaaS and education technology space. They are looking to appoint a Head of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) to work closely with the CFO and senior leadership team, taking ownership of the company’s financial planning, forecasting and performance analysis.
This is a senior, hands-on FP&A position combining financial leadership with commercial business partnering. The successful candidate will play a key role in helping the business understand its financial performance, identify opportunities and risks, and make informed decisions around growth, profitability and investment.
The Role
Reports to: Chief Financial Officer
Department: Finance
As Head of FP&A, you will be responsible for leading the company’s budgeting, forecasting and financial modelling activities, providing the CFO and wider leadership team with clear and commercially focused financial insight.
You will work closely with teams across Sales, Marketing, Product, Operations, HR and IT, helping them understand their financial performance and challenging assumptions where appropriate.
Key responsibilities will include:
Leading the annual budgeting and financial planning process across the business.
Owning and maintaining the company’s long-term financial model.
Managing rolling forecasts and ensuring they reflect current trading performance and business priorities.
Developing financial models to support revenue, costs, headcount and cash-flow forecasting.
Analysing actual performance against budget and forecast and identifying key trends, risks and opportunities.
Producing monthly FP&A reporting and performance analysis for the CFO and senior leadership team.
Monitoring key SaaS and recurring-revenue metrics, including ARR and other commercial KPIs.
Developing dashboards and KPI reporting to improve visibility across the business.
Providing financial analysis to support pricing, commercial and strategic decisions.
Working closely with Sales and Marketing around revenue performance, pipeline, pricing, customer acquisition and retention.
Supporting Product and Operations with the financial assessment of new initiatives and investments.
Supporting headcount planning, workforce costs and resource allocation.
Leading short- and medium-term cash-flow forecasting and working capital analysis.
Supporting quarterly bond covenant forecasting and providing visibility of covenant headroom.
Developing business cases, financial models and scenario analysis for significant investments and strategic decisions.
Supporting capital allocation and investment decisions.
Ensuring financial models and management reporting remain accurate, controlled and consistent with approved financial results.
Identifying opportunities to improve financial reporting, automation and financial systems.
Leading and developing the FP&A function, including management of one direct report.
Requirements
The ideal candidate will be a commercially minded finance professional with significant experience across FP&A, commercial finance, management accounting or a similar area.
You will need:
A professional accountancy qualification such as ACA, ACCA or CIMA.
Significant post-qualification experience.
A degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
Strong experience leading budgeting, forecasting and financial modelling.
Experience producing management reporting and financial analysis for senior stakeholders.
Strong commercial understanding of revenue, profitability and cash-flow drivers.
Experience working with non-finance stakeholders across different areas of a business.
A strong understanding of SaaS and recurring-revenue metrics, particularly ARR and related KPIs.
Advanced Excel skills and strong PowerPoint capabilities.
Experience with ERP, CRM and financial planning systems.
Strong analytical and financial modelling skills.
Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to explain financial information clearly to non-finance stakeholders.
Experience within SaaS, technology, education software, another recurring-revenue business or a private-equity-backed environment would be highly advantageous. Experience with systems such as NetSuite and Salesforce would also be beneficial.
What We're Looking For
This role would suit someone who is comfortable operating at a senior level but still enjoys being hands-on with the numbers. You should be commercially focused, analytical and confident challenging assumptions, while also being able to build strong relationships across the wider business.
The successful candidate will have a high level of ownership and accountability, be comfortable working in a fast-moving environment and have the ability to turn complex financial information into clear, practical recommendations for the business.