Commercial Finance Analyst

Deverell Smith Recruitment Ltd; Greater London; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Deverell Smith Recruitment Ltd is recruiting on behalf of a business with a substantial development and construction portfolio for an Analyst, Commercial Finance (Development & Construction). You will join the Commercial Finance team to support forecasting, cashflow, valuations and board reporting across a live portfolio.

The role offers a clear progression path to Finance Business Partner and Senior Finance Business Partner.

Qualifications

• Strong numerical and analytical abilities required.
• Excellent Excel skills with experience in P&L, cashflow and forecasts.
• Able to interpret complex data and provide actionable insights.

Responsibilities

• Prepare project forecasts, budgets and forecast costs to complete.
• Reconcile quarterly development cashflows and assist planning.
• Perform variance analysis and highlight risks to the Board packs.
• Support valuation inputs, debt funding and liquidity forecasting.
• Maintain reconciliations between development models and accounting records.
• Develop reporting dashboards using Anaplan and Yardi.
• Provide ad-hoc commercial analysis to the team.

Skills

Strong numerical ability

Excel skills

Analytical thinking

Attention to detail

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Analytical reporting

Tools

Anaplan

Yardi

Job description

The Opportunity

We'\"re recruiting on behalf of a business with a substantial development and construction portfolio, who are looking to appoint an Analyst, Commercial Finance (Development & Construction) to join their Commercial Finance team.

This is a great opportunity for a finance professional who wants broad exposure across the development life cycle, working closely with a Senior Finance Business Partner and Senior Manager to support forecasting, business planning, cash flow reporting, valuations, funding activities and Board reporting across a live portfolio.

The role has been designed with a clear progression path in mind, offering a route through to Finance Business Partner and, ultimately, Senior Finance Business Partner. It would suit someone early-to-mid career in finance who wants genuine variety and a defined next step rather than a static analyst role.

What the Role Involves

Forecasting & Financial Reporting

• Supporting the preparation and maintenance of project forecasts, including budgets, actual costs and forecast costs to complete


• Updating and reconciling quarterly development cashflows, and assisting with quarterly reforecasting and annual business planning


• Performing variance analysis against budgets and prior forecasts, highlighting key movements and risks


• Helping prepare Development and Construction slides for the Board Pack

Valuations, Funding & Liquidity

• Supporting the preparation of valuation inputs, including capex to date and forecast costs to complete


• Assisting with lender reporting, debt drawdown requests and funding reconciliations


• Supporting liquidity forecasting by maintaining accurate project cashflow information in Anaplan


• Preparing analysis on debt, equity funding requirements and project returns

Governance & Controls

• Maintaining reconciliations between development models, project forecasts and accounting records


• Supporting reviews of development expenditure approvals and budget revisions


• Helping ensure financial data is accurate, complete and consistent across all systems and reports


• Identifying discrepancies and escalating issues to the Senior Manager as needed

Systems & Process Improvement

• Supporting the maintenance and development of Anaplan, Yardi and other reporting tools


• Assisting with data uploads, downloads, reconciliations and reporting processes


• Contributing to process improvement initiatives that increase efficiency and automation (e.g. Anaplan forecasting, DEX and drawdown process automation in Yardi)


• Developing reporting dashboards and analysis tools where appropriate

Business Partnering & Stakeholder Support

• Building strong working relationships with Development Managers, Construction Managers, Financial Accounts, Treasury, FP&A and Development Finance teams


• Supporting the preparation of information for Boards, Shareholders, JV partners and lenders


• Responding to stakeholder requests for financial information and analysis


• Providing ad-hoc commercial analysis and decision support to the wider Commercial Finance team

What Our Client Is Looking For

• Strong numerical, logical and analytical reasoning skills


• Strong Excel skills, with exposure to P&L, cashflow and balance sheet forecasts


• A solid understanding of accounting principles


• A problem-solving mindset, comfortable diagnosing issues that aren't immediately obvious


• A continuous improvement mindset, with experience driving process improvements a plus


• Strong attention to detail and the ability to manage complex datasets


• Great relationship-building skills across a range of stakeholders


• Experience building financial models is advantageous


• Experience with Anaplan, Yardi or similar finance systems is advantageous

Why Apply

This is a chance to join a well-regarded development and construction finance function with genuine breadth across forecasting, valuations, funding and governance, plus a clearly defined progression route. If this sounds like a good fit for your background, we'd love to hear from you.