Finance manager, financial planning and analysis

The Finance Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis is responsible for leading the University's financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, financial modelling, and performance analysis functions to support strategic and operational decision-making across UCA. The position oversees the development and maintenance of the University's Financial Planning Data Model and provides expert advice to the CFO and Budget Owners on enhancements to planning methodologies, assumptions, and data structures to ensure alignment with the University's academic model, operating framework, and strategic objectives.

• Lead the annual budgeting and multi-year financial planning process in coordination with academic and administrative units.
• Review schools and departments’ budgets for accuracy and consistency with the operating plan, including procurement and staff planning.
• In collaboration with budget owners, prepare accurate monthly budget phasing based on the operating plan, and provide a budget plan for the next four years of the five-year budget cycle of UCA.
• Develop and maintain rolling forecasts and scenario analysis to support operating and strategic planning.
• In collaboration with the CFO, develop and upgrade budget and forecast policy and guidelines, templates and timelines in compliance with the university policies and procedures.
• Establish and oversee a comprehensive framework for collecting, validating, and analysing key operational and non-financial drivers, including enrolment, workforce, and activity-based metrics, to enhance forecasting accuracy, scenario modeling, and management reporting.
• Oversee analysis of programme costing, academic initiatives, grants, and strategic projects
• Lead the preparation and presentation of monthly, quarterly, and annual dashboards and financial performance reports to the CFO and MEC
• Provide variance analysis and actionable insights on revenue, expenses, and capital projects, considering the YTD variances and adjusted Year-to-Go (YTG) plan to ensure alignment with the approved budget.
• In collaboration with the CFO, develop meaningful KPIs, dashboards, and management reporting tools to support institutional performance monitoring.
• In collaboration, establish and implement budget transfer guidelines, ensuring consistency, simplicity, and a robust budgetary control mechanism.
• Review and record external grant entries for management reporting.
• Support preparation of management and strategic financial reports
• Partner with the CFO and Rector’s Office on various initiatives, including financial modeling, costing, etc.
• Serve as the primary FP&A business partner for the BU and SU leaders
• Advise the CFO and management to facilitate constructive discussions with the budget owners and university management regarding resource allocation and institutional priorities.
• Prepare cost allocation report based on the approved Cost Allocation Methodology (CAM) on a regular basis or when requested.
• Adjust the CAM model per CFO request
• Support forex analysis and forecasting.
• Support Treasury, grants, donor reporting and other finance functions as and when required.
• Supervise PDPs and FP&A team members, ensuring timely delivery of budget transfers, reports, and adherence to quality standards
• Mentor staff and build capacity for advanced financial modeling and data analytics
• Develop, continuously improve and oversee financial planning tools (e.g., SAP, Power BI) and ensure data integrity
• Drive process improvements for efficiency and transparency.
• In close collaboration with the CFO, build budget owners’, finance, and other operations staff capacity in budget management.

• Master’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, or related field.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in FP&A or corporate finance, with at least 4 years in a leadership role.
• Strong analytical, modeling, and presentation skills.
• Strong ERP and reporting systems experience (SAP, Power BI, etc.).
• Strategic thinking and problem-solving.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines.
• Будет плюсом: CPA, ACCA, CIMA, CFA, or equivalent preferred; Familiarity with higher education finance and donor-funded projects preferred

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