Senior Financial Analyst

**Description**

At Pearson, we’re committed to a world that’s always learning and to our talented team who makes it all possible. From bringing lectures vividly to life to turning textbooks into laptop lessons, we are always re-examining the way people learn best, whetherit’s one child in our own backyard or an education community across the globe. We are bold thinkers and standout innovators who motivate each other to explore new frontiers in an environment that supports and inspires us to always be better. By pushing theboundaries of technology — and each other to surpass these boundaries — we create seeds of learning that become the catalyst for the world’s innovations, personal and global, large and small.

We are recruiting this role within Pearson Finance Services to support the provision of a consolidated view of financial business performance and planning to business partnering teams within the UK School division. This role will prepare and deliver financialplanning and analysis to business areas enabling effective business decision making. This role will also be expected to contribute to aspects of the budgeting and forecasting cycle.

**To undertake this role the following will be required**:

- Complete all deliverables in a timely, efficient and accurate manner
- Understand data sources and data flows and how financial and non-financial data is presented
- Contribute to team effort and assist co-workers across PFS and all business divisions as needed to enable effective delivery.
- Help to create a work atmosphere conducive to collaborative working
- Maintain customer satisfaction by promptly following up on customers’ requests for information
- Identify opportunities for continuous process improvement and innovative solutions and communicate these to your line manager

**Activities / Tasks**
- Manage the activities in the running the UK Assessment area. This includes establishing goals for the team, developing work schedules, back up procedures, managing staffing requirements to ensure coverage and dealing with escalations as necessary.
- Take ownership of the budget and forecasting process for one or more sub-divisions within the Global Product division of Pearson, including meeting with the business to agree compensation, discretionary and capital expenditure plans.
- Input into the annual strategic planning process through preparation of analysis; sales margin plans and other information to enable collation of the plan
- Prepare key month end management reporting packs for decision making / disclosure to market.
- Monthly and quarterly consolidation of management information packs across business areas and roll up to group level showing performance against budget, forecast and prior year
- Support local business partners in providing targeted quality commercial analysis
- Review of financial data during the month to provide timely corrections.
- Work alongside the team to ensure work is completed as expected including dealing with more complex activities and escalations.
- Ensure all team deliverables are of high quality and submitted on time
- Understand data sources and data flows and how financial and non-financial data is presented
- Identify opportunities for continuous process improvement and simplification. Innovate solutions so the team can operate in an efficient, consistent, repeatable and cost effective manner.
- Lead the team efficiently and effectively and ensure processes are simple, straightforward and value adding to PFS & Pearson Finance overall.
- Develop and monitor team performance to ensure levels of performance are met.
- Ensure all team deliverables are of high quality and submitted on time
- Ensure all submissions into corporate systems align to stakeholder expectations
- Ensure all processes are kept well-documented
- Manage successful transition of activities from Pearson teams into PFS
- Manage the impact of change on processes and the team.
- Contribute to team effort and assist co-workers across PFS and all business divisions as needed to enable effective delivery.
- Help to create a work atmosphere conducive to collaborative working
- Develop effective working relationships with key stakeholders to maximize customer service, including regular stakeholder feed-back meetings after major deliverables, e.g. month end, forecast submissions.

Pearson is an equal opportunities employer. We do not discriminate against employees or job applicants and select the best person for each job based on relevant skills and experience.

We are also committed to building an accurate picture of the make-up of the workforce and encouraging equality and diversity.

The information you provide will stay confidential, and be stored securely. It will not be seen by those involved in making decisions as part of the recruitment process.

**Qualifications**

**Skills / capabilities**:
Strong accounting knowledge - holding a recognised accountancy qualification or qualified by experience. Consideration will also be given to applicants with suitable relevant experience.

Analytical skills: Well developed analytical/variance analysis skills, proven ability to review and analyse financial data and explain results to senior management. Provide analysis to support decision making, including presenting economic outcomes, identifyingkey value drivers, benefits, risks and accounting implications

Advanced user of Microsoft Office suite, particularly Excel (v-lookups, sum-ifs, pivot tables etc.)

Strong verbal and written communication skills and the ability to effectively communicate with both finance and non-finance professionals

Experience of finance ERP systems (Oracle preferred but not essential)

A self-starter who is motivated to work under own initiative when required demonstrating initiative and sound judgement;
Ability to work as part of