Financial Analyst

Financial Analyst (Early Career Program)

This is an opportunity to build a complete finance toolkit early in your career, combining technical depth, business insight, and leadership exposure. If you’re someone who wants to learn fast, take on increasing responsibility, and shape your career intentionally, this role is designed for you.

Location: Chicago, IL
Work Arrangement: Hybrid, 2-3 days in office per week
Experience Level: Recent Graduate (0–2 years)
Reporting Line
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This role reports directly to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), providing early-career exposure to senior leadership decision-making and enterprise-level finance strategy.

Brailsford & Dunlavey (B&D) leads the planning, development, and management of the places that shape and strengthen our communities. Since 1993, B&D has supported colleges and universities, K-12 school districts, municipalities, and sports organizations as they pursue bold, mission-driven visions in the built environment.

Delivering this work requires more than strong client service—it depends on a disciplined, well-run firm behind the scenes. B&D’s Accounting & Finance team plays a critical role in sustaining the firm’s ability to serve mission-driven institutions by ensuring financial integrity, operational rigor, and long‑term stability across the organization.

We are seeking a high-potential, intellectually curious Financial Analyst to join our early career rotational program. This role is intentionally designed to provide broad exposure across core finance functions, building a strong foundation in accounting and operations before expanding into more strategic areas such as Treasury, FP&A, and enterprise finance.

You’ll begin by mastering the fundamentals that underpin strong financial organizations and progressively take on more complex, forward‑looking responsibilities. Along the way, you’ll gain visibility into how financial decisions are made, influence outcomes, and develop the skills needed to accelerate into leadership roles.

This rotational experience is designed to evolve over time:

Build a deep understanding of the business and financial operations through hands‑on experience in:

• Accounting processes (month‑end close, reconciliations, journal entries)
• Billing, collections, and cash application
• Financial controls and data integrity
• Operational finance workflows and systems

Transition into more analytical and forward‑looking finance functions:

• Financial Planning & Analysis (budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis)
• Treasury (cash management, liquidity planning, banking relationships)
• Business partnership and performance insights
• Process improvement and automation initiatives

Take on broader, more strategic assignments based on strengths and interests:

• Leading cross‑functional projects
• Supporting senior leadership decision‑making
• Driving financial strategy for business units
• Preparing for advancement into senior analyst or finance leadership tracks

• Support day‑to‑day accounting and financial operations with accuracy and attention to detail
• Analyze financial data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities
• Assist in monthly, quarterly, and annual financial processes
• Partner with teams across the organization to understand drivers of performance
• Contribute to budgeting, forecasting, and financial modeling efforts
• Identify and implement process improvements to increase efficiency and scalability
• Present insights and recommendations to finance leadership over time

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field
• Strong academic performance and demonstrated analytical ability
• Intellectual curiosity and a desire to understand how businesses operate
• Willingness to start with fundamentals and build expertise from the ground up
• Excellent problem‑solving skills and attention to detail
• Ability to work both independently with minimal supervision and collaboratively in a team setting.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work cross‑functionally
• Proactive mindset…