Financial Analyst, FP&A Business Partner

Finance Business Partner

Are you interested in working with financial data and passionate about energy transformation and climate action?   Do you enjoy problem solving, financial reporting, and analyzing data in order to drive better decision making?  If yes, then join RMI’s Finance Team!   

Position Overview 

RMI is looking for a Finance Business Partner. In this role, you be fully immersed in RMI financial data, and will be part of a team providing senior leadership with the analysis and information they need to optimize program financial performance and make major financial, operational, and strategic decisions. 

To thrive in this position, you should have skills in data interpretation, strategic financial analysis, problem solving, and strong communication.  Together with the Senior Manager and the wider Finance team, you will be responsible for driving the annual budgeting and monthly forecasting processes, and for optimizing financial performance.     

This position reports to the Senior Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis and will work closely with leadership in a portfolio of Programs at RMI to understand their unique financial questions and help them to execute RMI’s core mission.    

Key Responsibilities  

Business Partnering 

• The Finance Business Partner will provide critical business support to program leadership and operations and to the CFO. 

• Develop a deep understanding of the strategy of each program within your portfolio and how each uniquely operates and measures success. 

• Establish relationships and facilitate monthly meetings with program leadership to present the financial results and status of the program and help them better understand and take ownership of their financial health. Review and monitor financial results, budget variances, business performance metrics and trends, and forecast funding and hiring outlook. 

• Work collaboratively with program leadership to identify roadblocks to progress and potential solutions. 

• Work with Project Managers to help them develop budgets for Projects and monitor the financial performance throughout the lifetime of Projects. 

Strategic Analysis 

• Develop innovative and impactful analyses, tools, processes and procedures to facilitate and monitor business performance. 

• Provide strategic analysis, actionable insights, training, guidance and recommendations to ensure targets are achieved. Focus on strategic levers to drive performance through evidence-based decision making.  

• Identify key strategic opportunities and challenges within each program and common across the Institute.  

• Work with leadership to balance budgets and manage cost and funding forecasts. Assist with optimizing hiring and spend against grants and other funding.  

• Perform ad hoc business case analysis to support decision making, including identifying key drivers, benefits, sensitivities and risks, accounting and fiscal implications. Make recommendations to improve our position in each case. 

Budgeting / Forecasting / Financial Reporting 

• Drive the annual budget process for your portfolio of programs. Support an efficient and effective planning and forecasting process that produces accurate, achievable plans and forecasts, including setting targets, communicating assumptions, coordinating budget preparation, and challenging submissions. 

• Assist with the design of reporting and metrics to help programs meet budgets and answer critical financial and operational questions. Prepare monthly/quarterly decks for presentation and review with programs of financial performance.  

• Build ad-hoc reports in Adaptive Insights to address needs from Program Operations Leads, Project Managers, and Managing Directors. 

Elevate the FP&A Function 

• This role will contribute to business model and data thought leadership within RMI.  

• Contribute ideas and continually improve the quality, scalability, and consistency of program reporting, metrics, analysis, planning, and relevant processes to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of FP&A for the organization. Simplify wherever possible.  

• Assist with optimization of allocation calculations, project costing, and other methodologies that affect financial results. 

• Document and conduct new process and new user training on Adaptive Insights. 

• Train Adaptive users in Programs and Operations groups to set them up for success in Financial Planning. Become expert in usability of Adaptive Insights instance. 

Minimum Qualifications  

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.  

• 3-5 years work experience in Accounting and/or Finance 

• CPA certification preferred 

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, especially Excel  

• Ability to think strategically, critically, and objectively beyond the data 

• Problem solving in a complex environment 

• Communicate financial information and concepts in a clear, precise, and thorough manner to meet the needs of both finance and program audiences.  

• Listen actively and ensure that concerns on both sides are openly addressed.  

• Ability to prioritize and turn around high-quality work on tight deadlines under pressure.   

• Collaboration and partnering 

Additional Qualifications  

• Experience with international nonprofit program operations 

• Positive, highly motivated, and flexible with changing deadlines and workloads   

• Ability to work with multiple teams on multiple projects and deliver against wider organizational goals   

• Customer-service mindset 

• Understand the change management process and influence others toward positive change 

Location    

We prefer that this role be based out of one of our offices in Oakland, CA, Washington, D.C., New York City, Boulder or Basalt, Colorado, but remote or hybrid work is a possibility that can be discussed through the interview process.    

RMI is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.