Director FP&A

Follett Higher Education • Westchester, IL

2h

About The Position

Follett Higher Education is a leading educational service provider and
omnichannel retailer, providing students, faculty, staff, parents, and fans with
the course materials, learning tools, and retail services needed to successfully
support the collegiate journey. Follett Higher Education supports over 6 million
students through its 1,100 physical and 1,750 eCommerce campus stores across
North America.

The Director of FP&A (Financial Planning & Analysis)
will manage individual
contributor(s) within Finance. Work collaboratively with the Merchandising and
Stores teams, focusing on support of strategic decisions, measuring and defining
financial success, and interpreting and communicating results and strategies.
Successful candidates will have FP&A Retail Finance experience, strong verbal
and written communication skills, curiosity to investigate issues and
opportunities, and an eagerness to solve problems. Under the direction of the
VP, FP&A, the individual will cooperatively work across the team on the overall
planning, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of the financial performance for
the company. This involves developing and managing financial analysis
procedures, as well as identifying and prioritizing recommended actions.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance
• 7+ years of Retail Finance experience, preferably brick and mortar as well as online.
• Comparable sales vs. same stores and days required.
• Experience analyzing retail margin components (volume, rate, mix, markdowns) in addition to fixed and variable operating expenses.
• Excellent analytical and interpersonal skills.
• Prior experience within FP&A, including modeling and budgeting.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams/projects to a successful conclusion.
• Proficient knowledge of US GAAP, FASB ASC.
• Ability to work collaboratively with all levels of employees, management, and outside parties to maximize performance, creativity, problem-solving, and results.

Nice To Haves

• MBA preferred.
• Experience with inventory management and vendor negotiations/relations is a plus.
• Experience managing channel/route to market and product lines.
• Balance Sheet and Cash Flow experience is an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Work collaboratively with key internal stakeholders, including the Chief Merchandising Office & Chief Stores Officer (and associated teams), and serve as a trusted ally on strategic planning, budget, forecast, and other financial initiatives.
• Create and maintain financial models used to evaluate performance across the Merchandising and E-commerce teams, especially as it relates to sales channels and margin components.
• Support narrative reporting and market research regarding the annual budget and strategic plan.
• Prepare dashboards, reports, and ad-hoc data requests that provide accurate and meaningful information to enable evidence-based decisions.
• Understand Follett's business model such that commentary on results contextualizes data with business outcomes.
• Prepare executive quality presentations for the Board of Directors.
• Provide leadership and mentorship across FP&A and other Finance areas on recurring duties and special projects as needed.
• Support VP, FP&A, providing insights to influence decisions and drive outcomes that increase value for Follett and our customers.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees