Senior Financial Analyst FP&A – Lifestyle Brands

Catalyst Brands is seeking a Senior Financial Analyst to support financial planning, forecasting, reporting, and business analysis for our Lifestyle Brands division, namely Aéropostale, Lucky Brand, and Nautica. This hybrid role is based in our Lyndhurst, New Jersey corporate office (preferred).

This position partners directly with Finance, Accounting, and Brand business leaders to evaluate performance across retail, e-commerce, and wholesale channels. You will analyze business drivers, explain financial variances, and deliver actionable insights that shape strategic business decisions.

The ideal candidate is an independent, self-starting professional who canown their work from end-to-end. You should blend proficient financial planning and analysis (FP&A) skills with a corporate accounting foundation, possessing an innate curiosity, a meticulous process for validating data, and the ability to translate operational activities into clear, strategic financial narratives.

• Financial Planning & Analysis: Drive and support annual budgeting, monthly forecasting, and long-range planning across retail, e-commerce, wholesale, and corporate operations. We are looking for hands-on partners who actively build and shape forecasts, not just compile reports.

• Independent Ownership: Take personal ownership of assigned business areas, forecasts, or recurring deliverables with limited supervision.

• Analytical Modeling: Build, maintain, and substantially improve sophisticated, driver-based financial models in Excel with clearly documented, reasonable assumptions that help the business make decisions.

• Variance & Performance Analysis: Analyze sales, gross margin, operating expenses (SG&A), and overall profitability against budget, forecast, and prior periods. Proactively investigate unexpected variances, identify underlying root causes, and recommend actionable solutions.

• Accounting & General Ledger Integrity: Analyze GL accounts and transaction-level details to validate monthly financial results and explain how accounting activity flows into financial statements. Partner closely with Accounting during month-end close to assess accrual needs and resolve discrepancies.

• Commercial Analysis: Partner cross-functionally with non-finance teams to understand operating plans and analyze the impacts of pricing strategies, product volume, category mix, and product costs on sales and gross margin performance across different brand channels.

• Executive Presentation & Communication: Partner cross-functionally to prepare and present clear financial results, forecasts, and strategic recommendations. You must be able to explain complex financial concepts clearly and confidently to both Finance and non-Finance business partners.

Required:

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related quantitative field.

• Experience: 2 or more years of relevant, hands-on experience in FP&A, corporate finance, or a combination of corporate accounting and financial analysis.

• Advanced Excel Capabilities: High proficiency with advanced Excel features (including lookups, SUMIFS, index/match, pivot tables, and driver-based modeling) with a demonstrated ability to troubleshoot formulas.

• Data Validation & Accuracy: A structured, rigorous process for self-auditing, reconciling, and checking your own work for accuracy and completeness before presenting results to leadership.

• Communication &
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; a proven ability to work productively with non-finance partners to resolve issues and improve forecast accuracy.

Preferred:

• Business Model Knowledge: Solid working knowledge of retail (brick-and-mortar/e-commerce) and/or wholesale business models, including their unique financial drivers.

• Industry
  
  Experience:
  
  Prior finance or accounting experience within the apparel, footwear, retail, or consumer packaged goods (CPG) sectors.

• Enterprise Systems:
  
  Experience with enterprise systems and reporting tools, such as Oracle, One Stream, or Micro Strategy
  .

What You Get

If eligible, we offer a competitive benefits package including medical/dental/vision, term life insurance, paid vacation/holidays*, and 401(k) with Company match. All associates are eligible for an associate discount on Catalyst Brands merchandise. For paid holidays, associates who are eligible for paid vacation (MTO) are also eligible for eight paid holidays during the calendar year. All store hourly associates scheduled to work on a…