Senior Financial Analyst

Grayson Search Partners; Illinois; On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Grayson Search Partners is seeking a Senior Financial Analyst to join its FP&A team, focusing on budgeting, forecasting, modeling and management reporting. The role offers exposure to senior leadership and acquisition activity across a growing portfolio.

You will build and refine driver-based models, analyze performance, and translate data into actionable insights for business decisions. Collaboration with operating leaders will drive forecast accuracy and strategic planning.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance or Accounting.
• 3–6 years of FP&A, corporate finance, or related analytical finance role.
• Strong budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling and variance analysis skills.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel and large data set handling.

Responsibilities

• Support annual budget, rolling forecast and long-range planning.
• Build driver-based models, scenario analyses and sensitivity analyses.
• Analyze monthly performance and variances; explain trends and risks.
• Develop management reporting and KPI packages for leadership.
• Partner with leaders to improve forecast accuracy and align plans.
• Support M&A analysis and integration as needed.

Skills

Budgeting & Forecasting

Financial modeling

Variance analysis

Advanced Excel

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance or Accounting

Tools

Power BI

Tableau

Job description

Our client is a rapidly growing, acquisition-oriented services organization seeking a high-performing Senior Financial Analyst to join its FP&A team.

This is a highly visible role with exposure to senior leadership and operating executives across the organization. The Senior Financial Analyst will play an important role in building and enhancing the company's financial planning, forecasting, and management reporting capabilities while providing analytical support for a growing portfolio of operating businesses.

The organization is in an exciting stage of growth, making this an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys both hands-on financial analysis and building better processes, models, and reporting infrastructure.

What You'll Do

• Support and help drive the annual budget, rolling forecast and long-range planning processes.
• Build and maintain driver-based financial models, scenario analyses and sensitivity analyses.
• Analyze monthly financial performance, including budget-to-actual and forecast-to-actual variances.
• Develop clear explanations of business performance, trends, risks and opportunities.
• Partner with operating leaders to improve forecast accuracy and align financial plans with business priorities.

Management Reporting & Business Partnership

• Develop recurring management reporting and KPI packages that provide greater visibility into financial and operating performance.
• Partner with leaders across the organization to understand business drivers and identify opportunities to improve performance.
• Translate financial and operational data into actionable insights and recommendations for senior leadership.
• Prepare executive-ready presentations, analyses, and other materials supporting key business decisions.
• Perform ad hoc financial analysis around growth initiatives, operating performance and strategic opportunities.

M&A & Integration Support

• Support financial analysis related to potential acquisitions and other strategic initiatives.
• Assist with the financial integration of newly acquired businesses, including reporting, forecasting and performance tracking.
• Help establish consistent financial reporting and planning processes across a growing portfolio of operating companies.
• Support post-acquisition analysis and tracking of key performance drivers.

FP&A Infrastructure & Process Improvement

• Help build scalable FP&A processes, reporting tools and financial models as the organization continues to grow.
• Improve the quality, consistency and accessibility of financial and operational data.
• Identify opportunities to automate and streamline recurring reporting and forecasting activities.
• Develop dashboards and reporting tools using Excel and business intelligence platforms.
• Support cash forecasting and other corporate finance initiatives as needed.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's degree in Finance or Accounting.
• Approximately 3–6 years of progressive experience in FP&A, corporate finance, transaction advisory, or a related analytical finance role.
• Strong experience with budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling and variance analysis.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills and comfort working with large and sometimes imperfect data sets.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with the ability to identify the key business drivers behind financial results.
• Ability to communicate financial information clearly to both finance and non-finance stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

Preferred Experience

• Experience within a private equity-backed, acquisition-oriented or high-growth organization.
• Experience supporting a multi-entity, multi-location or decentralized operating business.
• Exposure to M&A, financial due diligence or post-acquisition integration.
• Experience with Power BI, Tableau or similar business intelligence/reporting tools.
• Experience building or improving FP&A processes rather than solely operating within established systems.
• Services, real estate services or other recurring-revenue operating company experience is a plus.

Who Will Succeed Here

You are intellectually curious and naturally want to understand why financial results are moving—not simply report what happened. You are comfortable digging into data, building models, and working directly with business leaders to turn analysis into decisions.

You also enjoy building. You're comfortable entering an environment where every process isn't fully established and see that as an opportunity to create something better. You can operate independently, communicate effectively with senior stakeholders, and roll up your sleeves when necessary.

Why This Role

This is an opportunity to join a growing organization at an important point in its development. You'll have the chance to work closely with senior finance and operating leadership, gain exposure to acquisitions and integrations, and help build the financial infrastructure supporting the company's next stage of growth.

For a strong Senior Financial Analyst, the role offers significant exposure, ownership and runway for continued career progression.