Senior Finance Manager - Planning and Strategic Projects

About the role..

As the Senior Finance Manager – Planning and Projects, you will lead financial planning and analysis efforts, including business plan development and coordination with various stakeholders. Your role encompasses overseeing Cargo investments and tracking project financials, while providing strategic insights and supporting board presentations. Promoting continuous improvement through process enhancements and building strong cross-functional relationships are key aspects. Additionally, you will lead the finance team, mentor junior staff, and play a pivotal role in advancing financial strategies and fostering efficient operations

Key Accountabilities

• • Effective financial planning and analysis – lead the business plan process to an established timetable, incorporating various stages of management review, working closely with the head of finance, CFO and CET. This includes the coordination of the processes with IAG Head office, Operating Companies and cargo teams to meet IAG requirement and the articulation of the story to a number of different stakeholders
  • Responsible for managing the Cargo investment process including the capex reporting and planning.
  • Lead the financial support in maintaining a tracking framework to ensure strategic projects achieve their financial objectives. Analysing and interpreting the financial position of Strategic Projects, advising the CET on areas that required focus.
  • Manage the tracking of the benefits and cost of initiatives including the Transformation programme.
  • Provide business insight and robust challenge into the program portfolio key business decisions through regular reporting and ad-hoc analysis.
  • Support the preparation of Board paper, presentation to Management Committee and other reports.
  • Direct and produce market, strategy, and initiative insight. Develop scenario planning capabilities for enhance the planning and forecasting process and in the event of key legal, economic, or political changes.
  • Oversight of competitors benchmarking
  • Provide support in ad hoc project including expertise in complex data analysis consultancy to support key project priorities and ensure robust decision making
  • Promote and support change. Deliver continuous process improvements via automation and standardization, to advance IAG Cargo’s efficiency and customer service proposition.
  • Work closely with the wider finance team to be continuously monitoring internal processes and provide support to FP&A deliverables when required.
  • Adhere to all corporate, statutory, and regulatory requirements including Group Standing Instructions, Group Financial Standing Instructions, Financial Reporting Standards, and International Accounting Standards
  • Actively build and maintain strong relationships with finance and non-finance colleagues at all levels across IAG Cargo, British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Level, GBS.
  • Lead the direct team and wider business planning, reporting and strategy team when required.
  • Training, coaching, and supervising junior staff.

Its all about you...

Skills 

• Analytical and problem-solving skills including ability to manipulate, analyse and interpret financial and business data in an efficient manner.
• Ability to think and plan strategically with an analytical approach to problems
• Able to deliver and drive improvements.
• Flexible in approach, responding positively to change. Able to deal with ambiguity
• Strong planning skills: both at a high level and able to get into the detail to make things happen.
• Takes responsibility for managing and prioritising deliverables with the resilience to work under pressure and deliver results to deadlines.
• Organised with excellent attention to detail, determined with the ability to follow through.
• Uses judgment to make decisions or solve moderately complex tasks or problems that impact delivery.
• Proactive, taking the initiative to explore issues and to generate new ideas and approaches.
• Excellent financial communication skills tailored for senior executives (written, PowerPoint and presentational)
• Ability to influence, collaborate and build relationships across global cultures.
• Strong team player with ability to promote good team working and cooperation.

Qualifications 

• Qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/ACMA) or equivalent level of experience.

Essential Experience 

• Accounting background, including reporting and financial analysis.
• Good understanding of finance theory and good level of practical finance experience in technical group accounting.
• Solid FP&A experience including analysis, forecasting, budgeting, and management reporting
• Experience in strategic planning and execution
• Experience working within a large group and liaising with a variety of stakeholders.
• Experience in reporting for executive teams.
• Good IT skills and experience of finance systems preferably including SAP, Excel, Hyperion, Anaplan or equivalent, HFM, Tableau, Power Bi, Business Objects.
• Commercial aptitude to understand external global threats and how these can impact a business or industry such as this.

Desirable experience

• To be conversational in another language e.g. Spanish
• Familiarity with the aviation or logistic sectors

We’ll treat you right…

As well as a competitive salary, bonus, 26 days holiday, pension and ability to opt-in to a generous, life assurance and healthcare scheme, we also offer: 

• For the budding traveler we offer incredible staff discounts at hotels, car hire and our staff travel flights are legendary
• Free fruit and a subsidised on-site café
• Onsite staff parking, electric charging points and free airport parking when you are off globe-trotting
• Up to 70 discount on the Heathrow Express with your staff pass
• All our colleagues get access to LinkedIn learning and Rosetta Stone Language courses
• For health and wellbeing, we offer a free onsite gym facility as well as access to the UNMIND app and a community of Mental Health First Aiders
• Access to discounts on Apple, Cinema tickets and loads of other goodies through Perks at Work