Financial Analyst - Operations

Job Purpose Summary

CMS Distribution is one of Europe’s leading specialist technology distributors, delivering growth and value across multiple international markets.

We are seeking an ambitious and commercially minded Financial Analyst to join our finance team. This role will support financial planning, forecasting, reporting and commercial decision-making across the business, providing insight and analysis that helps drive performance and supports strategic objectives.

The successful candidate will be a proactive self-starter with strong analytical skills, a passion for data and financial modelling, and the ability to communicate insights clearly to both finance and non-finance stakeholders.

Working closely with senior leaders across Finance, Sales, Operations and Supply Chain, the role offers significant exposure to key decision-makers and the opportunity to develop strong commercial, analytical and business partnering skills within a growing international organisation.

Based in our Kiltimagh office, the successful candidate will benefit from a competitive package including pension, healthcare and additional annual leave linked to length of service.

This role provides an excellent opportunity for the right ambitious, curious, analytical candidate to work in a dynamic fast paced environment working with key decision makers and become a trusted advisor to the business leaders.

Role Responsibilities

• Forecasting and Budgeting – Take ownership of key elements of the group financial forecasting models in Prophix, ensuring assumptions are robust, transparent, and aligned with business drivers. Partner with business leaders to challenge inputs and improve forecast accuracy. Continue to build out the current forecasting functionality to deliver more accurate and timely forecasts to business leaders.
• Forecasting, Analytics & Modelling – Support the development and enhancement of forecasting, analytical and predictive models that deliver actionable business insights, collaborating with finance, data and technology colleagues to improve business outcomes.
• Performance Analysis & Influence – Help to deliver clear and impactful analysis of actuals vs budgets, forecasts, and historical performance. Provide recommendations to senior leadership, influencing both tactical and strategic decision-making.
• Commercial Decision Support – Support pricing analysis, customer profitability reviews, sales performance evaluation and scenario modelling to inform commercial strategy and business decisions. Build knowledge of industry trends, customer economics and market dynamics to provide proactive insight into risks and opportunities.
• Working Capital, Inventory & Margin Analysis – Analyse key working capital drivers including inventory, debtors, creditors and cash conversion. Monitor stock turns, margin performance and product profitability, identifying opportunities to improve cash flow and commercial performance.
• Business Partnering – Build effective relationships across Finance, Sales, Operations and Supply Chain, acting as a trusted business partner to support decision-making and improve business performance.
• Sales Target Setting & Management – Support the target-setting process and ongoing target maintenance, working closely with sales leaders and sales teams across the group.
• Reporting & Analytics – Lead the production of the Group KBI report and the Sales League, as well as other high-impact management reports. Continuously improve reporting processes to highlight trends, improve visibility, and enhance decision-making.
• Strategic Projects & Ad Hoc Analysis – Work in collaboration with the Senior Leadership Team on specific high-impact projects and ad hoc financial analysis.
• Sales Results Accountability – Take full responsibility for the accuracy and timely close of weekly and monthly sales and gross profit reporting as part of the month-end process.
• Systems - Identify opportunities to use automation, AI and advanced analytics to improve the speed, accuracy and impact of commercial insight.

Additional Responsibilities

Skills & Personal Attributes

Key Traits

• BA (Hons) Degree relevant to Finance. Part-qualified ACA, ACCA, CIMA (or equivalent), or actively pursuing a professional accountancy qualification.
• Minimum 2 years’ experience in a finance, financial analysis, FP&A, or commercial finance role.
• Strong understanding of P&L, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow, with experience in planning, budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis, and the ability to link financial data to business performance.
• High proficiency with Microsoft Office is essential, with advanced Excel skills and strong financial modelling capability a key requirement.
• Hands-on experience with financial models, data analytics, and reporting tools, with experience using Power BI, Prophix and SAP beneficial but not essential. Ability to use data visualisation tools to deliver actionable business insights would be advantageous.
• A focus on continuous improvement, automation, AI and process optimisation, with the ability to identify opportunities to improve reporting efficiency, accuracy and scalability.
• Proactive and analytical, with strong problem-solving skills, a high level of accuracy, and meticulous attention to detail in all financial outputs.
• Excellent communication, presentation and business partnering skills, with the ability to translate complex financial information into clear commercial insights for senior stakeholders.
• Strong commercial acumen, stakeholder management skills and the confidence to challenge assumptions and influence decision-making.
• Proven ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple priorities and stakeholders across functions.
• High standards of integrity, discretion and professional judgement when handling sensitive financial and commercial information.