Head of Financial Planning & Analysis in Cheltenham

Ultra Precision Control Systems (Ultra PCS) is a leading developer of mission and safety critical equipment in the defence and aerospace industry. Our team of experts is at the heart of our success, and we are dedicated to fostering a safe working environment and a positive culture where every staff member feels valued and respected. We solve our customers' problems by providing engineering solutions to safety and mission critical challenges in the air and on the ground. Our solutions are found in the latest military aircraft and vehicles, civil aircraft, and unmanned vehicles. We help ensure our customers reach their destinations safely, achieve their objectives and keep progressing.

Ultra Precision Control Systems are looking for a Head of Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) to join the PCS Finance Function to design and deliver impactful FP&A, including Finance Business Partnering, across the PCS UK and US entities with oversight of FP&A at the CEMS business. This role has a sizeable commercial angle and the individual is expected to generate meaningful value within the business. This role also has management responsibility for the Business Intelligence team. The role reports directly to the CFO and works closely with the Financial Controller as part of the finance leadership team.

Key Responsibilities

• Leading the analytics associated with monthly Actuals reporting, including variances to Budget, Forecast, Prior Year, etc. Analysis covers the P&L, focusing on revenue and margins within Value Streams (i.e. platforms, portfolios, part numbers, etc.).
• Creating and producing meaningful MI to support timely and robust month-end close, culminating in a high-quality, timely and complete proposed (finance) board report for the CFO.
• Leading the weekly Flash forecasting process, delivering a 3-month rolling forecast for orders, revenue, contribution margin, gross margin, IRAD, opex and EBITDA BOO, plus Operating Cash BOO. Outputs should be commercially insightful with risk and opportunities, including variance analysis and stakeholder buy-in; actions should be tracked to timely conclusions.
• Leading the Quarterly and annual Budget forecasting processes to agreed timelines, based on detailed supporting schedules from bottom-up data sources. The process is managed through an integrated financial model with automation and clear assumptions. Output includes a high-quality, insightful presentation pack aligned to a complete and timely OneStream data submission.
• Collaborating across the business to lead the annual creation, submission and periodic refreshes of the 5-year Strategic Plan, covering front-end business projections via P&L, Balance Sheet and Cashflow with a robust audit trail and a comprehensive presentation pack.
• Developing and maintaining deep margin analysis tools linked to the General Ledger, producing insights for finance and non-finance users to identify margins and drive decisions.
• Leading the creation and evolution of a robust MI suite to provide timely business metrics.
• Be the Finance point for the S&OP process and ensure full integration with financial forecasts; maintain relevance of the Opportunities Tracker for forecasting purposes.
• Finance business partnering responsibilities, including but not limited to: Providing day-to-day partnering support to the VP of Engineering and COO; acting as a key member of their functional senior management; offering finance guidance and leadership to their teams.
• Embedding a culture of managing finance by operational metrics; lead on creating, capturing, cleansing and challenging financial operational metrics (e.g., labour utilisation, efficiency, standard costs including labour routings, absorption, turnaround times, etc.).
• Leading commercial finance for the Repairs business; supporting growth and margin improvement; collaborating with the Financial Controller on warranty reserve controls and identifying trends in warranty exposure.
• Partnering in financially meaningful business cases for investment in IRAD, capitalised development, impairment testing, etc.
• Finance lead on targeting and driving VCP opportunities.
• Collaborating with the Financial Controller and team to support timely month-end reporting, year-end audits, project accounting, bid submission and cost audits, and contributing to balance sheet reconciliations for areas with Engineering or Operations ownership.
• Leading the Business Intelligence team to improve data quality, reporting and systems; translating requirements into live, accurate, meaningful reports linked to financials.
• Identifying opportunities to improve IFS for data capture, process improvement and robust master data.
• Driving consistency of approach across PCS and CEMS and supporting ad hoc projects as required.

Required Skills & Experience

• A qualified accountant
• Extremely well developed analytical skills
• Experience in an operational/manufacturing/engineering finance environment with previous responsibility for a function
• Ability to build strong relationships with key stakeholders quickly
• Strong communication and influencing skills at senior levels
• Motivated by delivering impact for Engineering & Operations teams and the finance environment
• Understanding of Engineering and Operational functions (Supply Chain, Stores, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, etc.)
• Ability to drive and embed process improvement
• Detailed understanding of accounting dynamics within an ERP environment, including cost centres, projects (WBS), labour and overhead rates, material handling, and percentage of completion accounting
• Experience with BI and data warehouses
• Experience linking ERP/financial model data to group reporting systems
• Ability to produce high-quality outputs with robust audit trails and process notes
• Strong data, systems and single-source-of-truth mindset
• Root-cause data analysis approach rather than manual workarounds

Benefits

• Flexible working within core hours
• 25 days holiday (185 hours) with the option to buy/sell 5 days plus bank holidays
• Life assurance (4x annual salary)
• Flexible benefits package
• Pension scheme with employer contributions
• Sports and social clubs
• Supportive and friendly working environment with regular team events

Additional Information

You could be joining the team and Ultra at an exciting time. Please follow the application process.

Nationality Requirements

Candidates must be able to work in the UK without restrictions in accordance with UK National Law and be prepared to undertake UK National Security Vetting as required.

Diversity & Inclusion

Ultra PCS is an equal opportunities employer that values diversity, inclusion, equity and equality. We welcome applications from all candidates and do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.