Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis (Business Controller

Title:

Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis

Department:
Finance

Reports To:

CFO

Supervisory Position:
Yes

FLSA Status:
Exempt

Employment Type:

Full Time

Location:

Lawrence, MA (Boston Area), with some remote flexibility, 3 days in office

Are You Ready to Make an Immediate Impact?

As part of the Babilou Family network, Little Sprouts and our sister brands are scaling rapidly and evolving into a data-driven, financially disciplined organization. The Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis plays a critical leadership role in strengthening the company’s financial infrastructure, ensuring the integrity of all financial data, and building a best-in-class business controlling function that is forward looking with an eye towards accurate and timely financial results and KPI development that will help guide the business.

This leader oversees the FP&A Department, in collaboration with the CFO and executive team, the Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis will elevate financial processes, manage budget planning and reporting, develop and oversee performance reports and action plans, evaluate team capabilities, and ensure the quality of insights are driving key decisions within the organization.

Our work is guided by our educational approach, Sustainable Education®, which bridges research and daily practice to help children thrive and lay the foundation for lifelong learning. We’re in what we like to call the science of children. Everything we do is rooted in research about how young minds grow—how they learn, connect, and build the skills that last a lifetime.

We also lead our HONOR values:
Humility, Open‑Mindedness, Nurture, Ownership, and Recognition. This guiding framework fosters an environment where educators, children, families, and partners feel valued, empowered, and inspired to grow.

• Planning & Forecasting. Deliver accurate, timely, and transparent financial performance management data across all brands.
• Performance Analysis. Build a scalable, well‑controlled planning and analysis environment with strong processes, documented policies, and clear performance metrics.
• Cash Stewardship. Improve cash visibility, forecasting accuracy, and liquidity management across all entities.
• Leadership & Team Development. Develop a high‑performing FP&A team with clear accountability, growth pathways, and a culture of excellence.
• Systems & Process Optimization. Strengthen the integration and efficiency of all data across different platforms and reporting tools to reduce manual work and increase accuracy.

• Lead the annual budgeting process and forecasts.
• Consolidate business plans (with financial controller) and challenge assumptions.
• Align financial forecasts with strategic goals, department heads and executive leadership.
• Build bottom‑up budgets from center assumptions.
• Run rolling forecasts based on:
  Enrollment trends;
  Staffing changes;
  Consolidate into corporate view for lenders / PE / board.

• Analyze financial results and KPIs (margin, cost, profitability, productivity).
• Identify performance gaps.
• Track impacts of corrective actions deployed vs targets.
• Support monthly business reviews and quarterly performance (shareholders & bank reports).
• Build center‑level models for:
  Enrollment ramp / attrition;
  Waitlist conversion;
  Tuition pricing changes;
  Analyze capacity utilization % by classroom / age group.
• Partner with ops on underperforming centers.

• Model teacher‑to‑child ratios (EEC compliance driven).
• Forecast labor using:
  Staffing grids by classroom;
  Wage inflation / retention pressure.
• Identify:
  Overtime leakage;
  Under/over staffing by center.

• Own monthly P&Ls at site level (often 20–100+ locations).
• Drive visibility into:
  Contribution margin by center;
  Fixed vs variable cost structure.
• Flag:
  Centers below breakeven;
  Margin compression trends.

• Own cash flow forecasting, liquidity planning, and treasury partnerships.
• Optimize cash management, banking relationships, and capital structure in collaboration with the CFO.

• Str…