Cost & Procurement Analyst

Live Nation; Manchester; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tickets to shows

Unlimited annual leave

Onsite gym

Coffee bar with barista

Subsidised lunch

Staff events

Job summary

Live Nation is seeking a Head of Cost & Commercial Finance for the LN Festivals Finance team in Manchester (or London). You will lead complex cost-category reviews and develop supplier models to improve purchasing outcomes across festivals and outdoor events.

You will collaborate with the Head of Cost & Commercial Finance, Central Operations, and Festival Business Partners to inform procurement decisions while maintaining data quality and robust financial evidence.

Qualifications

• Strong commercial finance or procurement analytics experience.
• Advanced Excel and financial modelling skills.
• Experience evaluating supplier bids, rates, scope and commercial terms.
• Ability to design fair benchmarking measures across different events.
• Strong understanding of cost drivers, volume assumptions and savings baselines.
• Experience presenting commercial findings to senior stakeholders.
• Ability to lead analytical workstreams and review data quality.
• Relevant live-event, hospitality or operational sector experience advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex commercial reviews of major supplier categories, including detailed cost modelling, pricing comparisons and analysis of service specifications.
• Develop and maintain comparable cross-event cost benchmarks using meaningful operational drivers such as attendees, site size, days and service requirements.
• Support Central Operations with financial assessment of tenders, contract proposals, supplier alternatives and volume or scope changes.
• Identify and quantify potential recurring and one-off cost improvements, clearly distinguishing genuine savings from changes in activity levels.
• Maintain financial evidence for the savings register, tracking agreed baselines, delivery owners, forecast benefits and realised results.
• Work with Festival Business Partners and Operational teams to explain cost differences and support adoption of viable procurement and operating improvements.
• Challenge data completeness and coding to ensure robust supplier and category analysis.
• Prepare executive-quality recommendations, clearly setting out costs, risks, implementation dependencies and commercial trade-offs.
• Support Pink Moon and other portfolio specific commercial analysis as required

Skills

Commercial analytics

Procurement analytics

Advanced Excel

Financial modelling

Supplier bids evaluation

Benchmarking measures

Stakeholder presentation

Data quality supervision

Tools

Excel

Job description

Job Summary:

Company: Live Nation

Department: LN Festivals Finance

Location: Manchester or Farringdon, London (UK)

Reports to: Head of Cost & Commercial Finance

Working Hours: Full-time

Job Type: Permanent

Role Description

Lead complex cost-category reviews and commercial analysis across the festivals and wider outdoor events portfolio. Develop supplier models, meaningful benchmarks and recommendations that enable Operations to improve purchasing outcomes.

What it's like to work in the Team

You will work with the Head of Cost & Commercial Finance, Central Operations, the Festival Business Partners and a Cost & Procurement Assistant. Your analysis will inform procurement decisions, not replace operational contracting ownership.

What we can offer you

Live Nation offers impressive employee benefits including tickets to shows and festivals and unlimited annual leave. The Farmiloe Building in Farringdon, London is a beautiful office to work in. Staff can enjoy use of arcade games in the basement games room, onsite gym equipment plus fitness and meditation classes. In addition to this, the office has a fully stocked complimentary coffee bar with barista to serve you your favourite coffee as you walk into the office and offers heavily subsidised lunch options. We hold regular staff events in our atrium stage space including hosting speakers and open mic nights to showcase Live Nation employee talent.

Who you are

Competencies / Skills / Knowledge / Experience

• Strong commercial finance or procurement analytics experience.
• Advanced Excel and financial modelling skills.
• Experience evaluating supplier bids, rates, scope and commercial terms.
• Ability to design fair benchmarking measures across different events.
• Strong understanding of cost drivers, volume assumptions and savings baselines.
• Experience presenting commercial findings to senior stakeholders.
• Ability to lead analytical workstreams and review data quality.
• Relevant live-event, hospitality or operational sector experience advantageous.

Behaviours

• Analytical, questioning and evidence-led.
• Constructive in challenging supplier economics.
• Clear and commercially focused in recommendations.
• Collaborative with Operations and BPs.
• Accountable for the quality and validation of findings.

What the role includes

• Lead complex commercial reviews of major supplier categories, including detailed cost modelling, pricing comparisons and analysis of service specifications.
• Develop and maintain comparable cross-event cost benchmarks using meaningful operational drivers such as attendees, site size, days and service requirements.
• Support Central Operations with financial assessment of tenders, contract proposals, supplier alternatives and volume or scope changes.
• Identify and quantify potential recurring and one-off cost improvements, clearly distinguishing genuine savings from changes in activity levels.
• Maintain financial evidence for the savings register, tracking agreed baselines, delivery owners, forecast benefits and realised results.
• Work with Festival Business Partners and Operational teams to explain cost differences and support adoption of viable procurement and operating improvements.
• Challenge data completeness and coding to ensure robust supplier and category analysis.
• Prepare executive-quality recommendations, clearly setting out costs, risks, implementation dependencies and commercial trade-offs.
• Support Pink Moon and other portfolio specific commercial analysis as required

Equal Opportunities

We are passionate and committed to our people and go beyond the rhetoric of diversity and inclusion. You will be working in an inclusive environment and be encouraged to bring your whole self to work. We will do all that we can to help you successfully balance your work and homelife. As a growing business we will encourage you to develop your professional and personal aspirations, enjoy new experiences, and learn from the talented people you will be working with. It's talent that matters to us and we encourage applications from people irrespective of their gender identity, race, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability status or caring responsibilities.

The Company

Live Nation Entertainment is the world's leading live entertainment company, comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Media & Sponsorship. Ticketmaster is the global leader in event ticketing with over 500 million tickets sold annually and more than 12,000 clients worldwide. Live Nation Concerts is the largest provider of live entertainment in the world promoting more than 40,000 shows and 100+ festivals annually for nearly 4,000 artists in over 40 countries. These businesses allow Live Nation Media & Sponsorship to create strategic music marketing programs that connect over 1,000 brands with the 98 million fans that attend Live Nation Entertainmen