Financial Planning & Analysis - Lead Analyst - Tech Sector

Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is very widely used in breakthrough enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation and IoT. Our customers include the world's leading public cloud and silicon providers, and industry leaders in many sectors. The company is a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with 1000+ colleagues in 70+ countries and very few office based roles. Teams meet two to four times yearly in person, in interesting locations around the world, to align on strategy and execution.

The company is founder led, profitable and growing.

We are hiring a Financial Planning & Analysis Lead to play a key part leading our monthly business reviews, quarterly forecasting, annual planning, and drive cross-functional business alignment. Our ideal candidate is a highly analytical independent thinker and mentor, who has a proven record of leadership and the intrinsic motivation to use data to advise on critical financial, commercial and strategic decisions.

As a global software company delivering the entire open source portfolio, our business is much more complex than an equivalently sized regional or national company in other industries. That complexity is warranted because of the scale of the opportunity we have to become a significant part of the Global 2000 software supply chain for infrastructure and applications. We also choose to work in a truly distributed, truly global fashion, which requires us to work in many currencies and again requires additional sophistication in our financial planning, modelling and analysis. We are investing in FP&A to give ourselves a competitive advantage and insights that will shape strategy and operations in multiple teams.

Location: Our finance team is based in EMEA and Americas time zones, this position is home based anywhere between UTC/GMT+2 and GMT-6.

What your day will look like

• Develop dashboards and reports including Board materials, monthly financial results and other management presentations
• Analyse & report monthly results, leading indicators and KPIs to support monthly forecasting and annual plan attainment
• Provide commercial analysis, develop growth targets, and evaluate strategic initiatives
• Work with product managers to produce, aggregate, and distribute market insights and competitive intelligence
• Manage financial models, including budget, forecast and long range plans
• Design processes, methodologies, and models to ensure low variance budget to actual
• Support month end close, flux review processes, and financial reports
• Design and drive initiatives to enhance systems, processes, and data accuracy
• Support the IPO process, including the production of investor materials and public filings
• Develop and mentor colleagues within the FP&A team, as well as peer teams
• Review department spend, procurement strategies, and business wide process efficiency

What we are looking for in you

• Exceptional academic track record from both high school and university
• Undergraduate degree in a technical subject or a compelling narrative about your alternative chosen path
• Confidence to respectfully speak up, exchange feedback, and share ideas without hesitation
• Track record of going above-and-beyond expectations to achieve outstanding results
• Experience and a deeply rooted passion to mentor team members, and aid in peer career growth 
• Have operated in a high growth, multi currency/geography technology business with a mixed go-to-market motion
• Strong problem-solving and analytical abilities
• Highest ethical standards, integrity, authenticity, credibility, and character
• Curiosity and willingness to work on a wide range of projects
• Proficiency in spreadsheets and financial modeling
• Understanding of core accounting principles 
• The work ethic and confidence to shine alongside motivated colleagues
• Professional written and spoken English with excellent presentation skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills, curiosity, flexibility, and accountability 
• Passionate, thoughtful, and self-motivated
• Appreciative of diversity, polite and effective in a multi-cultural, multi-national organisation
• Thoughtfulness and self-motivation 
• Result-oriented, with a personal drive to meet commitments 
• Ability to travel internationally twice a year, for company events up to two weeks long

Nice-to-have skills

• MBA or equivalent combination of professional certifications and experience
• Previous experience as a subject matter expert in Financial Planning & Analysis
• Experience with Business Intelligence reporting, CRM and ERP systems

What we offer colleagues

We consider geographical location, experience, and performance in shaping compensation worldwide. We revisit compensation annually (and more often for graduates and associates) to ensure we recognise outstanding performance. In addition to base pay, we offer a performance-driven annual bonus or commission. We provide all team members with additional benefits, which reflect our values and ideals. We balance our programs to meet local needs and ensure fairness globally.

• Distributed work environment with twice-yearly team sprints in person
• Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year
• Annual compensation review
• Recognition rewards
• Annual holiday leave
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues
• Priority Pass, and travel upgrades for long haul company events

About Canonical

Canonical is a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global move to open source. As the company that publishes Ubuntu, one of the most important open source projects and the platform for AI, IoT and the cloud, we are changing the world of software. We recruit on a global basis and set a very high standard for people joining the company. We expect excellence - in order to succeed, we need to be the best at what we do. Most colleagues at Canonical have worked from home since its inception in 2004.​ Working here is a step into the future, and will challenge you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and raise your game.

Canonical is an equal opportunity employer

We are proud to foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and background create a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.

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