Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Manager

Essense of Australia•Lenexa, KS

About The Position

Essense of Australia is an international bridal wholesaler with key offices in Lenexa, Kansas; Perth, Australia; and Zug, Switzerland, and operations in the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, and New Zealand. Its designs are sold in nearly 1,000 stores worldwide. The FP&A Manager is an experienced, self-directed finance professional who develops financial analysis and recommendations to support decisions across the organization. The role partners with leaders and teams to build transparent, dynamic analysis, improve reporting and planning workflows, and identify opportunities, risks, and business impacts. The position reports to the Director, FP&A. The role uses Excel, Qlik, NetSuite, NetSuite Planning & Budgeting (NSPB), and AI-enabled tools. The successful candidate will explore and apply emerging technologies responsibly to analyze data, automate repetitive work, and strengthen Finance’s strategic analysis and business partnership. Experience with NetSuite, NSPB, and Qlik is preferred; experience with other BI platforms is welcome. The company describes itself as a fast-growing global team and offers an opportunity to join an international industry leader in a creative, collaborative culture that promotes teamwork and embraces sustainability. It offers competitive salaries, a comprehensive benefits package, and significant opportunity for exceptional team members to grow as the company expands.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, or Accounting required.
7+ years of experience in financial analysis, budgeting, or planning preferred, with hands-on experience in annual planning and forecasting, budget management, financial reporting, and BI data analysis tools.
Strong business acumen, ability to recognize and analyze changes in business impact, and proven problem-solving skills.
Expert-level Excel skills and strong working knowledge of other Microsoft Office tools.
ERP experience and understanding of relational databases, with ability to learn new systems quickly.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including comfort presenting to executives.
Curiosity and enthusiasm for AI and emerging technologies, with judgment to apply them responsibly and validate their output.
Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
Self-directed approach and a track record of managing work independently.
Ability to handle confidential financial information with discretion and integrity.
Leadership ability and willingness to lead and manage others as the role evolves.
Commitment to building strong departmental processes and procedures that support scalability as the company grows.

Nice To Haves

MBA or related advanced degree.
Experience with NetSuite and NetSuite Planning & Budgeting (NSPB).
Qlik experience; experience with other BI platforms is also valued.
Hands-on experience using AI tools or automation to improve finance and analytics workflows.
Multi-entity or international finance experience.
Background in retail, wholesale, or consumer products.

Responsibilities

Develop, implement, and maintain financial models, reporting, and ad hoc analysis to support timely business decisions.
Analyze operating expenses and their relationship to sales; sales and gross margin by country and label; components of cost of goods sold; and the financial impact of proposed business initiatives.
Present findings and recommended areas of improvement to management.
Build a comprehensive understanding of the organization and the cross-functional factors that drive results.
Create custom financial reporting and Qlik dashboards for decision-makers.
Use Excel and accounting-system knowledge to aggregate, interpret, and summarize data, including action-oriented summaries and ROI analysis.
Design flexible analysis with adjustable variables for what-if scenarios and sensitivity testing.
Automate recurring reporting to reduce manual effort and deliver insights faster.
Partner with the Director, FP&A and other FP&A team members to manage assigned budget and forecast components, including the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, and bank covenants.
Evaluate opportunities, risks, project-spend ROI, and efficiency, with a strong understanding of sales, expenses, and inventory.
Support the rolling forecast with accurate forecasts that account for all elements of the business.
Continuously improve budgeting and forecasting workflows through automation.
Identify, test, and implement new technologies and AI-enabled workflows that streamline processes and strengthen FP&A.
Share learnings with the team and help build repeatable, scalable ways of working.
Support special projects and contribute to a collaborative team culture.