Finance Analyst - Food (12 month FTC)

Central England Coop; Lichfield; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Generous holiday entitlement

Colleague discounts

Recognition programmes

Learning & development opportunities

Paid volunteering time

Enhanced family-friendly policies

Job summary

Central England Co-operative Limited invites applications for a Commercial Finance role. You will analyse financial and operational data to provide commentary on performance, develop dashboards and KPIs, and partner with Food Retail to drive growth.

The role emphasizes automation of reporting and delivering timely insights for decision-making. You will contribute to quarterly forecasts, annual budgets, and strategic planning while supporting various ad hoc projects with cross-functional teams

Qualifications

• Requires professional accounting qualification ACCA/ACA/CIMA or in progress.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen with ability to understand key drivers of the business.

Responsibilities

• Provide insightful financial analysis and recommendations to drive business performance.
• Produce regular financial reporting including weekly dashboards, MI, KPIs and commercial analysis.
• Interpret financial and operational data to highlight trends, risks and opportunities.
• Automate and improve reporting processes for timely, accurate information.
• Support quarterly forecasts, annual budgeting and long-term planning.

Skills

Advanced analytical skills

Commercial acumen

Data interpretation

Education

ACCA/ACA/CIMA (in progress)

Tools

Excel

Job description

What will you be doing?

As a key member of our Commercial Finance team, you’ll be providing insightful analysis and meaningful recommendations that help drive business performance and support strategic decision-making.

Working with our Food Retail team, you’ll partner with a variety of stakeholders, delivering high-quality financial insight that enables the business to achieve its objectives and identify new opportunities for growth.

You’ll be responsible for producing regular financial reporting, including weekly performance dashboards, management information, KPIs and commercial analysis.

By interpreting financial and operational data, you will provide clear commentary on current business performance, highlighting trends, risks and opportunities.

A strong focus of the role will be on continuously improving and automating reporting processes, ensuring stakeholders have access to accurate, timely and actionable information.

You’ll analyse period-end results, providing detailed insight into PTD and YTD performance against budget and forecast.

You’ll review monthly management accounts to ensure accuracy and consistency.

Where applicable, you’ll also evaluate the effectiveness of offers and promotions, assessing their impact on membership conversion in our Retail channels.

This role will provide you with the opportunity to contribute to key planning activities, including quarterly forecasts, annual budgeting and long-term strategic planning.

You’ll support the delivery of business initiatives through financial modelling, performance tracking and the identification of key risks and opportunities, helping to shape future strategy and investment decisions.

Alongside your regular responsibilities, you’ll provide financial support for a range of ad hoc projects and work collaboratively with our Food Retail Finance Managers to deliver commercial insight, continuous improvement and outstanding financial support to the wider business.

How will I know if I am right for this role?

We are looking for someone who is either a professionally qualified Accountant (ACCA/ACA/CIMA) or who is in the process of completing their qualification.

You’ll bring a strong commercial and financial acumen and be confident in your ability to develop an understanding of the key drivers of the business area. You’ll be confident in your ability to challenge current practices and processes with a drive for continuous improvement.

Essential to this role will be your advanced excel skills and experience in manipulating large data quantities. As well as your ability to work collaboratively with both cross functional and finance colleagues, you’ll also be comfortable in working independently, using your own initiative and be able to demonstrate a proactive approach to issue resolution.

Due to the nature of this role, it will be essential that you can bring organisational and time management skills and be confident in your ability to deliver to deadlines.

Everyone is welcome here. We’re happy to make reasonable adjustments so that all our candidates can show us how they’ll perform their role. There is a section in the application form where you can provide any additional information. Please use this section to include any reasonable adjustments you need, and we’ll do our best to support you through our recruitment process.

Who are we?

OurCoop is the UK’s largest independent co-operative Society, with more than one million Members and 13,000 colleagues operating in communities nationwide. It was formed by bringing together Central Co-op, The Midcounties Co-operativeand Chelmsford Star Co-op to create a stronger, member-owned organisation rooted in shared co-operative values.

The Society trades nationally through its family of businesses while remaining deeply rooted in local communities. Its footprint spans Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Bedfordshire in the South and West; the Midlands including Derbyshire, Staffordshireand Northamptonshire; the North including Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashireand Yorkshire; and the East of England, including Essex, Norfolkand Suffolk.

OurCoop and its family of businesses are trading names of Central England Co-operative Limited.

Why join us?

The enthusiasm and commitment of our colleagues is what keeps our customers coming back, and every role plays an important part in making a real difference each day.

As a co-operative built on the values of equity, solidarity and community, we believe our colleagues should be recognised and rewarded for the contribution they make.

That's why we offer a competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement that increases with service, and a wide range of colleague benefits. From colleague discounts, recognition programmes and personalised learning and development opportunities to paid volunteering time and enhanced family friendly policies, we're committed to helping our colleagues feel valued, supported and able to thrive.

Wellbeing is a priority for us, and we provide a range of benefits and support designed to help colleagues look after their physical, mental and financial wellbeing. Whatever stage of life you're at, we're here to help you achieve your personal and professional goals.

To learn more about our rewards and benefits, please visit Rewards and benefits - Central Coop