The Lead Financial Analyst will serve as a strategic Finance partner within Marketing, combining strong FP&A fundamentals with business acumen, analytical curiosity, and an investment mindset. The role will partner with senior leaders to translate financial and business performance into insights, evaluate investment opportunities and tradeoffs, and help connect Marketing resources to measurable business outcomes. The ideal candidate will look beyond reporting the numbers to understand what is driving them, why it matters, and how Finance can help improve the decisions that follow.
Responsibilities:- Own core FP&A activities for key Marketing functions, including annual planning, forecasting, monthly reporting, variance analysis, risk and opportunity identification, and ongoing expense and headcount management; proactively surface insights and issues that require leadership attention.
- Serve as a trusted Finance partner to senior Marketing leaders, developing a deep understanding of business strategies, priorities, investments, and performance drivers; bring financial perspective and sound judgment to help leaders make better-informed decisions.
- Evaluate Marketing investments and business opportunities, developing business cases, scenario analyses, and financial models that clarify costs, benefits, tradeoffs, risks, and expected outcomes; help determine where investment can create the greatest value for Vanguard.
- Develop expertise across marketing investment, media, measurement, and analytics, partnering with Marketing and Finance stakeholders to strengthen understanding of how investments translate into marketing and business outcomes and improve the connection between spend, performance, and value creation.
- Turn financial and business data into actionable insights, looking beyond what happened to explain why it happened, what it means, and what should happen next; challenge assumptions constructively and bring forward recommendations that influence decisions.
- Drive outcomes across Finance and Marketing, collaborating across teams to solve problems, align stakeholders, and move important work forward; demonstrate ownership, sound judgment, and follow-through that turn analysis into action.
- Improve how Finance works, simplifying and standardizing processes, leveraging automation and emerging tools, and eliminating lower-value activities to create greater capacity for analysis, decision support, and strategic partnership.
Qualifications:- Demonstrated experience in FP&A, financial analysis, or a related Finance role, with strong capabilities in planning, forecasting, financial modeling, and performance analysis.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to synthesize complex financial and business information, identify the key drivers, and translate analysis into clear recommendations.
- Exceptional written and executive communication skills, with demonstrated ability to synthesize complex topics into clear, compelling strategic memos, executive presentations, business cases, and other decision-support materials tailored to senior audiences.
- Strong business partnership and influencing skills, with the ability to build credibility with senior leaders and cross-functional partners, constructively challenge thinking, and help move decisions and priorities forward.
- Strategic and commercial mindset, with curiosity about how the business works and the ability to connect financial decisions and investments to broader business outcomes.
- High degree of ownership and initiative, with the ability to operate independently, anticipate needs, manage competing priorities, and drive work forward in an evolving environment.
- Strong attention to detail balanced with an ability to see the bigger picture, bringing appropriate rigor to the work while focusing effort on the questions and decisions that matter most.
Special FactorsSponsorshipVanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.
About Vanguard At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission-we're on a mission.
To work for the long-term financial wellbeing of our clients. To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.
How We WorkVanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.
