The Role
Lead the financial planning and analysis function, including budgeting and forecasting. Partner with senior leadership to provide strategic financial insights, improve reporting tools, and support long-term financial strategy.
Summary Generated by Built In
Location: London (Hybrid 2 days per week from home)
Salary: £90,000–£100,000 + stock options + benefits
Contract: Full-time
👋 About The Role
Hi, I’m Anna, CFO at Zen Educate. We’re searching for a Head of FP&A who can take full ownership of our planning, forecasting, and strategic financial insight as we scale rapidly across the UK and US. This is a critical and highly visible role. You’ll lead our financial planning processes, build robust reporting frameworks, partner with senior leaders, and shape the financial narrative of a fast-growing, mission-driven tech company. If you are someone who thrives in ambiguity, loves building from scratch, and wants to drive real impact, this could be the perfect next step.
👋 About Zen
Zen Educate is a technology company that matches schools with temporary educator staff. Our mission is to change the world of education recruitment. Schools spend over $9bn a year on temporary educators, with over $2bn per year of that spent on fees that take money out of the education system. By leveraging the latest technology, we purpose built a platform that helps schools to pay less while educators earn more.
We want students to have access to the best education possible, and we go the extra mile to find, onboard, match, and coach incredible educators that deeply care about their students. We wake up every day on a mission to care more. We care more about our schools. And we care more about our educators.
This is your chance to make a difference and join a high growth tech startup on the ground floor. We are a collaborative company, and the career growth opportunities are endless if you are someone willing to dive in, be entrepreneurial, and do whatever is needed to get the job done. We are passionate about learning and development, and will invest in both your personal and professional growth.
We have recently raised our Series B funding of $37mil, the largest round in European EdTech last year. This is an exciting opportunity to make a difference and be part of a high growth start-up that is expanding rapidly in the UK and US markets!
🧠 What We're Looking For
We want someone who uses FP&A as a strategic lever, not just a reporting function. You will excel if:
- You’re highly analytical and comfortable digging into the detail, but can communicate the story clearly.
- You thrive in high-growth, ambiguous environments and enjoy building new processes.
- You’re commercially minded, curious, and comfortable challenging assumptions.
- You partner brilliantly with cross-functional leaders and bring clarity to complex decisions.
- You’re excited to build a best-in-class FP&A function in a scaling international business.
🏗️ What You'll Be Doing
Own and Lead The FP&A Function
- Lead budgeting, forecasting, long-range planning, and scenario modelling across the UK and US.
- Design and maintain Zen’s KPI frameworks, dashboards, and performance reporting.
- Improve forecasting models, automate reporting, and develop tools to enhance visibility and accuracy
- Deep-dive into unit economics, cohort behaviour, marketplace efficiency and customer profitability
Partner with Senior Leadership
- Work closely with our CFO, CEO and Commercial leads to drive strategic decision-making.
- Provide clear, insightful commentary that translates financial performance into business action.
- Support our board and investor reporting
🛠 Tools & Systems
- Exceptional Excel / Google Sheets expertise is essential.
- Experience with data tools (SQL, modelling tools, FP&A software) is highly beneficial.
🌱Growth & Career Path
Zen is scaling rapidly, and this is a role with real ownership and visibility.
As Head of FP&A, you will:
- Shape the long-term financial strategy of the company
- Influence senior leadership and board discussions
- Build and develop the FP&A capability as the business grows
- Have clear progression into Director-level responsibility as we scale
- We care deeply about development. You’ll receive honest feedback, autonomy, and the opportunity to stretch into new areas.
🤝 Our Culture
We are collaborative, curious, and mission-driven.
What you can expect:
- A finance team that is tightly knit, international, and deeply embedded in the business
- A culture where you help build the system - not just operate within it
- An environment where diverse perspectives are valued, and learning is constant
- A company that cares more: about each other, our educators, and the schools we support
What The Team Says
“Finance at Zen isn’t just numbers - it’s about partnering with the business to solve meaningful challenges. The growth and variety keep things fresh, and the team is genuinely supportive.”
“Zen has grown rapidly and that brings so many opportunities to learn, stretch, and make an impact. It’s a rare mix of great people and meaningful mission.”
⚡Hiring Process
We hire with pace and transparency:
Intro call – A short chat with our talent team to align expectations and answer questions
Intro video call with our Anna, our CFO - To dive deeper into the position and your experience
Interview + technical case – Deep dive into your experience, approach to FP&A, and real Zen scenarios.
Values conversation – A discussion with a member of leadership focused on mindset and growth.
🙌 Ready to Apply
If you're an analytical and commercially minded FP&A leader who wants to build something meaningful - and help transform how schools access great educators - we’d love to hear from you.
Apply now or reach out with questions!
Top Skills
Excel
Fp&A Software
Google Sheets
SQL
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The Company
What We Do
At Zen our mission is to change the world of education recruitment. Schools spend over £2bn a year on agency staff, with over £600m per year of that spent on fees that go straight to recruitment agencies. So far, we've saved UK schools over £14m in supply teaching recruitment costs, and that number grows every day, allowing schools to invest further into children’s wellbeing and attainment.
We're not just redefining recruitment; we’re upskilling our supply staff to provide the highest quality teachers and TAs to schools. Each supply staff member is Level 2 Safeguarding trained, guaranteeing the safety and wellbeing of children in your school.
Using our online platform, schools can access hundreds of fully vetted high-quality teacher & TA profiles, who they can book instantly at the click of a button. We don't stop at just providing a platform – we have a dedicated school success team here to support you every step of the way. When you succeed, we succeed!
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