Associate - Central P&A - Core

Associate - Central P&A - Core

About the Role

Do you thrive at the intersection of financial precision, executive storytelling and operational discipline? Our Planning & Analysis team is seeking an Associate to anchor one of the most consequential functions in our finance organization — end-to-end ownership of the monthly close, reporting cycle and CFO-level deliverables.

This is not a passive reporting role. It is a high-visibility, high-accountability seat that directly shapes how senior leadership understands and acts on business performance. You will own the production and governance of core financial reporting outputs — from Business Day close decks and Management Expense Views to Business Unit Reviews, Executive Management Reports and Firmwide commentary submissions. You will serve as the connective tissue between finance partners, business managers and CFO leadership, ensuring every deliverable is accurate, timely, version-controlled and analytically insightful. If you are energized by the rigor of a close cycle and the craft of translating complex financials into compelling executive narratives, this role is built for you.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a detail-oriented, analytically driven finance professional who combines deep technical fluency with sharp communication skills and disciplined stakeholder management. You understand the mechanics of a monthly close cycle intimately — the sequencing, the pressure points and the material consequences of a missed deadline or an unvalidated figure.

You bring structured thinking to ambiguous situations, a continuous improvement mindset to recurring processes and the professional confidence to challenge data, push back on assumptions and drive consensus across competing stakeholders. Candidates with backgrounds in P&A, FP&A, CFO support, corporate finance, financial reporting, management reporting, business management, consulting or analytics are strongly encouraged to apply.

Job Responsibilities

• Support the monthly close, budget and planning cycles through the delivery of timely and accurate financial reporting.
• Prepare and review trend analysis, variance analysis and business commentary to inform decision-making.
• Produce and maintain MEV self-serve templates; provide reporting guidance and FDI communications to finance and business teams.
• Validate source data and manage commentary collector processes, encompassing roll-forward preparation, pre-population and submission validation.
• Own end-to-end CFO Summary preparation, managing all review points and ensuring follow-ups are driven to resolution with rigor and urgency.
• Prepare Firmwide commentary submissions, synthesizing diverse business narratives into a cohesive, senior-ready view.
• Partner with P&A, CFO, business management and finance stakeholders to understand variance drivers and evolving reporting requirements.
• Conduct monthly, quarterly and annual variance analysis, identifying key drivers and delivering meaningful insights to support management decisions.
• Support ad hoc requests, issue resolution, deep-dive analyses and strategic finance initiatives.
• Develop presentations and reporting packs for senior management, clearly articulating financial performance, risks and opportunities.
• Leverage AI and automation tools to drive process improvements and operational efficiencies across reporting and planning cycles.

Required Qualifications, Capabilities, and Skills

• MBA, CA or postgraduate degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, Business or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of relevant experience in Planning & Analysis / FP&A, CFO support, corporate finance, expense management, financial reporting, management reporting, financial research, valuation, banking, financial services, consulting or analytics.
• Strong familiarity with monthly close and reporting cycles, including Business Day sequencing, variance analysis, commentary production and executive pack preparation.
• Solid command of financial statements, expense management, budgeting, forecasting and business performance drivers.
• Advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills — encompassing complex formulas, data validation, version control and executive-ready presentation design.
• Hands-on experience with Essbase or an equivalent financial reporting and planning platform.
• Demonstrated ability to distill complex financial data into clear, concise narratives for CFO and senior leadership audiences, both verbally and in writing.
• Proven ability to manage competing priorities under tight deadlines, sustaining quality and accuracy across multiple simultaneous deliverables.
• Ability to coordinate input from diverse finance and business partners across geographies and functions, building alignment efficiently.
• A highly organized, process-disciplined self-starter who applies rigorous controls thinking to recurring financial workflows.

Preferred Qualifications, Capabilities, and Skills

• Prior experience in banking, financial services or global finance functions, with exposure to Firmwide or line-of-business P&A environments.
• Hands-on experience with business intelligence and automation platforms — Tableau, Alteryx, Power BI or equivalent.
• Working knowledge of AI-assisted finance tools and their application to reporting automation, commentary generation and process optimization.

Experience Level

Mid Level