Financial Analyst - Capital Planning

West Fraser•Cordova, TN

About The Position

The Financial Analyst supports capital planning and investment decisions while driving continuous improvement, reporting innovation, and process efficiencies across the organization. The role partners with mill operations leaders and cross-functional teams to manage capital project portfolios, monitor project performance, analyze spending, and communicate risks, trends, and recommendations to stakeholders. The position develops and improves capital reporting, including monthly reporting packages, major project analysis, executive summaries, KPI reporting, and management presentations. It also supports project evaluation, business cases, budgeting, forecasting, payback analyses, post-implementation reviews, long-range capital planning, and month-end close activities. The analyst serves as the Smartsheet Subject Matter Expert and helps maintain the Approved for Expenditure (AFE) process, project documentation, governance, accounting classifications, and internal-control compliance. The successful candidate will work independently, manage multiple priorities, build relationships with technical and non-technical stakeholders, and help improve reporting, planning, forecasting, and capital management processes. West Fraser describes its environment as challenging and stable, with a strong focus on safety, internal promotion, training, and career development.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Engineering, or a related field.
At least 3 years of experience in financial analysis, capital planning, project controls, project accounting, or a related discipline.
Strong understanding of accounting principles, financial processes, internal controls, and capital investment analysis.
Strong skills in using and learning technologies and tools related to finance, project management, reporting, and analytics.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills, including the ability to translate complex data into meaningful business insights.
Ability to work independently, manage ambiguity, and drive initiatives with limited direction.
Ability to build relationships and communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Excellent organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including presenting findings and recommendations to leadership.
High proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel and PowerPoint.

Nice To Haves

Experience creating dashboards, automating reporting, or delivering business intelligence solutions using Power BI or similar tools.
Experience identifying and implementing process improvements, automation opportunities, and reporting enhancements.
Experience with Oracle EBS, Smartsheet, enterprise project management systems, and business intelligence or reporting tools such as Power BI.

Responsibilities

Partner with mill operations leaders to manage capital project portfolios, maintain project data integrity, and provide visibility into project status, risks, and opportunities.
Collaborate with project managers, procurement, construction, engineering, and planning teams to monitor project progress, actual costs, forecasts, and scope changes throughout the project lifecycle.
Analyze capital spending performance, budget-to-forecast variances, and key cost drivers.
Communicate trends, risks, and recommendations to operations leadership, project teams, and finance stakeholders.
Develop and enhance reporting processes for capital project performance and portfolio management.
Drive reporting improvements through automation, data analysis, and scalable solutions.
Partner with stakeholders to identify reporting needs, translate business requirements into analytics, and improve reporting capabilities and user experience.
Produce monthly capital reporting packages, including major project analysis, executive summaries, KPI reporting, and management presentations.
Support capital project evaluation, business case development, budgeting, forecasting, and payback analyses.
Facilitate post-implementation reviews to evaluate project effectiveness, measure expected returns, and capture lessons learned.
Serve as the Smartsheet Subject Matter Expert, supporting project tracking, workflow optimization, and process standardization.
Provide guidance on capital versus expense classifications and ensure compliance with accounting policies and internal controls.
Maintain and continuously improve the Approved for Expenditure (AFE) process, documentation, and governance requirements.
Support month-end close activities with Accounting and Finance teams to ensure accurate and timely project-related accounting and reporting.
Support long-range capital plans through data analysis, scenario modeling, and collaboration with operational leaders.
Lead or participate in continuous improvement initiatives for reporting, planning, forecasting, and capital management processes.
Complete special projects and other duties as assigned.