Job Purpose:
The Associate Head of Special Projects, Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) is the dedicated FP&A Business Partner for the Projects vertical working under the guidance of the Head of Financial Performance Analytics & Reporting. The role owns stakeholder relationships end-to-end and operates as an Advisor and Strategic Partner, combining operational understanding of stakeholders’ business and financial governance and rigor with strategic awareness of how decisions land at the institutional (central) level. The role leads planning, budgeting, forecasting, and performance management for the special projects vertical, and proactive in flagging material changes and cross-functional impacts, and brings a recommendation – not just the numbers.
Key Responsibilities:
Strategic Business Partnering & Insights
- Owns the FP&A relationship with Special Projects leadership end-to-end, acting as a financial planning advisor and strategic business partner who brings judgment and a recommendation to every conversation.
- Builds a deep operational understanding of the Special Project’s plans, programs, and commitments before engaging on the numbers, so that spend is forecasted from what is coming rather than recorded after the fact.
- Runs regular, scheduled stakeholder touchpoints focused on what is recurring, changing, what it means financially, and what decision is needed; flags material changes as they occur rather than at month-end.
- Applies a Problem → Analysis → Solution approach to every issue raised: defines the problem, models scenarios and options, and recommends a course of action with a clear financial impact.
- Identifies and flags cross-functional impacts – issues that extend beyond the vertical (e.g., other FP&A verticals, Finance and Treasury, Procurement, HR) – and coordinates with the relevant partners before the impact lands elsewhere.
- Leads the development of multi-year financial plans, models, scenarios, and 3–5 year pro formas for Special Projects priorities, new programs or initiatives, and strategic investments, supporting resource allocation and reallocation decisions.
Budgeting, Planning & Forecasting
- Leads the end-to-end annual and multi-year budgeting process covering OPEX, and CAPEX, coordinating templates, guidance, submissions, challenge, and consolidation into the institutional budget across both the Academic Year and Calendar Year cycles.
- Owns quarterly and rolling forecasts, forecasting with rigor rather than recording what has happened; delivers rolling forecast and flags variances beyond the agreed threshold early.
- Manages budget revisions, transfers, reallocations, and reserve draw requests using standardized forms and workflows; approves in-policy transfers independently and escalates anything outside policy.
- Monitors budget utilization, commitments, and funding availability across the vertical, identifying funding gaps, cost pressures, and efficiency opportunities, and recommending corrective actions.
- Contributes to the continuous refinement of planning assumptions, cost allocation models, forecasting approaches, and budget templates.
- Ensures compliance with institutional policies and FP&A governance practices, maintaining data integrity and quality assurance across all financial reporting outputs for the vertical.
Financial Analysis, Reporting & Decision Support
- Presents the vertical’s financials independently to stakeholders after each month-end close, including variance narratives, key financial drivers, and recommended actions.
- Leads the preparation of budget vs. actual and variance analyses, KPI and management dashboards, ad-hoc analysis, and benchmarking.
- Prepares, justifies, and presents financial recommendations to senior leadership and governance forums.
- Reviews and validates financial information before it is released, and oversees reporting standards, templates, dashboards, and data integrity across the vertical.
- Uses data analytics, automation, AI-enabled tools, and financial systems to improve reporting accuracy, efficiency, and decision support.
Other Duties
Carry out all other duties as reasonably directed by the line manager that are commensurate with these functional objectives.
Qualifications and Criteria:
- Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Accounting or a related field.
- A postgraduate qualification (e.g., MBA, CPA, ACCA, or CFA) is preferred.
Essential:
- Minimum of 7–10 years of progressive experience in financial planning and analysis, budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, business partnering, or related finance roles.
- Significant experience supporting Project office, or administrative service functions in higher education or other complex matrix organizations.
- Demonstrated expertise in strategic financial planning, multi-year budgeting, rolling forecasting, variance analysis, scenario analysis, and advanced financial modelling.
- Proven ability to operate as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders: translating complex financial information into clear insights, bringing recommendations rather than data alone, and presenting independently to senior leadership.
- Strong experience designing financial frameworks, governance standards, analytical methodologies, reporting templates, dashboards, and management reports.
- Advanced proficiency in ERP systems, budgeting and forecasting tools, Oracle Fusion/EPM, and data analytics tools.
- Strong understanding of financial governance, internal controls, budget compliance, reporting standards, and institutional policy requirements.
- Excellent communication, presentation, stakeholder management, influencing, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
- Ability to lead, mentor, and review the work of team members, with a high level of autonomy, judgment, accountability, and attention to detail.
- Proactive, ownership-oriented mindset: flags issues and cross-functional impacts early and escalates before surprises reach others.
Preferred:
- Experience in UAE higher education or academic environments, with an understanding of their unique budgeting challenges and needs.
- Knowledge of UAE financial policies and procedures.
- ERP implementation experience and working knowledge of finance and budgeting software.
- Experience in applying AI, automation, or advanced analytics in FP&A.
- Experience managing manpower and headcount planning, and running concurrent budget cycles (e.g., Academic Year and Calendar Year).