Senior Finance Analyst, Group Overheads

Clarks; Street; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A retail company in Somerset is seeking a Lead Commercial Finance Analyst to manage financial insights and reporting. The role requires a qualified accountant with strong analytical and budgeting skills, comfortable working with Power BI and Excel. This position offers a hybrid work schedule, requiring office presence at least three days a week, and aims to enhance financial performance and support strategic decision-making.

Qualifications

• Professionally qualified accountant with two years of post‑qualified experience within a finance function.
• Report building experience and data analysis within Power BI or equivalent BI tools.
• Advanced Excel and modelling skills.
• Experience of working in a medium-to-large retail business.

Responsibilities

• Lead financial transactions and stakeholder communication.
• Support budgeting and forecasting activities.
• Deliver reporting and data analysis for decision making.
• Advise on financial policies and improve processes.

Skills

Financial analysis

Budgeting

Forecasting

Power BI

Advanced Excel

Communication skills

Analytical skills

Commercial understanding

Education

ACA, ACCA or CIMA qualification

Tools

Power BI

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Office

Job description

In this role, you will work on a hybrid schedule but are required to commute to our head office located at 40 High Street, Street, Somerset, BA16 0EQ at least 3 days per week.

Job Overview

• Lead Commercial Finance analyst for Selected Group Overhead functions, including Group I.T.
• Business Partnering the relevant Heads of functional areas and budget holders to optimise costs to improve financial performance and deliver cost saving initiatives.
• Produce highly accurate month‑end reporting of actuals vs forecasts, including financial insight to drive business performance and support optimal decision making.
• Accurate budgeting and forecasting to support delivery of commercial improvement.
• Support delivery of financial standards and quality assurance review for capital investment approval and post‑investment reviews to ensure consistent decision making and governance is applied.

Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of information, explanations and analysis of financial transactions to stakeholders in aligned business areas to ensure their understanding of the financial results.
• Support delivery of commercial finance activity for aligned business area including budgeting, forecasting and regular financial performance reviews for the business to review and enable decision making.
• Deliver regular reporting requirements including analysis to meet the needs of finance and business areas and influence leadership to make more effective financial decisions.
• Complete detailed analysis of data and report summary insights for key stakeholders, ensuring it can be clearly interpreted to enable decisions and actions.
• Develop and maintain adequate systems and processes to support effective planning, monitoring and reporting of financial performance and position.
• Support delivery of capital investment financial business cases and post‑investment reviews for use by Commercial Finance teams to consistently analyse, assess, approve and report investments. Support the process to form an aligned view of actual, forecast and budget capex between IT & Finance.
• Maintain effective controls and procedures to satisfy statutory audit requirements.
• Advise the business to ensure correct application of financial policies and reporting.
• Continual process improvement activities to identify and create efficiencies, ensuring resources are directed to value creation and a reduction to non‑value‑added workload.
• Deputise for the Head of Finance Business Partnering as appropriate.

Qualifications

• Professionally qualified accountant with ACA, ACCA or CIMA qualification with two years of post‑qualified experience within a finance function.
• Report building experience and data analysis within Power BI or equivalent BI tools.
• Advanced Excel and modelling skills.
• Experience of working in a medium‑to‑large retail business.
• In‑depth knowledge and experience of planning, budget and forecasting processes.
• Ability to apply sound judgement to accounting situations/questions, with good technical understanding.
• Extensive analytical experience with an ability to take large amounts of complex data and quickly identify key drivers and actions.
• Experience in adding value to business decision‑making, investment valuation, and working on large financial analysis projects.
• Very good commercial understanding of key cost drivers with a proven track record of enabling cost savings.
• Very high levels of accuracy when working with data.
• Good ability to manage multiple processes and projects.
• Very good verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to develop self and others.
• Excellent Microsoft Office skills utilizing Word, PowerPoint and SharePoint.
• Ability to work to own initiative.

Seniority level

• Mid‑Senior level

Employment type

• Full‑time

Job function

• Finance and Analyst
• Retail