Financial Analyst Job Saint John area,New Brunswick Canada,Finance & Banking

Cooke is a global seafood company with operations in North America, Europe, South America and Australia. Our company’s success is driven by our dynamic, highly skilled, and innovative management team, supported by dedicated employees who live in coastal communities and contribute to the local area’s economy and sense of community.

The Role

We are seeking a commercially sharp and analytically rigorous Financial Analyst to join our Operations Team. This role sits at the intersection of operational performance and strategic decision-making — you will own the budgeting and capital expenditure cycles, drive meaningful variance analysis, and serve as a trusted financial advisor to operational managers across multiple divisions.

This is not a passive reporting role. We are looking for someone who embraces modern financial tools — including AI-powered analytics — to elevate the quality and speed of insight delivery, and who can translate complex financial data into clear, actionable guidance for non-finance audiences.

Key Responsibilities:

Operational & Capital Budgeting

Lead the end-to-end North American operational budgeting cycle across multiple divisions, ensuring alignment with corporate strategy and divisional priorities

Own the capital expenditure (Cap Ex) budgeting process from project submission and prioritization through approval, tracking, and post-completion review

Develop and maintain rolling medium- and long-range financial plans to support strategic planning and resource allocation decisions

Coordinate with operations, engineering, and project teams to build accurate and defensible budget submissions

Variance Analysis & Performance Reporting

Conduct rigorous monthly and quarterly budget-to-actual variance analysis across operating divisions, identifying root causes and recommending corrective actions

Deliver consolidated financial performance reports and commentary to senior leadership, providing actionable insight — not just numbers

Develop and maintain monthly forecasting models that incorporate operational data, ensuring early identification of cost, volume, and margin trends

Support weekly Treasury cash flow updates and monthly farmgate and Cap Ex reporting to Finance and Treasury teams

Track capital project spending against approved budgets, flag deviations early, and coordinate with the accounting team on actual spend reconciliation

Management Financial Literacy & Partnership

Act as a financial business partner to operational managers and senior leaders — presenting financial results, explaining variances, and translating technical financial concepts into plain language

Design and facilitate periodic financial literacy sessions for department heads and site managers, improving their capacity to interpret budgets, track costs, and make data-driven decisions

Develop intuitive financial dashboards and summary tools that give operational leaders real-time visibility into their financial performance

Challenge assumptions embedded in budget submissions and business cases, fostering a culture of financial accountability across the organization

AI Tools & Process Innovation

Actively leverage AI-powered tools and automation to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and timeliness of financial reporting and analysis

Identify and implement opportunities to automate recurring reporting tasks (e.g. variance narratives, forecast refreshes, Cap Ex dashboards) using modern tools

Champion continuous improvement in financial systems, data quality, and reporting infrastructure — always seeking faster, more insightful ways to deliver value

Stay current with emerging financial technology and AI capabilities relevant to aquaculture and resource-based industries

Capital Projects & Government Funding

Support major capital and strategic project evaluations, including ROI analysis, NPV modelling, and scenario planning

Support relationships with government funding agencies in support of capital funding applications, ensuring alignment with program requirements and reporting obligations

Coordinate between operations teams (project status) and accounting teams (actual spend) to maintain accurate and current project tracking records

Assist…