Anaplan Development Lead in Essex

The European Financial Analysis (EFA) Team plays a critical role in guiding the strategic and financial direction of Ford Credit Europe (FCE). We provide senior leadership with accurate and timely financial and operational insights, proactive analysis to support high-quality decision-making, and forward-looking projections that shape the future performance of our business.

To strengthen and scale our planning capabilities, we are recruiting an Anaplan Development Lead to drive the long-term strategy, governance and evolution of FCE’s Anaplan platform across Europe.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the strategic roadmap for Anaplan, ensuring our models, processes and data architecture enable world-class financial planning and business performance management.
• Lead a small team of skilled model builders, setting best practices, championing Anaplan standards, and partnering closely with senior Finance and Business leaders across Europe to deliver scalable, high-impact solutions.
• Own and develop the long-term Anaplan strategy and architecture for FCE.
• Ensure strong governance, data quality, model standards and best practices across all European Anaplan applications.
• Drive continuous improvement, challenging existing processes and identifying opportunities for automation and simplification.
• Design, build and enhance Anaplan models for forecasting, budgeting, reporting and portfolio analysis.
• Develop automated and standardised reporting that enables actionable insights for senior stakeholders.
• Develop automated driver based variance analysis between actuals and forecasts/budgets, supporting management reviews.
• Strengthen and optimise existing models, ensuring they remain robust, scalable and compliant with best practice.
• Lead end-to-end delivery of complex Anaplan initiatives, from requirements gathering to deployment and training.
• Partner with Finance, FP&A, Business teams and Shared Services to understand needs and build fit-for-purpose solutions.
• Collaborate with global Anaplan teams to align with group standards and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure disciplined model testing, data reconciliation, ALM processes and user access management in a regulated environment.
• Provide high-quality support to local markets and management teams.
• Mentor and guide Anaplan developers, fostering capability growth within the team.

Qualifications

• Anaplan Solution Architect certification
• 5+ years’ experience delivering full Anaplan lifecycles (design, build, deployment, support)
• Strong understanding of multi-dimensional modelling, data integrations and model optimisation, Anaplan architecture and platform governance
• Deep experience with financial planning, budgeting and management reporting processes
• Background in banking, financial services, or similarly regulated environments
• Proven experience with ALM, release planning, regression testing and controlled deployments
• Ability to communicate complex modelling concepts in simple, relatable terms
• Strong problem-solving skills, with a passion for innovation and continuous improvement
• Confident working under pressure, delivering to tight deadlines with minimal supervision
• Effective stakeholder management and communication skills, including at senior management level
• Ability to design and maintain a cohesive, secure and scalable Anaplan ecosystem

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced financial modelling skills
• Basic understanding of captive finance products
• Knowledge of stress testing, capital principles and risk concepts
• Strong data analysis capability

Additional Information

The Company is committed to diversity and equality of opportunity for all and is opposed to any form of less favourable treatment or harassment on the grounds of race, religion or belief, sex, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or disability. This position is based in Dunton, and it is expected the successful candidate will be able to attend the Dunton office for typically 4 days a week and remain flexible on the days they are required to attend the office according to business requirements. As part of our pre-employment checks process, successful candidates will be required to undergo a criminal record check. This will be conducted in line with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and applied only to unspent convictions.