Financial Planning & Analysis Analyst

The Francis Crick Institute (the Crick) is a partnership between the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK (CRUK), the Wellcome Trust, University College London (UCL), Imperial College London and King’s College London. It is a registered charity whose purpose is to conduct biomedical research into all aspects of human health and disease.

ROLE SUMMARY

The Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Analyst reports into the FP&A Manager and supports business partnering with the Operations functions. These comprise but are not limited to the ~12 directorates (e.g. HR, Legal, Communications) that collaborate with and support the ~120 Research Groups at the Francis Crick Institute (“the Crick”).

This is an exciting time for Operations as a new seven-year funding plan, totalling £1bn in core funding, enables the Crick the long-term planning of change projects to support the world class science within the organisation.

Along with traditional business partnering responsibilities, the roleholder will lead on the development and improvement of the Crick’s budgeting, and performance monitoring of the directorates.

With support from the FP&A Manager in business partnering with Operations, the roleholder will also work across the ~£20m capital expenditure portfolio and assist in building out financial processes to monitor and administer the growing Philanthropy income stream. It is expected that, based on a track record of high performance, these responsibilities will increase over time as part of the FP&A team’s commitment to develop staff by providing a varied and challenging portfolio of work.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

These include but are not limited to:

• Support the annual budget and quarterly forecasting processes, partnering with budget holders to deliver in completion and to deadline. Partner with the Operations directorates on a proactive basis. [approx. 30%]

• Assist in the build out of finance processes to support the expanding Philanthropy team and income stream, from gift agreement approval to receipt of cash and recognition of income and costs. [approx. 30%]

• Support the capital expenditure process, reviewing business cases to ensure they are robust and tracking spend vs budget. Working cross-functionally with other Finance Heads including Operations and Control and Sourcing to ensure value for money and adherence with Crick strategy. [approx. 20%]

• Ad hoc responsibilities and projects as required by management, funders and other stakeholders, as directed by the FP&A Manager for Operations and Head of FP&A and dependent on team workload and priorities. [approx. 20%]

KEY EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES

The roleholder should embody and demonstrate our core Crick values: bold, imaginative, open, dynamic and collegial. The following qualities, experience and competencies are also essential or desirable:

Essential

• Studying towards professional accountancy membership (ACCA/ACA/CIMA).

• Ability to extract, manipulate and model financial data to perform analysis and draw conclusions.

• Ability to communicate financial information and best practice to non-finance managers and directors.

• Excellent attention to detail, with a drive to improve financial processes wherever possible.

• Ability to work flexibly with others and contribute effectively across a broad range of activities and projects, prioritising work and managing deadlines.

• Strong working knowledge of finance systems and Microsoft Office applications.

• Living within commutable distance to the Crick’s award-wining building.

Desirable

• Experience working in a diverse, dynamic and complex organisation.

• Hands-on planning and analysis experience with familiarity with a range of reporting and ERP systems, including Workday.

• Experience writing reports and preparing data to drive reviews and decisions at a senior level within an organisation.

• An interest in natural science.

• Experience of working in a research environment.

Benefits

The Crick prides itself on being a dynamic and inclusive place to work. The successful applicant will be able to access the following benefits:

• Competitive salary package with pension contribution up to 16%.

• Brand new, state-of-the-art offices with a fun and engaging culture.

• 39 days off (28 days holiday + 8 bank holidays + additional 3 days over Christmas/New Year).

• Wide-range of Crick training courses available.

• Life insurance cover of 4x salary.

• Annual travel season ticket loan.

• Subsidised canteen and coffee shop.

• Herman Miller chair and a choice of hardware/OS.

• Join in with Crickster quizzes, 5-a-side football, and much more.