Sr. Consultant, Budget Analysis

Lincoln Financial•Papillion, NE

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

As a Sr. Consultant, Budget Analysis, you will be a key member of the Budgeting and Expense Management team, supporting enterprise and business unit expenses. You will prepare, analyze, and communicate budgeted, forecasted, and actual financial results for your assigned areas, providing senior leadership with clear financial insights to inform decision-making. This role partners closely with business leaders and Finance, offers high visibility across the organization, and plays a critical role in ensuring transparency, accuracy, and adherence to financial guidelines.

Requirements

5–7+ years of experience in accounting, finance, or financial analysis directly aligned with budget analysis, forecasting, and expense management.
Bachelor’s degree (or 4 years of equivalent work experience in lieu of a degree).
Strong analytical skills with the ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw sound conclusions.
High proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, with the ability to present financial information clearly and confidently.
Confident, effective communicator with strong written, verbal, and presentation skills; able to influence at all levels of management.
Proven relationship management skills with internal clients, including senior leaders, peers, and cross-functional partners.
Ability to apply financial and mathematical concepts such as variances, averages, ratios, statistics, and modeling to practical business solutions.
Willingness to travel up to 10%.

Nice To Haves

Anaplan experience (strongly preferred).
Experience with Tableau and/or Power BI.
Experience leveraging AI-enabled tools to build dashboards, analyze trends, and generate insights.
Background supporting enterprise-level or multi-business-line expense management initiatives.

Responsibilities

Lead budget management for assigned areas, including budgeting, forecasting, expense tracking, reporting, and advanced analytics tied to business activity and initiatives.
Prepare, analyze, and clearly communicate monthly financial results, including expense trends, variance explanations, accruals, and headcount forecasts.
Advise senior leaders on budget development, financial planning, and stewardship of expenditures in alignment with business objectives and corporate guidelines.
Develop detailed financial analyses and reports that translate complex financial data into clear, actionable insights for business owners and leadership.
Collaborate closely with internal Finance partners and business stakeholders to ensure accurate budget allocation, forecasting, and reporting.
Monitor and analyze expenses on a monthly basis to identify complex trends, risks, and opportunities to optimize spend and deliver on savings commitments.
Partner with stakeholders to develop monthly forecast updates and advise on opportunities to leverage spend for optimal business outcomes.
Provide subject matter expertise and strategic financial guidance on complex assignments, projects, and enterprise initiatives.
Develop metrics and cost-benefit analyses to measure performance, track outcomes, and support decision-making for key initiatives.
Identify, plan, and implement process improvements that enhance budget management efficiency, quality, and transparency across the team and business.
Maintain awareness of emerging trends, tools, and best practices in budgeting, expense management, and analytics, and incorporate them into current and future solutions.
Positively influence and support change management and enterprise initiatives through strong partnership, communication, and thought leadership.