Job Description

Established in 1981 with a single store in the Northwest of England, the JD Group is a leading omni-channel retailer of Sports Fashion, Outdoors and Gyms with our colleagues working in stores across several retail fascias in many markets around the world.

JD Sports Fashion Plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996 and has been a FTSE100 publicly quoted company since 2019 and continues to grow in the UK and internationally.

We want to be the leading global omnichannel retailer in the sports and outdoor industry. To be a part of this successful company and help us to achieve this you will have the desire to ingrain our strategic goals of being a people-led, innovative and customer-focused organisation which provides operational excellence whilst identifying new areas of growth as part of our day to day objectives.

Senior Commercial Finance Analyst – Business Partnering

Reporting to: Finance Business Partner
Department: Commercial Finance
Location: JD Sports Fashion PLC, Edinburgh House, Hollinsbrook Way,

Pilsworth, Bury, BL9 8RR

JD Group is a leading global omnichannel retailer of sports fashion and outdoor brands. As well as consistently delivering growth and scale, JD is currently undergoing a period of transformation. We are looking for a Senior Commercial Finance Analyst to help support the Finance Business Partner Function (FBP).

As the Senior Commercial Finance Analyst, you will work closely with the Finance Business Partner, acting as their direct support across all commercial finance activities. You will develop strong relationships with stakeholders to support and challenge key decisions across investment appraisal, financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, project governance and ad hoc analysis as required.

Key Duties/Responsibilities:
• Preparation and review of investment and commercial business cases, including Income Statement performance and return on investment measures, for presentation at relevant governance and approval forums.
• Provide performance data and analytics to support strategic commercial decision making.
• Developing and introducing a monthly KPI reporting pack to support senior stakeholders with improved visibility of financial and commercial performance.
• Providing clear, concise reporting to the Finance Business Partner and relevant senior stakeholders.
• Supporting with the annual budgeting process and quarterly forecasting for the relevant cost centre or business areas.
• Supporting with the preparation of Quarterly Business Reviews and Annual Budget decks.
• Financial support to the relevant Senior Commercial Finance stakeholders, providing clear and concise insight into the cost base, including staff costs and overheads.
• Supporting Procurement on cost saving initiatives, including analysis of new contracts, rebates, and commercial terms to deliver sustainable financial benefits.
• Chairing regular meetings with the Reporting team to review month end performance, understand spend drivers, identify underlying issues and provide appropriate financial challenge.
• Ownership and oversight of the Purchase Order (PO) process, including management of approval hierarchies, ensuring appropriate financial controls, governance compliance and timely approvals.
• Ad hoc Finance tasks and project work as required.

Skills/Experience/Knowledge needed:

• CIMA / ACCA / ACA Part-Qualified Accountant
• Experience of business partnering advantageous, including providing constructive challenge and making value adding recommendations.
• Proven experience of delivering data-driven insights to support decision-making.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate financial information for non-finance stakeholders.
• Ability to communicate effectively with non-financial colleagues and collaborate across multiple business functions
• Strong analytical skills required to investigate, understand, and explain financial and operational performance.
• Ability to form strong working relationships at all levels of the organisation.
• Self-motivated, with the ability to work under own initiative.
• Strong time management skills, with the ability to prioritise workloads and meet competing deadlines.
• Advanced Excel skills essential; experience with Oracle, TM1 & Power BI advantageous but not essential.
• Excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and to tight deadlines.
• Positive, flexible, enthusiastic, and driven approach.

We know our colleagues work tirelessly to make JD Sports the success it is today and in turn, we offer them some amazing benefits including staff Discount On JD Group and other brands within the organisation and personal development opportunities to learn and develop at work.

Thank you for your time

#JD