Financial Planning and Analysis Manager

At AQA, we’re committed to advancing education and we’re committed to our people. As the largest provider of academic qualifications in the UK, we mark over 10 million exam papers each year and it’s our people who make this happen.

Job title: Financial Planning and Analysis Manager Contract type: 16-month fixed-term contract Location: Manchester Salary: £60,000 to £65,000 Working arrangements: Hybrid working, with at least two days each week in the Manchester office. Monday is the team anchor day.

Lead financial planning and analysis in a growing and increasingly complex group environment. This is an opportunity to help AQA ensure that every pound we invest delivers the greatest possible impact for education, while leading FP&A through an exciting period of growth and change.

We're looking for someone with FP&A expertise alongside a structured, supportive and accountable approach to leadership.

As Financial Planning and Analysis Manager, you’ll maintain a clear and accurate view of AQA’s financial position, risks and opportunities. You’ll turn complex financial information into clear recommendations, helping senior leaders make informed decisions about spending and investment.

You’ll report to AQA’s Group Financial Controller and work closely with the Head of Commercial Finance, with regular exposure to the Chief Operating Officer and other senior and executive stakeholders.

You’ll also help embed new ways of working, improve financial processes and progress the effective use of Workday and Adaptive Planning, supported by specialists within the team.

AQA is a charity, so effective financial planning helps ensure that every pound is used wisely and that any surplus can be reinvested in education.

Success in this role will mean delivering accurate planning and management information to agreed deadlines, strengthening the team’s operating rhythm and progressing the effective use of Adaptive Planning.

In this role, you'll be responsible for:

• Leading medium-term financial planning, budgeting and forecasting across a group with a number of entities and group turnover exceeding £300m
• Producing accurate and insightful monthly management accounts and presenting a clear view of financial performance, risks and opportunities
• Delivering group-level consolidation, including the effective treatment and elimination of intercompany transactions
• Translating financial information into clear analysis and recommendations for finance and non-finance stakeholders
• Leading and developing a specialist FP&A and finance systems team, with three direct reports and wider responsibility across the team structure
• Working collaboratively with Finance Business Partners, Financial Control and senior stakeholders to deliver consistent reporting and financial messaging
• Improving planning, reporting and systems processes, including the continuing development of Workday and Adaptive Planning models

You'll thrive in this role if you have:

• You’ll bring technical financial expertise alongside a structured, supportive and accountable approach to leadership.
• A full professional accounting qualification, such as ACA, ACCA, CIMA or an equivalent qualification.
• Demonstrable FP&A experience in a group finance environment, including group consolidation and intercompany eliminations.
• Experience of leading, coaching and developing people, including managing performance and supporting different development needs.
• The ability to translate complex financial information into clear analysis and recommendations for senior and non-finance stakeholders.
• Demonstrable planning and organisational skills, with experience of coordinating complex financial cycles and delivering to fixed deadlines.
• Experience of Workday, Adaptive Planning or another financial planning system would be useful, but it is not essential.

What’s in it for you?

• This role offers the opportunity to contribute to an organisation with a clear educational purpose while gaining experience in a developing group finance environment.
• Exposure to a growing and increasingly complex group structure, including acquisitions and consolidation
• The opportunity to lead and develop a specialist team within a wider Finance function of 48 colleagues
• Scope to improve planning processes and influence the continued development of Adaptive Planning
• A 35-hour working week with flexible, hybrid working
• 25 days’ annual leave, plus Christmas closure days
• A benefits package including up to 11.5% pension contribution, Bupa healthcare support, wellbeing programmes and volunteering opportunities

Diversity and Inclusion Statement

At AQA, we’re committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels they belong and can do their best work. We value the different perspectives, experiences and backgrounds our people bring, knowing they strengthen our culture, decision-making and impact. We foster an inclusive environment where everyone is treated with respect, has access to opportunities to grow and contribute, and feels able to be themselves. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and lived experiences.

Full Job Description Summary Purpose:

As Financial Planning and Analysis Manager in the Finance and Corporate Services (FCS) department, you will play a crucial role in leading a team of finance planning analysts to drive insightful and accurate financial analysis to support informed business decisions. Through a customer centric approach and strong storytelling, you will lead on financial planning across the business by ensuring that that business receives consistent high quality financial information. You will be responsible for maintaining an accurate overview and forecasts of the finances across the business, creating ongoing transparency of the current financial status and risks and opportunities.

Landscape:

Financial Planning and Analysis Manager reports to the Group Financial Controller. On a day-to-day basis, the Financial Planning and Analysis Manager is responsible for financial planning and management accounts. The role has daily contact with our wider finance team including Finance Business Partnering and the Financial Control team. The role has frequent contact with numerous departments within AQA to ensure that their finance needs are being met. The role has frequent contact with numerous internal stakeholders up to and including Executive Director level.

Activities:

• Lead the team to produce high quality medium term financial plan’s, budgets and forecasts.
• Influence the business with clear financial analysis, storytelling and recommendations.
• Lead the team to produce high quality monthly management accounts pack which is insightful, accurate and produced in line with agreed deadlines.
• Lead the team in providing consistent high quality financial information that will support business decision making through a customer centric approach.
• Support and challenge wider team to ensure consistent messaging and approach when data and stories collated.
• Be a catalyst for change programmes and process improvements.
• Lead, manage, coach and develop a small team of qualified accountants to create a high performing team who deliver effective, efficient and enabling outcomes in accordance with agreed key performance targets.
• Work closely and collaboratively with finance partners and other finance colleagues to produce insightful financial information to support key deliverables.
• Lead a consistent overhead approach across AQA. This includes consistent management information (including regular travel and expenses) and consistent approach to productivity (including tracking, forecasting, defining opportunities and clear story telling to the business to influence).
• Lead the risk and opportunities approach ensuring insightful and clear information for the business to make decisions.
• Lead relevant system changes and implementation for the FP&A team eg. Adaptive planning.
• Support any ad hoc projects in line with the Finance vision and AQA strategy.
• To lead by example with AQA values and behaviours.

Need to know (to be successful in this role, you will need to know):

• Professional accounting qualification (e.g., ACA, ACCA, CIMA).
• Ability to influence and collaborate effectively with a variety of stakeholders.
• Ability to translate financial data for non-finance colleagues through effective story telling.
• Excellent people management skills.
• Results-oriented approach with a focus on driving continuous improvement.
• Experience in financial modelling.
• Experience in FP&A or Finance Business Partnering.
• Excellent planning and organisational skills with the ability to prioritise effectively to ensure all time deadlines are met.

AQA is an independent charity that sets and marks over half of all GCSEs and A-levels in the UK every year. Our purpose is to advance education by helping students and teachers to realise their potential. As part of AQA, you’ll very quickly appreciate the determination and unwavering passion to deliver this goal in everything we do. To help drive these ambitions, AQA invests in the development of its people by offering a range of professional development and learning opportunities leading to over 50% of our permanent roles being filled internally.

Reasonable Adjustments

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process or in the role, please contact the recruiter named in the vacancy advert or your interview correspondence. They will work with you to ensure the appropriate support is in place and that the process is as accessible and equitable as possible. If you're unsure who your recruiter is, or can't reach them, contact Faye Harrison (she/her) at fharrison@aqa.org.uk or 07813 724161, and she'll direct you to the right person. Please note that Faye cannot assist with temporary vacancy enquiries or non-recruitment matters. For temporary vacancies, contact temprecruit@aqa.org.uk.

Smart Working

We’re operating a smart working model. This allows for our colleagues to work from two days a week in one of our offices across England.

Diversity and inclusion

AQA is committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels they belong and can do their best work. We value the different perspectives, experiences and backgrounds our people bring, knowing they strengthen our culture, decision-making and impact. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and lived experiences.

Conflict of Interest

Please note that due to the confidential nature of our work, we are unable to employ people for our temporary roles who are currently a candidate for Key Stage 4 and 5 public examinations.

Safeguarding

AQA is committed to the safeguarding of children and adults at risk. We’re dedicated to reducing the risk of employing or contracting any person intent on abusing their position of trust, along with identifying and responding to any incident of alleged abuse from its employees or associates fairly and swiftly. For more information on safeguarding at AQA please visit the AQA website here.

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