Finance Planning Analyst

Job Description:

Our OEM Client based in Whitley, Coventry, is searching for a Finance Planning Analyst to join their team, Inside IR35. This is a maternity cover contract position with a proposed end date of 31st March 2027.

Umbrella Pay Rate: £27.03 per hour.

Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities:

• Governance & Assurance: Ensure compliance with standards, document control & assurance processes; capital and operational expenditure. Support implementation of governance structures.
• Capital Project Evaluation: Collaborate with Technical Specialists to assess the feasibility of investment on projects and support business case development. Review project rankings based on strategic value, financial return & resource availability.
• Project Budgeting & Monitoring: Assist in the development of project budgets, supporting stakeholders with allocation of spend type. Monitor project performance for budget overruns or delays.
• Operational Expenditure Planning:  Support building operational budgets with customers. Identify operational improvement opportunities to support budget alignment and cost risk mitigation.
• Assets & Lifecycle Planning: Support with asset management and tagging across local area. Support asset lifecycle planning by identifying risks and opportunities for investment (capital & operational).
• Tools & Techniques: Maintain capital and operational budgets and expenditure in collaboration with stakeholders. Develop and maintain dashboards to visualise KPIs, timelines, budget drawdown.
• Risk, Opportunity & Issue Management: Support maintenance of risk & opportunity registers.  Ensure timely escalation and reporting. Identify and mitigate delivery risks.
• Change Control: Adhere to change control processes, ensuring accurate documentation and tracking. Support review and approval workflows per governance protocols.
• Stakeholder & Communications Management: Ensure effective engagement with stakeholders and cross-functional collaboration, including central business and buyer teams
• Performance Measurement & Reporting: Support definition and tracking of project delivery KPIs. Produce reports and insights to aid understanding of budget health / decision-making at project and portfolio levels.
• Reviews & Continuous Improvement: Support lessons learned sessions & embed findings into future delivery. Support continuous improvement and best practice sharing.
• Customer-Centric Delivery: Support initiatives to measure and improve delivery. Embed feedback into delivery processes to support a ‘Customer Love’ culture.

Essential Skills, Knowledge and Experience Required:

• Experience in a Business Planning / Finance function; strong business acumen.
• Experience working with Capital and/or Operational budgets.
• Proven budget / forecasting skills.
• Excellent communication & interpersonal skills.
• Strong stakeholder reporting & engagement skills.
• High attention to detail & organisational skills.
• Understanding of planning cycles with ability to adapt to local business context.
• Experience with cost management processes (e.g. QCRA, VfM).
• Strong analytical and data interpretation skills.
• Experience with Tableau or similar tools.
• Proficient in MS Tools.
• Knowledge of risk, issue, and change control processes.

Desirable Skills, Knowledge and Experience Required:

• Experience with SAP or similar finance tool.
• Experience in engineering, infrastructure, or technical project.
• Knowledge of lifecycle frameworks (e.g. RIBA, V-model) including costing.
• Familiarity with project methodologies (e.g. APM, PRINCE2).
• Exposure to portfolio-level reporting.
• Degree or equivalent experience in Business / Finance / Accounting.
• Familiarity with Confluence / collaborative platforms.
• Experience supporting lessons learned & continuous improvement.
• Financial tracking and budget reporting.
• Asset management experience.
• Experience with leading or supporting audits.
• Proficient in Jira / codi.