Strategic FP&A Lead

Strategic FP&A Lead At a Glance Full Time, Permanent Hybrid, 2 days a week in Belfast office Reports into the Strategic Finance leadership team PE-backed, high-growth software business About the Company A fast-growing software business whose platform helps major organisations across financial services, technology and complex industrial sectors turn data into faster, more accurate decisions. Backed by a leading private equity investor, the business is pursuing growth both organically and through acquisition, with an established international footprint.

The Role This is an opportunity to join an established Strategic Finance team and sit at the centre of the business's R&D organisation, partnering directly with engineering and product leadership. You'll lead financial planning and strategic decision support for the global R&D function, supporting one of the business's most significant areas of investment. You'll own the budget and headcount process for R&D, building business cases, conducting market analyses and leading investment recommendations that shape decisions.

You'll work closely with go-to-market and product investment teams, and partner with senior Strategic Finance and CFO leadership, alongside regular exposure to the broader executive team including the CEO.

Key Responsibilities Independently lead ad hoc strategic finance projects with minimal oversight, including building full business cases for product lines and associated R&D investment Support evaluation of acquisition and partnership opportunities alongside corporate development Partner with product and engineering leaders to evaluate ROI of major R&D investments and prioritise the roadmap accordingly Assess the economics and ROI of AI/LLM usage across engineering use cases, establishing appropriate cost and investment guardrails Build links between go-to-market and product investment, ensuring R&D spend targets drive revenue growth, and act as trusted financial advisor to engineering and product leadership, translating technical roadmaps into financial plans Review and approve headcount and non-headcount requisitions for the R&D organisation, supporting org design trade-offs and spend prioritisation with a long-term, value-creation lens rather than a purely annual-budget mindset Lead the annual budgeting process and rolling forecasts for R&D, owning monthly variance analysis against budget and forecast and working with leaders to course-correct Prepare R&D financial and strategic updates and detailed analysis for executive leadership, with a level of polish suitable for board and investor audiences

The Person A degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business or a related field Professional qualification, ACA/ACCA/CIMA Significant experience in Transaction Services, Financial Due Diligence or Deal Advisory, ideally within a Big 4 environment Well suited to a high-performing Transaction Services professional looking to move from advising on businesses to operating and shaping one Prior exposure to the software sector strongly preferred, happy for this to have been gained in a practice environment Fluency with core software and SaaS metrics Able to build complex finance models from scratch Applicants must be based in Northern Ireland and comfortable with a hybrid working pattern Why Apply High impact role from day one, you will directly shape R&D investment priorities and growth decisions Executive exposure, working closely with Strategic Finance and CFO leadership, the Chief Product & Engineering Officer, and regular visibility to the CEO A high-growth platform pursuing both organic and acquisitive growth Benefits Competitive salary Individually tailored training and skills development Private healthcare and Employee Assistance Programme Enhanced maternity and paternity package Wellness days and volunteer days For more information on this role, or any other Accountancy and Finance position, please contact Gemma Murphy.

Skills:

FP&A Strategic finance Corporate finance financial modelling transaction services Benefits:
Work From Home