Senior Business Planning & Controlling Manager

Sephora; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading beauty retailer in Greater London is seeking a Senior Business Planning & Controlling Manager to lead financial planning and analysis efforts. This role involves overseeing budgeting, cost controlling, and business reviews while managing a small team. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in financial planning and analysis within the retail or eCommerce sectors, with strong analytical and leadership skills. This position offers the opportunity to drive strategic business decisions and enhance the finance function.

Benefits

Personalised career plans

Inclusive work environment

Opportunity for creative expression

Qualifications

• Minimum seven years’ experience in a financial, analytical, or controlling role, preferably within retail and/or eCommerce.
• Ability to translate complex data into actionable business insights.
• Proficiency in financial modelling, planning, and forecasting.

Responsibilities

• Lead the budgeting and forecasting processes, ensuring alignment with financial goals.
• Conduct business reviews and provide actionable insights for improvements.
• Identify margin drivers and propose initiatives to improve profitability.

Skills

Financial planning

Cost controlling

Analytical mindset

Stakeholder management

Leadership and team management

Education

ACA/ACCA/CIMA Qualified or equivalent

Tools

Excel

Power BI

SAP

Job description

At Sephora we inspire our customers, empower our teams, and help them become the best versions of themselves. We create an environment where people are valued, and differences are celebrated. Every day, our teams across the world bring to life our purpose: to expand the way the world sees beauty by empowering the ExtraOrdinary in each of us.

We are united by a common goal - to reimagine the future of beauty.

The Opportunity

As Sephora UK continues its exciting growth journey, we’re enhancing our approach to financial planning and performance monitoring to drive the business forward.
As our Senior Business Planning & Controlling Manager, you’ll lead our financial planning, analysis, and reporting processes, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and supporting performance across both our retail stores and online channels.

You’ll work closely with the UK Leadership Team, CFO, Head of Financial Accounting, and our EMEA team in Paris to strengthen our finance function, deliver business‑critical insights, and ensure excellence across all reporting and control activities.

Leading a team of three direct reports, you’ll provide coaching and direction while fostering a culture of high performance and collaboration.

You Will Also Be Responsible For

Budgeting & Forecasting

• Lead the budgeting and forecasting processes, ensuring alignment with financial goals and objectives.
• Oversee budget preparation and revisions in collaboration with managers, ensuring timely submission and resolution of queries.
• Ensure accuracy and timely delivery of reports and analysis, working closely with our Senior FP&A to support decision‑making.
• Manage month‑end and year‑end simulations, identifying risks and opportunities to guide business decisions.

Cost Controlling

• Partner with Finance teams to conduct cost analysis and operational reviews, ensuring cost control and efficiency.
• Support investment proposals for the store network, monitor costs, and manage post‑investment reviews to assess payback.
• Oversee monthly store costs and headcount reporting, providing insights to drive operational efficiency.

Business & Store Performance Reviews

• Conduct business reviews and provide actionable insights for improvements, working closely with Store Management to optimise performance.

Margin Optimisation & Stock Analysis

• Identify margin drivers and propose initiatives to improve profitability across product categories.
• Analyse pricing strategies, promotions, and competitive benchmarking to optimise margin performance.
• Collaborate with merchandising and supply chain teams to optimise stock levels, reduce markdown risks, and maximise sell‑through.

Internal Controls, Systems, & Processes

• Support the strengthening of financial and business controls, driving process standardisation and improvement.
• Assist with the implementation of financial systems to ensure data integrity and automation, while leading process improvement initiatives.

What You’ll Bring

As a seasoned Business Planning and Controlling Manager, you will leverage your extensive experience in financial planning, performance monitoring, and reporting to drive our success. Comfortable managing multiple financial processes, you'll ensure our strategic plans are seamlessly executed within the broader business framework.

Our Ideal Candidate Will Also Possess

• ACA/ACCA/CIMA Qualified (or equivalent).
• Minimum seven years’ experience in a financial, analytical, or controlling role, preferably within retail and/or eCommerce, with exposure to cross‑functional business partnering.
• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to translate complex data into actionable business insights.
• Advanced financial modelling, planning, and forecasting expertise, with proficiency in Excel and experience using FP&A or BI tools (e.g., Power BI, SAP, Hyperion, or similar).
• Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills, with a proven track record of driving strategic decisions across all levels of an organisation.
• Demonstrated leadership ability, including team management, mentoring, and development.
• Agile and adaptable approach to problem‑solving, with the ability to balance detail‑oriented execution and big‑picture strategic thinking.

While at Sephora, you’ll enjoy…

• The people. You will be surrounded by some of the most talented leaders and teams – people you can be proud to work with.

• The learning. We invest in training and developing our teams, and you will continue evolving and building your skills through personalised career plans.

• The culture. As a leading beauty retailer within the LVMH family, our reach is broad, and our impact is global. It is in our DNA to innovate and, at Sephora, all 40,000 passionate team members across 35 markets and 3,000 stores, are united by a common goal - to reimagine the future of beauty.

You can unleash your creativity, because we’ve got disruptive spirit. You can learn and evolve, because we empower you to be your best. You can be yourself, because you are what sets us apart. This, is the future of beauty. Reimagine your future, at Sephora.

Sephora is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace for all. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, advancement, or other employment practices. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating and fostering an inclusive environment for all employees.