Financial Reporting Specialist

Application open:

Full-time

Job purpose:

The reporting specialist supports the head of financial performance analytics and reporting in delivering a single, trusted view of the university’s financial performance. The role is the hands-on engine of the financial performance management (FPM) capability: building and maintaining the recurring reporting suite for university operations, preparing executive-ready analysis and presentations, and supporting budgeting, forecasting, and cash call processes. The individual is expected to be highly comfortable manipulating, reconciling, and quality-assuring large and complex datasets drawn from multiple source systems. Beyond technical accuracy, the reporting specialist should be proficient in financial storytelling: translating detailed financial data into concise, visually compelling narratives that enable the executive team, board committees, and academic and administrative leaders to make informed, evidence-based decisions.

Key responsibilities:

Support to the head of financial performance analytics and reporting

Act as the primary day-to-day support to the head of financial performance analytics and reporting, delivering the recurring and ad hoc reporting, analysis, and presentation requirements of the function.

Prepare first drafts of monthly, quarterly, and annual financial performance reports, scorecards, and board and executive packs for review.

Research, prepare, and quality-check supporting schedules, appendices, and briefing notes required for management meetings.

Budgeting & forecasting support

Assist the FP&A team in the preparation, consolidation, and validation of the annual budget and periodic reforecasts for university operations.

Consolidate departmental submissions, check them against approved assumptions, cost drivers, and allocation models, and highlight anomalies or gaps for review.

Load, validate, and reconcile budget and forecast versions in the planning system, maintaining clear version control and audit trails.

Produce budget versus actual versus forecast analysis, identify key variances and drivers, and prepare clear written commentary for management.

Financial storytelling & executive presentations

Translate complex financial results into clear, concise performance narratives that explain what happened, why it happened, and what it means for decisions ahead.

Design and produce high-quality, executive-ready presentations using PowerPoint and think-cell.

Select the most effective visualization for each message — waterfalls, bridges, and variance charts.

Tailor content and level of detail to the audience, from executive team and board committees through to non-financial academic and operational stakeholders.

Cash call requests – university operations & university projects

Prepare and review periodic cash call requests covering both university operations and university projects, in line with approved budgets, funding agreements, and governance requirements.

Build and maintain the supporting cash flow forecasts, phasing schedules, and justification packs that underpin each cash call request.

Reconcile funds requested, funds received, and actual expenditure; track balances, utilization, and explain movements and timing differences.

Analysis, insight & continuous improvement

Perform variance, trend, ratio, and sensitivity analysis across manpower, OPEX, and CAPEX, translating findings into actionable insight.

Respond to ad hoc analytical requests from FP&A leadership and stakeholders with accurate, well-documented outputs.

Identify and implement opportunities to improve the speed, accuracy, and usefulness of reporting, including IT- and AI-enabled process improvements.

Other duties

Carry out all other duties as reasonably directed by the line manager that are commensurate with these functional objectives.

Qualifications and criteria:

A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, business analytics, or a related discipline.

A postgraduate degree and/or a professional qualification (e.g., CFA, CPA, ACCA, CIMA) will be preferred.

Essential:

Minimum of 8 years of relevant experience in financial reporting, financial planning and analysis, or financial performance analytics.

Demonstrated experience producing recurring management reporting packs and executive-level presentations.

Hands-on experience supporting budgeting and forecasting cycles, including template preparation, consolidation, and variance analysis.

Proven ability to work with large, complex datasets from multiple source systems, with strong reconciliation and data quality discipline.

Advanced Microsoft Excel skills (complex formulas, pivot tables, Power Query, large-volume data handling).

Advanced proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint and think-cell to produce executive-grade charts and presentations.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with high attention to detail and accuracy.

Ability to translate financial results into clear, concise narratives for financial and non-financial audiences.

Proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).

English working proficiency.

Preferred:

Experience with Oracle EPM (EPBCS/PBCS), or a comparable budgeting and long-range planning platform will be a distinct added advantage.

Experience with enterprise analytics and dashboarding tools such as Power BI or Tableau. Working knowledge of SQL or equivalent data querying capability.

Exposure to AI, automation, or advanced analytics applied to FP&A and reporting processes.