Operations Finance Analyst

Blue Octopus Recruitment Limited; Sheffield; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading recruitment agency in the UK seeks an experienced Operations Finance Analyst to enhance their finance team. The role involves preparing financial reports, monitoring budgets, and collaborating with various departments to optimise costs and improve decision-making. Candidates should have at least two years of experience in operations finance and excellent analytical skills. Benefits include a generous holiday package and performance-linked bonuses, fostering a supportive work environment for career development.

Benefits

33 days holiday including bank holidays

5% pension contribution

Performance-linked bonus

Health cash plan

Access to fitness apps and gyms

Free workwear and PPE

Career development opportunities

Qualifications

• Minimum two years' experience in operations finance, ideally within manufacturing.
• Hands-on experience with ERP systems.
• Strong analytical and cost-modelling skills.

Responsibilities

• Prepare operational financial reports and dashboards.
• Identify and monitor cost-saving opportunities.
• Support annual budgets and forecasts.

Skills

Advanced Excel

Data analysis

Cost analysis

ERP systems knowledge

Communication skills

Education

Studying towards CIMA/ACCA or equivalent

Tools

SAP

Power BI

Oracle

NetSuite

Job description

Permanent, Full Time

Hours of work – Monday to Thursday 08.15 – 16.30, Friday – 08:15 – 16:00 (37 hours)

Independent Forgings and Alloys Ltd (IFA) are continuing to invest and grow, and we are looking to add to our Finance team.

We are now looking for an experienced Operations Finance Analyst. Over the last few years, we have invested in the business and have successfully doubled our turnover. We are looking to continue this growth and are looking to for the right people to help us join our team.

Main Purpose of the Role

As our Operations Finance Analyst, you will prepare and deliver operational financial reports, dashboards and KPIs and analyse production, procurement, inventory, and supply chain costs. You will monitor performance against budgets and forecasts, investigate variances and support month-end close activities, including accruals and cost allocations.

Main duties of the role include:

Cost Control & Process Improvement

• Identify and monitor cost-saving opportunities, supporting continuous improvement initiatives with financial analysis.
• Improve data accuracy, reporting tools, and analytical processes.

Operations Support & Decision-Making

• Partner with commercial, manufacturing, and quality teams to evaluate performance and conduct root-cause analysis.
• Deliver ROI analysis for capital expenditure and productivity initiatives, providing insight into pricing, product costs, and throughput optimisation.

Budgeting, Forecasting & Planning

• Support annual budgets and forecasts through financial modelling of operating scenarios, cost trends, and capacity planning.
• Track and forecast key cost drivers including labour, materials, overheads, and inventory.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with finance, operations, procurement, and supply chain teams.
• Communicate financial insights to finance and non-finance stakeholders and support ERP or reporting system enhancements.

Your background should include

Essential:

• Minimum two years’ experience in operations finance, cost analysis, financial planning, ideally within manufacturing.
• Advanced Excel and data modelling capabilities, including pivot tables, forecasting models and macros.
• Strong analytical and cost-modelling skills to support data-driven decision making.
• Hands on experience with ERP systems, such as SAP, Oracle, or NetSuite.
• Working knowledge of BI tools e.g. Power BI, Tableau etc.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with a proactive problem-solving approach & strong commercial awareness.

Desirable:

• Studying towards CIMA/ACCA (or equivalent).
• Exposure to the heavy metals industry.
• Experience supporting budgeting and forecasting activities.

About Independent Forgings

Independent Forgings and Alloys (IFA) is one of Britain’s leading independent aerospace and industrial forgers. The unique feature about IFA is the combination of open and closed-die forging while also undertaking the whole production process from raw material to the finished product in one location. Operating from a 680 000ft2 facility in Sheffield, we manufacture high-integrity, open-die and closed-die forged components in nickel alloy, titanium, stainless steel and carbon alloys for customers and tier‑one suppliers within the aerospace, nuclear, power generation, marine as well as oil and gas sector.

Why work for us?

At IFA we pride ourselves on being a great place to work. As one of the UK’s leading forge manufacturing company we want to ensure that we attract, motivate and retain the best people who can deliver the best service to the company and our customers.

We offer you:

• Holidays – you will have 33 days holiday, including bank holidays.
• Pension scheme – IFA wants to provide its employees a good foundation for the life after work and hence offers a 5% contribution.
• Bonus scheme – this is linked to team and company performance.
• Westfield cash plan – IFA provides level 1 health cash plan which comes along with numerous discounts and special offers, including gym discounts, online, high street and grocery retailers and many more.
• Wellhub – access to various fitness apps and gyms in the local area.
• Free work wear and PPE.
• Development – we offer genuine development opportunities to progress your career.