Lead Financial Planning Analyst (Co-op Funeralcare)

Lead Financial Planning Analyst - Co-op Funeralcare
£35,000 - £45,000 plus benefits (Work Level 6A)
Manchester city centre - We're now working in a hybrid way, with colleagues dividing their time between home/remote working and the office. You can find out more about our hybrid working policy at colleagues.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy

We're looking for a lead financial planning analyst to join us and support performance reporting and planning across our team. In this role, you'll be consolidating and building reporting outputs and partnering with our finance business partners and business teams to identify any risks or opportunities that might have a financial impact, and add those into our forecasts, budgets, and strategic plans.

As a lead financial planning analyst, you'll play a key part in the team that's responsible for analysing performance and trends, and producing forecasts, budgets, and plans for the future. We'll look to you to deliver reporting against internal benchmarks and then compare with external competitors in the industry so that we can inform and optimise our business decisions. If you can bring us the financial and analytical skills that we need, we can offer you the chance to build your career with a business that always puts people at the heart of its strategy.

What you'll do

• Build financial plans using proven techniques and methods.
• Update financial models, forecasts, budgets, and strategic plans with data and assumptions.
• Consolidate reporting inputs and present overall performance in a clear, compelling way.
• Support weekly and monthly performance reporting.
• Analyse period results, key variances, and their impact on financial statements.
• Provide reconciliation and variance analysis across business areas (weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly).
• Build strong relationships with key partners across the business.
• Improve forecasting and reporting processes while championing planning and reporting tools, including cashflow forecasting.

This role would suit people who have

• Accountancy qualification (ACA, CIMA, ACCA or equivalent) and FP&A experience.
• Strong budget, forecast, and financial reporting (P&Ls, balance sheets, cash flow) skills.
• Advanced IT and spreadsheet skills (e.g., VLOOKUP, complex formulas) and experience with planning tools.
• Excellent analytical, detail-oriented, and communication skills, with the ability to present data and influence stakeholders.
• Strong prioritisation in a dynamic environment, with a focus on continuous improvement and spotting new opportunities.

Why Co-op?

Here you'll do work that matters. We're a commercial organisation with a purpose beyond profit, you'll have an opportunity to help us build a stronger Co-op and stronger communities. You'll also get a package that includes:

• competitive salary
  * coaching, training, and support to help you develop
  * pension with up to 10% employer contributions
  * annual incentive scheme
  * 28 days holiday (rising to 32 in line with service)
  * discounts on Co-op products and services

Building an inclusive work environment

At Co-op, we're proud to do things a different way. As one of the world's largest co-operatives, owned by millions of members, community is at the heart of what we do. Since our Co-op was founded in 1844, we've had a clear social purpose, and everything we do as a business helps to build a fairer world for our members, customers, colleagues, and communities.

We're actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We'll ask whether you'd like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply.

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we'll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process.

You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme and all our commitments to diversity and inclusion at colleagues.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion-and-wellbeing.

As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes between 45-60 minutes. If you're a current Co-op colleague, this does not need to be completed.