FP&A Business Partner (Commercial) - 12m FTC

JMAN Group is a fast-growing data engineering & data science consultancy. We work primarily with Private Equity Funds and their Portfolio Companies to create commercial value using Data & Artificial Intelligence. In addition, we also work with growth businesses, large corporates, multinationals, and charities.

We are headquartered in London with Offices in New York, London and Chennai. Our team of over 600 people is a unique blend of individuals with skills across commercial consulting, data science and software engineering.

We were founded by cousins Anush Newman (Co-founder & CEO) and Leo Valan (Co-founder & CTO) and have grown rapidly since 2019. In May 2023 we took a minority investment from Baird Capital and in January 2024 we opened an office in New York with the ambition of growing our US business to be as large as, if not bigger than, our European business by 2027.

Position:

This is a 12-month fixed term contract, deliberately structured to bring experienced commercial finance capability into JMAN Group at a critical point in its growth. The purpose of this role is twofold:

• To establish a best-in-class commercial business partnering model (developing on what is already in place) across all five commercial business units from day one.
• To leave behind the frameworks, ways of working, and institutional knowledge that will make the permanent structure, whatever form it takes, immediately effective.

What this role is – and isn’t:

This role is the Finance voice in commercial conversations across all five business units. The FP&A Manager – Revenue, Compliance & Systems (FP&A Manager-RCS), owns the integrity of the underlying data, systems, and revenue analysis that powers those conversations. Both roles report to the Head of FP&A and are essential and complementary.

You will not own revenue recognition, ERP configuration, or audit relationships — those sit with the FP&A Manager-RCS, who provides the analytical foundation your business unit conversations are built on. Your role is to be the Finance voice in those conversations — prepared, credible, and commercially sharp — and to own the Finance relationship and all Finance follow-up with each business unit. Your focus is on being genuinely embedded across all five business units: helping business unit leads understand their performance, forecast with confidence, and make smarter commercial decisions. When data quality issues arise, you escalate to the FP&A Manager-RCS rather than resolving them yourself.

We’re looking for someone who has done this before — an experienced commercial finance professional who can hit the ground running, build trusted relationships with business unit leads quickly, and bring the confidence and credibility that comes from having operated at this level in a comparable business. You will work closely with the Head of FP&A and the FP&A Manager-RCS, and your experience will actively shape how this function develops. This role reports to the Head of FP&A and works in close support of the Commercial Partner.

The revenue data and system infrastructure you rely on is owned by the FP&A Manager-RCS. Your role is to use that foundation to drive commercial insight and action across all five business units.

Your key roles and responsibilities:

Dedicated business unit business partnering

• Act as the assigned Finance partner for specific business units, developing deep familiarity with their clients, project types, resource profiles, and commercial drivers.
• Attend key business unit meetings to understand the operational context behind financial performance — not just to report on it.
• Build trusted relationships with business unit leads so that Finance is consulted early on in commercial decisions, not informed after the fact.

Commercial driver analysis

• Go beyond P&L reporting to understand the commercial drivers behind each business unit’s performance: client mix, utilisation, rate realisation, project margin, revenue model, and pipeline conversion. This means being close enough to the business to understand what is happening and why — not just reporting after the fact.
• Identify and articulate the two or three key commercial levers for each business unit and track them consistently.
• Model the financial impact of resourcing, pricing, and delivery decisions to support business unit leads in evaluating options. Support the Head of FP&A and CFO with commercial questions on contracting and scoping — including margin analysis on new engagements, rate and pricing assumptions, and financial evaluation of contract terms.

Forecasting, budgeting, and reforecast cycle

• Partner with business unit leads and project managers to produce accurate, rolling forecasts at project and business unit level.
• Monitor project financial health proactively, flagging risks to margin or revenue recognition early enough for the business to act.
• Provide clean, timely forecast inputs and narrative commentary to support the monthly close cycle.
• Own the annual budget cycle end-to-end: coordinating inputs from business unit leads and Operations, consolidating assumptions, challenging submissions for commercial rigour, and delivering a final budget pack to the Head of FP&A and Commercial Partner on schedule.
• Lead the reforecast cycle, producing updated full-year projections at agreed intervals throughout the year. Ensure reforecasts reflect the latest commercial intelligence from business units, are clearly variance-explained against budget, and are delivered in a format suitable for board and PE sponsor reporting.
• Establish and maintain a repeatable, documented planning process so that budget and reforecast cycles become progressively smoother, faster, and more commercially grounded each year.

Business unit P&L reporting

• Own the ongoing production and continuous improvement of business unit P&L reporting for monthly management packs. The reporting format and templates are established — your role is to build on what is working, actively seek feedback from the Head of FP&A, Commercial Partner, and business unit leads, and iteratively sharpen the output so it becomes more useful and insight-driven over time.
• Present performance with clear narrative: what happened, why it happened, and what it means going forward.
• Work with the FP&A Manager-RCS to ensure the underlying data feeding business unit reports is accurate and consistently defined.

Timesheet and operational compliance

• Drive timesheet compliance within assigned business units through proactive engagement with leads and project managers.
• Produce and distribute weekly Timesheet Compliance & Accuracy Reports, escalating persistent issues through the appropriate channel.
• Connect compliance data to margin reporting so that business unit leads can see the direct financial impact of late or inaccurate timesheets.

Senior finance support

• Support the Head of FP&A and CFO with business unit-level input for board and investor reporting and commercial reviews.
• Flag emerging commercial risks or opportunities from business unit activity that warrant Head of FP&A or CFO attention.
• Contribute to cross-business unit analysis and benchmarking when requested by Finance leadership.

Requirements:

• Current right to work in the UK.
• 3-5 years relevant experience in commercial finance, FP&A, or business partnering, with a meaningful portion in a lead role.
• Ideally from consulting, professional services, or a PE-backed business and within a fast-paced and high-growth environment.
• Preferred qualifications: CIMA, ACCA or ACA
• Natural relationship-builder who earns trust quickly with non-finance stakeholders.
• Strong commercial instinct: able to identify what matters in a set of numbers and explain it clearly.
• Comfortable operating with autonomy within assigned business units while staying closely aligned with Finance leadership.
• Excellent communication skills — confident presenting to business unit leads and contributing to senior leadership discussions.
• Strong Excel skills essential. Power Query and BI tools highly desirable. Comfortable modelling.
• Proactive and solutions-oriented that brings answers, not just questions, and is willing to share experience openly to build capability in the team around them.
• Able to handle a broad range of tasks and prioritize effectively.
• Proactive and sees challenges as opportunities.
• Displays a high level of self-awareness and takes ownership for personal development.

Other information:

What we offer:

• JMAN offers hybrid working, with a minimum of 3 days in the office (EC3N)
• Discretionary bonus – based on personal and company performance
• 25 days annual leave + bank holidays
• Pension with a company contribution up to 8%
• Health Insurance from day 1
• Cycle to work scheme, after probation
• Life insurance and long-term disability insurance
• Market-leading parental leave policy
• Referral bonus for bringing in new JMAN hires
• Extensive training and coaching opportunities
• Regular company socials and retreats

JMAN is committed to equal employment opportunities. We are a diverse, high performing team and base all our employment decisions on merit, job requirements and business needs.