Project Finance Analyst I

Emerald Clinical; Bengaluru; Hybrid; INR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Emerald Clinical in Bangalore, India, seeks a Project Finance Analyst I to join the FP&A team. You will support project finance activities for contracted clinical research across geographies, focusing on forecasting, revenue management, and performance reporting.

You will partner with project managers to monitor financial performance, ensure contractual compliance, and drive timely insights. Strong Excel modeling, Power BI, and communication skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in finance, economics, accounting or related field is required.
• A master's degree or MBA is strongly preferred.
• At least 5 years of relevant experience in project finance, preferably in CRO/life sciences/pharma.

Responsibilities

• Support project revenue management, forecasting hours, and variance explanations.
• Assist with month-end close, investigator payments, accruals and invoicing.
• Reconcile billing milestones and monitor FX fluctuations and inflation.
• Prepare monthly project profitability reports and analyze trends.
• Participate in project handovers, audits, and sponsor queries.
• Contribute to budgeting, forecasting and process improvements.

Skills

Advanced Excel

Financial modeling

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Presentation skills

Time management

Education

Bachelor's degree in finance, economics, accounting

MBA or master's degree preferred

Tools

Power BI

SAP

Oracle

Job description

Job Summary

The Project Finance Analyst (PFA) I is a member of the financial planning and analysis group within Emerald Clinical. The group is responsible for supporting project finance aspects of contracted clinical research projects for both internal and external customers across all functional areas and geographies, including project performance analysis, reporting, and forecasting, in line with the company strategy and planning.

The PFA I is a role in the Project Finance team and works closely with the Global head of financial planning and analysis, supporting various Project Managers to implement and monitor project financial performance in accordance with contractual obligations and scope of work.

Responsibilities

Project Specific

• Participate in Project Handover from BD to Project Operations to understand contractual arrangements that may impact the financials as well as any subcontractors in use.
• Project Revenue Management - actively support Project Managers/Project Leads in forecasting hours, monitor revenue recognition throughout life of project and post journal entries. Track forecast to actuals and report trends and anomalies. Review monthly project financial performance and billing status and provide variance explanations.
• Provide various project cycle finance support including but not limited to:
  • Month end close such as support timely investigator payments, pass-through expense management, capturing of GC labour, accruals and customer invoicing.
  • Support Project Managers/Project Leads in forecasting contractor hours. Ensure that subcontractor costs have been appropriately accrued based on revenue recognition each month.
  • Assist with reconciliation of billing milestones, foreign exchange fluctuations and inflation.
• Review monthly AR aging by project and assist finance and project operations with collections as necessary.
• Support project operations with supporting documentation for annual audit questionnaire.
• Support Project Manager in resolving project finance related issues and responding to sponsors on project finance related queries.
• Participate in Project Review meetings.
• Through monitoring project financial performance and key metrics, identify and elevate opportunities for scope changes timely and following the Scope Change SOP.
• Prepare and review monthly project profitability report / financials. Identify trends / anomalies in consultation with Project Manager and escalating issues to the line manager.

Others

• Assist quarterly forecasting and annual budgeting processes, ensuring project forecast revenue and subcontractor costs are reflective of project trend.
• Assist the preparation of monthly management report, articulating revenue and cost trends driven by project activities.

Process Improvement

• Contribute to the development, implementation and centralisation of processes, procedures and systems applicable to Project Finance, including assisting in drafting of manuals and policies.
• Identify continuous improvement within your areas of responsibility.

Quality Management

• Comply with Emerald Clinical Quality Management Strategy
• All activities conducted in accordance with project specific documentation, applicable SOPs, and applicable regulatory requirements
• Participate in audit and inspection activities where applicable
• Comply with all designated systems relevant to this role
• Ensure own quality control of all relevant processes and activities performed

About You

• Bachelor's degree in finance, Economics, Accounting, or a related field is required; a master's degree or MBA is strongly preferred.
• At least 5 years of relevant experience in project finance-preferably within the Contract Research Organization (CRO), life sciences, or pharmaceutical industries.
• Strong financial modeling and analytical skills (advanced Excel required; experience with tools like Power BI, SAP, or Oracle is a plus).
• Solid understanding of project financing structures, including debt and equity instruments.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong attention to detail and problem-solving abilities.

Location: Bangalore, India (Hybrid)