FP&A Manager – Local 

The overall purpose of the role is as follows:

• Key member of the EMEA Central FP&A team, providing support to the EMEA FP&A Director, the GWS FP&A team and key business group directors (MD and FD) including annual budgeting, quarterly forecasting, delivering of month end reports, and insight and analysis into the performance of the business from a P&L, Cashflow and Balance sheet perspective.

• This individual is expected to support and deliver on the FP&A strategy for the GWS EMEA business encompassing internal, corporate and client reporting requirements. Primary focus for this role will be Local UK.

• Build strong and effective relationships within the Local UK business as well as with the US/Corporate and GWS FP&A teams.

• Support the accurate forecasting and budgeting of operations teams with detailed modelling, validation of assumptions and constructive challenge.

• Driving continuous improvement initiatives in reporting, planning and analysis; encourage the use of Power BI and other CBRE platform tools to drive efficiency and free resource to focus on value-add activities.

• Drive change and introduce reporting where there are known gaps, for example working capital and cash flow.

Key Tasks:

Monthly / Quarterly reporting

-       Support the Local UK FD in providing monthly P&L, cash flow and balance sheet reporting across the division, from pre-close flash through to delivery of final month end results, including provision of insightful commentary, bridges & financial analysis of key performance drivers.

-       Work with the Local UK FD and Divisional FDs to understand division performance and produce clear Management Information for the Business and Senior Leadership teams.

-       Work with Divisional FDs to produce monthly forecasts; challenge forecast assumptions with fact-based observations and identify risks and opportunities in forward projections.

-       Support the UK FD to ensure alignment with US Corporate team and GWS FP&A team in relation to monthly and quarterly Corporate reporting deliverables, including communication with Divisional finance teams to deliver on requests and requirements.

-       Through effective business partnering, support the continued development of MI and provision of value-add analysis, leveraging Power BI and other CBRE platform tools.

-       Act as the interface between US Corporate (Global FP&A, GWS FP&A) and the business to ensure divisional results and forecasts are understood and supported by insightful analysis and commentary.

-       Partner with Controllership team to drive improvement in UK Local month end processes, improving the accuracy and timeliness of the month end close.

Annual Budget / Quarterly Forecasting

Manage the forward-looking planning process for UK Local, including budgeting, forecasting and associated analysis:

-       Work with Local UK FD to agree budget/forecast timelines, defining clearly what needs to be delivered and ensuring the timetable is aligned to the Corporate timetable.

-       Co-ordinate the Divisional budget/forecast reviews; consolidate budget/forecast proposals and support the Local UK FD in producing the necessary analysis/commentary to present the Local UK budget/forecast to the Global Local CFO.

-       Work with Local UK FD and Divisional FDs to build explanations of budget / forecast variances to prior year, last forecast and budget, with clear and succinct presentation (e.g. using bridges / waterfalls) to ensure that all Group requirements are met.

-       Review and challenge key assumptions made by the businesses and ensure that the financial projections and associated assumptions are aligned to the Group financial and operational targets.

-       Co-ordinate final budget/forecast loads into TM1 and ensure data is consistent with the approved final position.

-       Support Local UK FD in preparing for Divisional budget/forecast reviews.

Ad hoc analysis and project work

-       Manage significant volume of ad-hoc analytical requests from multiple stakeholders including the GWS FP&A team, GWS EMEA FP&A Director, Local UK MD and FD.

-       Deliver responses to ad-hoc requests in a format tailored to the stakeholder.

Systems / Process improvement

-       Support the systems team in developing and maintaining the forecast and budget models.

-       Assist the system team in developing and testing the budget model by capturing business requirements and ensuring that these are clearly communicated, implemented and tested prior to release.

-       Share regular updates with the business on developments in the Power BI reporting packs, train the business teams and demonstrate the capabilities of Power BI.  Gather feedback from the business on developments that would be useful to them and work with technical team to get these changes built.

-       Communicate all changes in systems and reporting tools to the business and train teams as appropriate.  

Success Criteria

• Strong and successful relationship with the EMEA FP&A and GWS FP&A teams, being a key member of the team and contributing to the FP&A strategy and vision
• Strong and successful relationship with the Local UK FD / Divisional FDs
• Detailed understanding of the Local UK operational and business model
• High quality monthly financial reporting, including value-added commentary and insight, delivered timely and accurately to GWS FP&A and Local UK FD.
• Corporate requirements delivered on time and to a high standard.
• Driving continuous improvement initiatives in reporting, planning and analysis; encourage the use of Power BI and other CBRE platform tools to drive efficiency and free resource to focus on value-add activities.
• Quarterly forecast/annual budget (including associated analysis and presentations) delivered on schedule and to high standard. Appropriate level of challenge on the forecasts / budgets, to improve forecast accuracy.
• Ad hoc queries dealt with in a timely manner and to the required standards, with stakeholder expectations managed accordingly.
• Strong knowledge of corporate tools and ability to use them effectively and promote usage with the businesses (e.g. TM1/Power BI)

Experience:

·       3 to 5 years PQE

·       Demonstrable experience of business partnering with senior directors

• Proven track record of reporting with TM1/ PeopleSoft / Power BI or similar tools
• Proven experience of analysing large data sets, identifying key trends and communicating findings to senior management in a concise and understandable manner
• Proven experience of applying appropriate challenge to business forecasts and budgets using typical FP&A skills and techniques
• Strong Excel skills required (“VLOOKUP’s”, “sumifs”, pivot tables, macros).