About WHSmith

If you’re looking for a Finance job that’s more than just numbers, WHSmith adds up. Our FP&A Finance teams are the engine room of the business; everything depends on the overall trading environment and our competitors. It’s fast-paced and you never know what will happen next.

We’re now looking for a Senior Finance Analyst on a permanent basis, reporting into the Senior Finance Manager. If you’re looking to build on your finance journey with a company equally as ambitious as you are, then WHSmith could be right for you!

Purpose of the Role

We are looking for someone who can support our existing FP&A team in delivering timely and actionable insights to both finance and non-finance teams via detailed analysis of the company’s financial performance. The successful candidate will be a key business partner to the Business Development team, supporting in investment appraisals and forecasting for new stores and partnerships.

What you’ll be doing:

• Senior Business partner to the Business Development and Partnerships team, building business cases with P&Ls and KPIs for new tenders and partnerships, and working closely with the team on their forecasts of new stores, impacts and closures.

• Sales Analysis (SPP/ ATV/ PAX/ benchmarking/ Mix) as well as in depth understanding of cost lines to build an accurate business case, business partnering Commercial/ Operations/ Space & Format team.

• Creating and Presenting Post Investment Reviews with variance analysis for new stores vs Board paper and forecast to understand performance and drive actionable insights.

• Full P&L forecasting (Budget/ 3YP/ FC1/ FC2) of our New Stores/ Closures/ refits and Disruptions, ensuring the forecast is an accurate reflection of business cases and impact assumptions.

• Run Latest View Forecasts, with an understanding of risks and opps to Budget and ways of mitigating profit impacts.

• Taking ownership of store profitability, providing the business with in-depth understanding of key KPIs and drivers, allowing strategic decisions to be made.

• Creating P&Ls for our total store estate on a monthly (and ad hoc) basis.

• Understanding true profitability of our various store formats and partnerships, both existing and future store proposals.

• Weekly Sales Reporting of New Business vs Forecast.

• Support in the Finance Transformation Programme, automating monthly and annual P&Ls by store and unit.

• Ad hoc FP&A analysis and support for the rest of the team.

What we are looking for:

• We are looking for someone highly numerate with an analytical background, ideally within Retail FMCG.

• Advanced Excel is essential.

• Part or newly qualified (CIMA/ACMA/ACA), or with significant Commercial Finance experience.

• Someone with P&L modelling experience would be a plus.

• You should have strong interpersonal skills to build key relationships within the Business Development and Partnerships teams.

• Confidence to articulate the output of your analysis and challenge both the approach and results when necessary.

• Most importantly we are looking for someone with a proactive approach and the initiative to identify opportunities to drive improvement.

What you’ll get in return:

You’ll be at the hub of an incredibly fast-moving function and you’ll be trusted to make decisions that benefit the business. It’s a serious responsibility – which will seriously motivate you. You’ll thrive on the freedom and the chance to use your skills and will be supported with plenty of training and development opportunities. What’s more, you can expect some fab rewards, including an achievable annual bonus, 25 days’ holiday (and the option to buy more), contributory pension plus the perks of your birthday off, an early finish on Fridays, and lots more! Our new Aldgate head office is only a 5 minute walk from Liverpool Street station and close to a variety of shops, bars and restaurants