Commercial Finance Manager

The National College; Sheffield; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

24/7 mental health support

Personal fitness, legal and financial;

Free flu jab every winter

25 days + bank holidays rising to 30;

Birthday off

Paid charity day

Genuinely flexible working

5% employee pension + 3% employer; 4x/

Life assurance 4x salary

Professional development support

One professional subscription covered

Job summary

The National College, part of National Education Group (NEG), seeks a commercially minded Finance Analyst to own monthly CARR reporting, analyze movements by product, country and segment, and deliver clear commentary for the Board. Reporting to Commercial Finance Director, you will shape how we produce insights and drive data-driven decisions in a growing EdTech environment.

With cross-functional partnerships across Revenue Operations and Accounting, you will build scalable processes, automate

Qualifications

• Qualified Accountant with ACA/ACCA/CIMA or equivalent.
• At least four years in finance, FP&A, revenue operations or a similar analytical role.
• Strong Excel skills with large datasets, lookups and pivot tables.
• Ability to turn numbers into concise, actionable insights.
• Ownership mindset and curiosity to improve processes.

Responsibilities

• Own the monthly CARR walk end to end, explaining movements from opening to closing CARR across new business, cross-sell, upsell, pricing changes, downgrades and churn.
• Analyse movements by product, country and customer segment, ensuring consistent rules and classifications.
• Lead churn and retention reporting, including gross/net revenue retention and renewals outcomes.
• Prepare board commentary on CARR/ARR vs budget and forecast with clear implications.
• Drive process improvements, automation, and controls across month-end reporting and data integrity.

Skills

Qualified Accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA)

4+ years in finance/FP&A/revenue ops

Advanced Excel

Data analysis & interpretation

Ownership mindset

ARR/RC metrics knowledge

Education

ACCA/ACA/CIMA qualified

Tools

HubSpot

Certinia

Salesforce

Power BI

SQL

Job description

Job Description

About National Education Group (NEG)

National Education Group (NEG), a leading EdTech SaaS business in the global education sector, backed by Synova. Through platforms including

Through platforms including The National College, NEG supports over 54,000 institutions and more than 1.5 million educators worldwide, work recognised with 21 major EdTech awards, including Supplier of the Year on multiple occasions.

The Role

The National College supports more than 12,000 schools across the UK and internationally through our CPD, Leadership & Governance, and People Development memberships. Contracted Annual Recurring Revenue (CARR) is a key measure of our business performance, providing our leadership team and Board with visibility of growth and revenue trends. In this role, you will take ownership of the monthly CARR reporting and the insights that inform our most important commercial decisions. You will lead the monthly CARR walk, translating complex data into clear, accurate reporting and meaningful commentary for the Board. Beyond delivering the numbers, you will shape how we produce them. As our business has grown, our reporting processes have evolved, creating an opportunity to simplify workflows, automate manual tasks, strengthen controls, and resolve data issues at source in partnership with Revenue Operations and Accounting. Your focus will be on building a reporting process that is more efficient, reliable, and scalable as the business continues to grow. This is an opportunity to make a tangible impact. Reporting directly to the Commercial Finance Director, you will work closely with senior leadership, bringing financial rigour, commercial insight, and a continuous-improvement mindset to a business operating in a fast-moving EdTech environment. You will have the autonomy to challenge existing processes, influence how we work, and build a stronger foundation for data-driven decision-making.

Job responsibilities

CARR reporting and revenue movements

• Own the monthly CARR walk end to end, explaining movements from opening to closing CARR across new business, cross-sell, upsell, pricing changes, downgrades and churn
• Analyse movements by product, country and customer segment, ensuring every movement is accurately classified and supported by consistent, documented rules
• Identify material variances, emerging trends and anomalies, turning the numbers into clear explanations of business performance

Churn, retention and customer performance

• Own churn and retention reporting, including gross and net revenue retention, customer (logo) churn, downgrades and win-backs
• Analyse performance by product, customer segment, education phase and country to identify trends, risks and opportunities
• Investigate churn drivers and connect them to leading indicators, including product usage and customer health scores, to support more proactive retention strategies
• Track renewal pricing outcomes against agreed price increases, identifying revenue leakage and opportunities to protect recurring revenue

Board reporting, forecasting and commercial insight

• Lead the recurring revenue component of the monthly Board pack, covering CARR and ARR against budget and forecast, international performance, memberships, customer numbers and churn
• Deliver clear, insightful commentary explaining what has changed, why it has changed and the implications for business performance and the outlook for the year
• Build the CARR component of the annual budget and in-year reforecasts using bottom-up commercial drivers and performance assumptions
• Respond to ad hoc requests from the executive team and investors, providing timely, accurate analysis to support decision-making

Cross-functional business partnering and financial integrity

• Sales:Partner with sales leadership to align on monthly new business and CARR performance, providing reliable data for targets, pipeline analysis and performance tracking
• Revenue Operations: Work together to ensure deals, renewals and contract changes are accurately recorded in HubSpot and Certinia, improving data quality at source
• Accounting: Align on month-end reporting and contract and billing data, ensuring CARR, ARR and recognised revenue reconcile and differences are understood
• Own the reconciliation of the CARR walk to HubSpot deals and Certinia contract data, investigating discrepancies and driving resolution at source rather than relying on manual spreadsheet adjustments
• Maintain robust reporting controls, validation checks, review evidence and a clear audit trail to ensure the numbers are accurate, consistent and trusted

Process improvement, automation and scalability

• Review and continuously improve the month-end CARR process, simplifying workflows, removing duplicated manual steps and making reporting faster, more reliable and repeatable
• Identify and lead improvement initiatives in partnership with the Commercial Finance Director, prioritising opportunities and measuring their impact through time saved, reduced errors and improved reporting quality
• Develop and extend automated checks across completeness, movement classification and reconciliations, strengthening controls while reducing manual effort
• Work with Revenue Operations to resolve underlying data issues, including customer and trust hierarchies, mismatched system IDs, contract dates and pricing discrepancies
• Build clear, documented processes and controls that can scale with the business and reduce reliance on individual knowledge

Job requirements

Essential

• Qualified Accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA).
• At least four years' experience in finance, FP&A, commercial finance, revenue operations, audit or a similarly analytical role.
• Advanced Excel skills, with the ability to work confidently with large datasets, use lookups and pivot tables, and investigate discrepancies.
• Exceptional attention to detail and a strong commitment to data accuracy, with the ability to identify inconsistencies and ensure numbers reconcile.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex data and turn it into clear, concise insights for both finance and non-finance audiences.
• A strong sense of ownership and intellectual curiosity, with the initiative to investigate issues, challenge existing processes and identify opportunities to improve how work gets done.
• An understanding of, or a strong willingness to develop expertise in, subscription revenue metrics such as ARR, churn and net revenue retention.

Desirable

• Experience with SQL, Power BI or Python to analyse data, automate reporting or improve data quality.
• Experience with CRM, subscription management or financial systems such as HubSpot, Certinia or Salesforce.
• Experience using AI tools to support analysis, automate repetitive tasks or strengthen data validation.
• Experience in a SaaS, subscription-based or education business.

Job Benefits

At TNC, we’re passionate about helping organisations grow and thrive through knowledge and connection. You’ll be part of a company that values people, encourages personal development, and celebrates success. You’ll work with people who value collaboration, innovation, and high standards.

You’ll also be able to benefit from:

Your Wellbeing

• 24/7 mental health support and GP access for you and your family
• Personal fitness, nutrition, legal and financial support
• Free flu jab every winter

Your Time

• 25 days plus bank holidays rising to 30, with the option to buy or sell days
• Birthday off
• Paid charity day
• Genuinely flexible working

Your Future & Family

• Enhanced family pay from day one
• 5% employee (including 1% tax relief) and 3% employer pension contribution
• Life assurance 4x salary

Your Growth

• 3 weeks expert led onboarding
• Commercial sales training
• Bites and insights sessions
• Professional development with time and support
• One professional subscription covered annually

Our Culture

• Regular socials and collaboration days
• Annual summer and winter parties to celebrate our successes
• Free barista quality coffee, fruit, snacks and drinks in our office