Senior Financial Planner & Business Partner

The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the international organization for public-private cooperation.

The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Why are we hiring?

The Forum is currently searching for a senior Financial Planner & Business Partner to join the Financial Planning, Performance & Partnering (FPP) function.

Reporting directly to the Head of FPP, and working closely together, this role will play an important part in providing best-in-class management reporting and decision support for the FPP function and internal customers.

Reporting lines and interactions.

The Senior Financial Planner & Business Partner will work closely with the Forum Centres and functions as a strategic business partner, driving value creation, strategy and contributing to the successful delivery of the Forum’s vision and mission.

The role involves actively participating in the Forum's planning, budgeting, forecasting, and performance analysis activities, while also providing decision-making support and engaging in business partnership efforts. Additionally, the role includes overseeing Managing Board reporting, Audit & Risk Committee reporting, Board of Trustees reporting, and other stakeholder reporting, both on a regular basis and as needed.

Main Responsibilities

Financial Planning:

• Partner with the Forum Centres and functions to develop and implement comprehensive financial strategies and plans aligned with the Forum’s objectives
• Drive the continuous improvement of financial planning, budgeting and forecasting processes to enhance agility, responsiveness and alignment with dynamic business needs, while ensuring robust financial controls
• Contribute to the review of existing planning and forecasting tools, develop and implement a systems strategy

Financial Performance

• Contribute to the monthly Managing Board report, regular Audit & Risk Committee reports and Board of Trustees reports, as well as other ad-hoc analysis and reporting as required by the CFO or organization stakeholders
• Provide clear variance analysis and reporting to budget owners and internal stakeholders, with proactive financial controlling follow up, anticipating the needs of internal customers
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of the management reporting process, Managing Board reports, Audit & Risk Committee reports and Board of Trustees reports

Partnering

• Develop robust working relationships with key stakeholders across the Forum’s Centres and functions, enhancing collaboration and partnership
• Develop role as ‘go-to’, trusted advisor, value-add, customer focused enabler and informed challenger

Innovation, Continuous Improvement And Control

• Encourage the use of financial technologies and innovative solutions, where appropriate, to enhance efficiency and effectiveness

Team Contribution

• Contribute and collaborate with other members of the Finance team to enhance positive team culture and behaviours, including respect, trust, integrity, diversity, openness and constructive conversations
• Contribute and enhance customer focused, service provider, change and continuous improvement mindset and behaviours

Requirements And Experience

• Degree certificate in relevant field
• Professional accounting qualification (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)
• 10+ years of professional experience in financial planning, performance and business partnering, preferably in a global company with international exposure
• Outstanding strategic thinking and practical problem-solving abilities, complemented by strong technical accounting skills and expertise in Financial Planning and Performance (FPP).
• Demonstrated track record in Financial Business Partnering, providing consistent and clear support and guidance to business stakeholders, promoting process excellence, and implementing continuous improvement practices.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills, coupled with active listening abilities and a high degree of emotional intelligence, enabling effective stakeholder engagement.
• Strong presentation skills, capable of articulating complex issues clearly and concisely.
• Fluent in English
• Possesses a strong controls mindset and behaviours, along with being proactive, practical, pragmatic, flexible, hands-on, customer-focused, solution-based, and results-oriented.
• High level proficiency in Microsoft Office tools, knowledge of Salesforce a plus
• Knowledge of Business Intelligence tools (e.g. Tableau, Power BI) a plus.

Why Work At The Forum

The Forum believes that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to improve the state of the world by building awareness and cooperation, shaping mindsets and agendas, and driving collective action. Join us and become a driver for positive change!