Senior Commercial Finance Analyst

Company Description
ABOUT US / VALUES / OVERVIEW
Universal International Studios (UIS), a division of Universal Studio Group, partners with visionary storytellers across the globe to deliver bold, distinctive shows with universal resonance. Headquartered in London and led by President Beatrice Springborn, UIS encompasses world-renowned production companies including Carnival Films ("The Day of the Jackal," "All Her Fault"), Matchbox Pictures ("Dog Park," "Bad Behaviour"), Working Title Television ("Too Much," "We Are Lady Parts"), and Heyday Television ("The Capture," "Apples Never Fall"). UIS also invests in leading creative talent through its backing of Tony Ayres Productions ("Clickbait," "The Survivors") and its minority stake and first-look distribution deal with Canada's Lark Productions ("Allegiance," "Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent"). UIS also houses an internal scripted unit that develops and produces original programming.
Additionally, UIS is a proven leader in forging third-party partnerships, with a track record of co-producing, deficit-financing, and collaborating with world-class creatives to bring ambitious shows to life. This approach has delivered standout projects including "One Day" with Drama Republic, "The Undeclared War" with Playground Entertainment, and forthcoming "The Dream Lands" with Sister Pictures.
At Universal International Studios, we are focused on our commitment to a more ambitious and inclusive future. Our company values play a huge part in this commitment and the culture of our company.
We're Ambitious For our Future, We're In This Together, We're Actively Inclusive.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, and we'll do everything we can to support you during your application. If you need us to make any adjustments to our recruitment process, speak to our recruitment team who will be happy to support you. Accessibility Statement | NBCUnicareers
Job Description
This role sits within the FP&A and Commercial Finance team. The role will support greenlighting decisions and maintain ultimates across both Scripted and non-Scripted. The role will provide business partnering support to our commercial and BALA stakeholders on key decisions covering talent investment and corporate business development activity, and be proactive in providing analysis to support strategic decisions.
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Investment analysis in TV shows, including providing recommendations, identifying the key drivers of the investment model and proactively work with stakeholders to drive decision making ahead of Greenlighting a new TV show.
• Title management. Liaise with teams across UIS (BALA, Production, Prod Finance, Controllership) to manage titles throughout their life-cycle, from GL prep through to close-down and moving to library.
• Work closely with the Controllership team in support of the quarterly close process in relation to title bookings.
• Investment in new talent deals: provide analysis on proposed new talent deals. Complex analysis must be distilled and presented succinctly highlighting the key issues, sensitivities, and recommendations to enable the business to make effective decisions. Continued appraisal of current talent investments with a proactive culture of feedback and learning to improve future decision making.
• Support on strategic reviews of operating assets (e.g. production companies)
• Support key strategic projects such as Op Reviews, M&A, platform analysis and deal structures (e.g. our relationships with third party producers)
• External market analysis: provide analysis on key TV markets, including communicating key market dynamics, competitor analysis and identifying opportunities for exploitation.
• Evaluate actual performance and provide insightful support to business and commercial teams acting as a key finance business partner
• Ad-hoc projects and tasks as required.
Qualifications
SKILLS / QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
• Qualified accountant (ACA / ACCA / CIMA) with experience in Commercial Finance and FP&A, preferably within the Media industry. Experience in a Strategic Finance role is preferable.
• Strong analytical mindset and ability to communicate complex financial and strategic issues to non-finance people. Ability to work both in the detail as well as at a more macro level.
• Ability to use a broad suite of communication tools (e.g., PowerPoint, Word memos or in-person presentations where appropriate), a good listener and a persuasive influencer.
• Advanced modelling skills in Excel; ability to leverage these skills across immediate operational analysis as well as complex strategic models.
• Ability to work at pace, using judgement to prioritise tasks whilst not compromising on quality; be comfortable to flex attention to detail with pace.
• Ambitious and enthusiastic self-starter who is highly motivated and comfortable managing change. They must demonstrate ownership of their area and a can-do attitude. The successful candidate will be proactive, creative and have a curious solution focused mindset.
• Strong team player with excellent communication and interpersonal skills to deal effectively with both finance and non-finance stakeholders. Ability to work comfortably across different time zones, predominantly the US.
• Previous experience of Ultimates Accounting and IT business reporting software (e.g., BPC, SAP) would be preferable.
• All applicants must be able to provide documentation to prove they are eligible to work in the United Kingdom.
The responsibilities associated with this position are not limited to the above description and may be modified at any time by the company.
Additional Information
As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with an NBCUniversal employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. NBCUniversal's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.
If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [email protected].