Senior Financial Analyst - Financial Planning and Analysis

Socket.dev; Richmond; On-site; CAD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

London Drugs is seeking a Senior Financial Analyst in FP&A to lead cash flow forecasting, annual budgeting, and long-range planning for retail operations. You will partner with merchandising, supply chain, and store leadership to translate business plans into financial forecasts and explain variances in plain language.

You will build driver-based models, support an expanding use of AI in planning, and present insights to senior leadership while driving process improvements and automation.

Qualifications

• CPA designation in good standing (required).
• Minimum 5 years of FP&A, financial planning, or closely related analytical finance role.
• Retail industry experience with gross margin, shrink, inventory turns, and store-level P&L knowledge.
• Advanced Excel skills and ability to work with large datasets.
• Strong written communication and ability to explain results to non-financial audiences.

Responsibilities

• Own cash flow forecasting, 13-week working capital and long-range planning.
• Model cash impact of inventory cycles, vendor terms, and capex timing.
• Monitor liquidity and prepare lender reporting analysis.
• Explain forecast variances with drivers and recommended actions.
• Partner with merchandising, supply chain, and ops on pricing, promotions, and inventory decisions.
• Build driver-based models for sales, margin, labor, and operating expenses.
• Develop management reports, dashboards, and KPI packages.
• Support month-end close with variance analysis and reasonability checks.

Skills

Advanced Excel

Large datasets

Financial analysis

Written communication

Data interpretation

Education

CPA designation

Tools

Microsoft Dynamics 365

SAP

Oracle

Power BI

SQL

Job description

Senior Financial Analyst - Financial Planning & Analysis

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced FP&A professional to lead cash flow forecasting, annual budgeting, and ongoing financial planning for our retail operations. This role sits at the center of the company's planning cycle, partnering with merchandising, supply chain, operations, and store leadership to translate business plans into financial forecasts — and to explain what the numbers mean when actual results diverge from plan.

The successful candidate will be equally comfortable building a driver-based model from scratch, working through large transaction-level data, and presenting a variance story to senior leadership in plain language. We are actively expanding our use of AI and automation across the Finance function, and this role will help shape how those tools are applied to planning and analysis.

Key Responsibilities

Cash Flow Management and Forecasting

• Prepare, maintain, and continuously improve the rolling cash flow forecast, covering both short-horizon (13-week) working capital needs and longer-range planning views
• Model the cash impact of inventory purchasing cycles, vendor payment terms, seasonal working capital swings, and capital expenditure timing
• Monitor liquidity against credit facility covenants and prepare supporting analysis for lender reporting requirements
• Investigate and explain variances between forecast and actual cash position, identifying the drivers and recommending corrective action
• Partner with Accounts Payable on payment timing, funding requirements, and cash optimization opportunities

Annual Budget and Business Planning

• Working along with Assistant corporate controller prepare the annual budget process end to end: build the calendar, prepare templates and guidance, coordinate departmental submissions, consolidate, and prepare the package for executive and Board review
• Translate strategic business plans into financial models, including new store openings, remodels, category expansions, and major system or infrastructure investments
• Build and maintain driver-based models covering sales, gross margin, shrink, labour, occupancy, and operating expense
• Facilitate budget review sessions with department leaders, challenging assumptions constructively and ensuring plans are grounded in operational reality

Forecasting and Performance Reporting

• Own the periodic reforecast cycle, updating projections for actual results, trend shifts, and changes in business conditions
• Prepare period-end variance analysis covering revenue, gross margin, shrink, and operating expense, with clear written commentary explaining drivers rather than restating figures
• Develop and maintain management reporting packages, dashboards, and KPI reporting for Finance and operating leadership
• Support month-end and period-end close with variance analysis, reasonability review, and identification of items requiring adjustment

Business Partnership and Analysis

• Act as a finance partner to merchandising, supply chain, and operations, providing analysis to support decisions on pricing, promotion, assortment, inventory levels, and vendor terms
• Build financial models and business cases for capital projects and strategic initiatives, including sensitivity and scenario analysis
• Perform ad hoc analysis on margin performance, shrink trends, inventory productivity, and category profitability
• Contribute to continuous improvement of planning tools, models, and processes, including automation of recurring reporting

Qualifications

Required

• Canadian CPA designation (CPA, CA / CPA, CMA / CPA, CGA) in good standing
• Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in FP&A, financial planning, or a closely related analytical finance role
• Retail industry experience, with practical working knowledge of gross margin mechanics, shrink, inventory turns, markdowns, cost of goods sold, and store-level P&L structure
• Advanced Excel skills
• Proven ability to work with large datasets — extracting, cleaning, reconciling, and analyzing transaction-level data across multiple sources
• Strong written communication, with the ability to explain financial results to non-financial audiences

Preferred

• Experience in a multi-store or multi-banner retail environment
• Working knowledge of an enterprise ERP system (Microsoft Dynamics 365, SAP, Oracle, or similar), including report extraction and understanding of underlying data structures
• Familiarity with Power BI or comparable data visualization tools
• Experience with SQL, Power Pivot / DAX, or other tools for handling data beyond Excel's practical limits
• Exposure to lender reporting, covenant compliance, or borrowing base preparation
• Experience supporting an ERP implementation or finance systems transformation

What We Are Looking For

• Analytical judgment. Comfortable working with imperfect data, making and documenting reasonable assumptions, and being explicit about what is estimated versus reported.
• Ownership. Takes a process end to end and improves it, rather than running it as inherited.
• Business curiosity. Wants to understand why a category is underperforming, not just that it is.
• Clear communication. Can distill a complex model into three sentences a merchant will act on.
• Composure under deadline. Period close and budget season are demanding; steady, methodical work matters more than speed alone.

London Drugs is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to building an inclusive and diverse workforce. We are committed to building a company that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.

We will provide accommodations during the recruitment process upon request.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work applicable to this position and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required. Be advised, London Drugs DOES NOT use third party recruitment services.

London Drugs may collect, use, and/or disclose your personal information (including the information in this application) where it is reasonable for establishing, managing or terminating an employment relationship. This includes the use or disclosure of your personal information to persons inside or external to our organization, for the purpose of checking references or gathering other information to support an assessment of your candidacy.