At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead expense analysis and drive process improvements for strategic financial insights.
- Company: Join Beazley, a leader in the insurance sector, committed to innovation.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, professional development, and a dynamic work environment.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on financial decision-making and enhance your analytical skills.
- Qualifications: Professional accounting qualification and experience in process improvement required.
- Other info: Collaborative culture with opportunities for mentorship and career growth.
The predicted salary is between 48000 - 72000 £ per year.
Reporting to the Lead Expense Analyst, this role is a key part of Beazley's expense transformation journey towards being a best-in-class function.
Beazley is seeking a Senior Expense Analyst to play a pivotal role in our transformation toward a sector-leading expense function. This role sits at the heart of our journey to move from producing tables to delivering meaningful insights that shape business decisions. As a senior member of the team, you will use advanced analytical techniques, scenario modelling and deep-dive forecasting to cut through complexity and highlight what matters most, providing strategic, forward-looking guidance to senior finance and business leaders.
You will act as a subject matter expert across our expense reporting processes, data structures and systems, ensuring consistency, integrity and strong governance across all outputs. The role will take ownership of complex or cross-functional improvement initiatives, driving measurable enhancements in automation, process efficiency and control. You will also lead change-management activities linked to new systems, reporting standards and ways of working as we continue to modernise our function.
Building strong relationships across the wider finance organisation is essential. The Senior Expense Analyst will partner closely with stakeholders to understand business activity, translate it into clear financial impacts, and challenge assumptions where needed. In addition, the role will support the development of the broader team by reviewing work, sharing expertise and contributing to the shift toward a more insightful, technology-enabled expense function.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead complex analytics and deliver deeper insights that challenge assumptions and support senior level decision making.
- Lead multidimensional variance and driver analysis; identify root causes and guide stakeholders toward corrective actions.
- Own and lead cross functional process improvement initiatives with measurable outcomes (e.g., cycle time reduction, automation uplift, error rate reduction).
- Act as subject matter expert for expense reporting processes, data structures, allocation methodologies, and reporting systems; lead UAT and shape system design.
- Oversee the reporting framework, ensuring consistency, governance, and standardisation across outputs.
- Review and elevate commentary from analysts; ensure insights are forward looking, strategic, and actionable.
- Serve as a senior business partner, challenging assumptions and guiding stakeholders on cost structure, profitability, and expense strategy.
- Oversee end to end data governance across expense reporting; define and enforce data quality standards, reconciliations, and controls.
- Lead the design and evolution of dashboards and self-serve reporting, including modelling logic, visual standards, and narrative clarity.
- Strengthen internal control frameworks; work with audit, risk, and compliance to address findings and ensure policy adherence.
- Oversee allocation methodologies, recommend improvements, and ensure alignment with best practice and business needs.
- Lead scenario modelling, sensitivity analysis, and advanced forecasting techniques.
- Provide strategic recommendations to senior finance leadership on cost optimisation and spend efficiency.
- Mentor junior analysts; review their work, provide feedback, and raise capability across analytics, commentary, modelling, and tools.
- Collaborate with Technology teams to define system requirements and ensure solutions align with the finance strategy and data governance standards.
Core Competencies
- Financial planning and analysis expertise: Expert knowledge of expense actuals; budgeting; and forecasting processes, including the ability to drive continuous improvement in these areas.
- Strategic thinking and business acumen: Deep understanding of revenue drivers, sales optimisation, margin management, and metrics cascades to provide insightful, performance inflecting decision support to business leaders.
- Communication and storytelling: Excellent storytelling, communication and presentation skills to effectively convey financial insights, analysis and recommendations to decision makers.
- Advanced technology literacy/proficiency: Ability to exploit digital technologies to drive better outcomes for finance and the business.
- Problem-solving: Ability to challenge assumptions, identify root causes and develop effective solutions.
- Relationship building and collaboration: Proven ability to build strong relationships with business unit leaders and stakeholders.
- Continuous improvement: Ability to define success criteria and establish measurable metrics for monitoring tool utilization and quality.
- Professionalism: Consistently demonstrates integrity, is highly credible, respectful and trustworthy.
- Learning and development: Identifies strengths and weaknesses and seeks to improve performance.
- Adaptability: Effectively manages changing priorities in a dynamic environment.
- Responsibility and Accountability: Assumes full responsibility for the consequences of own behaviour and decisions.
It is important that within all your interactions both internally and externally you adhere Beazley's core values - Being Bold, Striving for Better, and Doing the Right Thing.
Essential Criteria:
- Qualified with a professional accounting qualification (e.g. AAT, ACCA, CIMA)
- Degree in Finance, Accounting, or related field (or equivalent experience).
- Demonstrated ability to lead process improvement initiatives, delivering measurable outcomes in efficiency, automation, or control strength.
- Experience working in large multi-national corporations.
Desirable Criteria:
- Someone who can demonstrate an impact in previous roles, and has a can do attitude.
- Experience applying judgement in complex, non-routine scenarios, especially in areas requiring interpretation of policy or managing exceptions.
- Experience of the financial services or insurance market (preferably Lloyd's).
- Experience of Expense roles within complex insurance organisations and knowledge of accounting policies adopted.
- Experience of data visualisation tools, such as Power BI Tableau or equivalent.
- Experience with tools such as PowerQuery, Python or other.
Senior Expense Analyst in London employer: Beazley
Contact Detail:
Beazley Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Expense Analyst in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to current or former employees at Beazley on LinkedIn. Ask them about their experiences and any tips they might have for landing the Senior Expense Analyst role. Personal connections can give you insights that no job description can.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for the interview by diving deep into Beazley's financial performance and recent news. Show that you’re not just another candidate; you’re genuinely interested in how you can contribute to their expense transformation journey.
✨Tip Number 3
Practice your storytelling skills! You’ll need to convey complex financial insights clearly. Use examples from your past experiences where you’ve made a significant impact, especially in process improvements or analytics.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, it shows you’re serious about joining the team and ready to be part of the transformation at Beazley.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Expense Analyst in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV is tailored to the Senior Expense Analyst role. Highlight your experience with financial analysis, process improvement, and any relevant tools you've used. We want to see how your skills align with our needs!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to tell us why you're passionate about this role and how you can contribute to our expense transformation journey. Be specific about your achievements and how they relate to the job.
Showcase Your Analytical Skills: Since this role involves advanced analytical techniques, make sure to showcase your analytical skills in your application. Provide examples of how you've used data to drive decisions or improve processes in previous roles.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply through our website for a smoother application process. It helps us keep track of your application and ensures you receive updates directly from us. Plus, it’s super easy!
How to prepare for a job interview at Beazley
✨Know Your Numbers
As a Senior Expense Analyst, you'll need to demonstrate your expertise in financial planning and analysis. Brush up on key metrics related to expense management, budgeting, and forecasting. Be ready to discuss how you've used these skills in past roles to drive improvements or insights.
✨Showcase Your Analytical Skills
Prepare to share specific examples of complex analytics you've led. Think about times when your insights challenged assumptions or influenced decision-making. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your responses clearly.
✨Build Relationships
This role requires strong collaboration with various stakeholders. During the interview, highlight your experience in building relationships across teams. Share examples of how you've partnered with others to achieve common goals, especially in finance-related projects.
✨Embrace Change Management
Since this position involves leading change management activities, be prepared to discuss your experience with process improvements and system changes. Talk about how you've successfully navigated transitions and what strategies you employed to ensure smooth implementation.