Lead Spend Analyst

UL Solutions•Northbrook, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Lead Spend Analyst is the hands-on engine behind data quality, automation, and insight generation for Sourcing & Real Estate. This role is responsible for assembling and maintaining the datasets that fuel budgeting, variance analysis, and accrual accuracy, while simultaneously leading the development of scalable analytics and automation solutions. You will act as a key partner to leadership, translating complex business needs into repeatable analytical frameworks that provide reliable, timely, and actionable visibility into spend and category performance. This is a full-time, hybrid (3 days on-site) position located at our Northbrook, IL or Chicago, IL office.

Requirements

3–6 years in spend/procurement analytics, business intelligence, FP&A, or accounting.
Strong Power BI and data modeling expertise.
Proficiency in Excel and data manipulation (SQL, Power Query, or Power Automate preferred).
Working knowledge of PO, supplier, contract, and space/real estate datasets.
Experience supporting procurement is required.
A "business owner" mindset with a focus on root-cause analysis and high attention to detail.
Ability to partner effectively with Finance, Sourcing, Real Estate, and IT to explain data-driven insights clearly.
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field, or an equivalent professional qualification (e.g., CPA, CMA, or CA), plus approximately eight years of directly related experience in a global, matrixed organization.
Superior quantitative and analytical capabilities, with advanced proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint.
Strong financial systems experience (e.g., HFM, CMR, SAP, or similar platforms).
Ability to combine quantitative and qualitative analysis; think critically; listen reflectively; consider multiple perspectives; recognize connections across disparate actions; and guide leadership decision-making.
Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to tailor messaging based on audience and situation.
Excellent negotiation and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to interact effectively with all levels of management, clients, and suppliers.
Ability to communicate effectively within a global team, with experience in a dynamic international environment and strong proficiency in English.
Strong technical skills in finance and accounting, including budgeting, cost control, variance analysis, and service/product line profitability.
Experience working within complex matrix organizations preferred.
Extensive knowledge of accounting, financial planning, reporting, and analysis, developed through progressively complex roles.
Advanced financial modeling skills, with a solid understanding of technical accounting and financial reporting principles.
Demonstrated ability to adapt to changing circumstances, embrace new ideas and initiatives, and effectively manage ambiguity.
Comfortable leading large business projects and supporting system-related initiatives.
Experience with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and integrations is a plus.
Knowledge of software business models is a plus.

Nice To Haves

Experience with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and integrations is a plus.
Knowledge of software business models is a plus.

Responsibilities

Prepare bottom-up budget inputs, including run rates, pipeline items, commitments, contract terms, and space metrics.
Manage templates, versions, and reconciliations while maintaining ongoing forecast updates.
Produce monthly actuals vs. budget and forecast vs. actuals packages, investigating drivers and flagging anomalies early.
Pull and reconcile data from ERP, PO, contract, GL, and space systems.
Ensure coding, definitions, and standards remain consistent, auditable, and business-relevant.
Maintain location counts and space/spend KPIs, keeping linkages between space data and financial/sourcing datasets current.
Support the development and day-to-day maintenance of dashboards for spend visibility, category performance, supplier metrics, and value tracking.
Translate business needs into scalable analytical and reporting solutions that support category strategy and commercial decision-making.
Develop repeatable analytical frameworks and data products to ensure consistent methodology across the organization.
Summarize complex results into clear, plain-language insights for stakeholders at all levels.
Identify and implement automation opportunities for recurring reports, manual data preparation, and repetitive analyses.
Drive the adoption of modern tools (e.g., Power BI, Power Query, Power Automate, and SQL) to streamline data workflows.
Standardize processes to improve cycle times for analytics requests and reduce manual reporting volume.
Support AI and advanced analytics pilots, specifically focusing on classification and anomaly detection.
Tie POs, invoices, contracts, and accruals together to maintain visibility and ensure audit-ready evidence for all reconciliations.
Build and maintain comprehensive process documents, desktop procedures, and metric definitions.