OVERVIEW
Reporting to the Senior Manager, Finance and Accounting, the Analyst, Financial Planning supports financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and cost management for the IT Organization. This role partners closely with leadership, procurement, and accounting to ensure accurate reporting, cost transparency, and sound financial decision making across technology investments and operations.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Financial Planning & Analysis
- Lead the development and consolidation of the annual operating and capital budgets in partnership with directors and managers
- Facilitate budget intake sessions with leaders to validate assumptions, project timing, and resource requirements
- Prepare quarterly reforecasts based on actuals, updated project timelines, and changes in business priorities
- Perform detailed variance analysis at the cost center, service, and project level, identifying root causes and recommended corrective actions
- Maintain multi-year financial models for major technology initiatives including infrastructure refresh, cloud migrations, and enterprise system implementations
- Develop scenario and sensitivity analysis to support decision-making on spend timing, headcount changes, and contract renewals
Cost Management & Reporting
- Monitor monthly spend across operating and capital accounts, ensuring accurate coding and allocation
- Review and validate accruals and prepaid expenses in coordination with accounting
- Review and validate contractor timesheets to ensure alignment with project forecasts.
- Track software licensing, SaaS subscriptions, support agreements, and maintenance renewals to ensure completeness and cost accuracy
- Maintain a centralized view of recurring technology costs and contract obligations
- Prepare monthly and quarterly financial reporting packages for leadership, including dashboards, commentary, and key trends
- Analyze spend by service tower, vendor, and cost category to identify optimization opportunities
- Support cost transparency initiatives by coordinating with and assisting Finance and Procurement to define service-based costing or chargeback models where applicable
- Identify cost savings opportunities through license optimization, contract renegotiation support, and rationalization of redundant tools
Project & Investment Support
- Track financial performance of approved projects including budget, actuals, forecast to complete, and variance analysis
- Partner with project managers to validate financial assumptions and ensure accurate project cost tracking
- Support business case development for new initiatives including cost-benefit analysis, ROI, payback period, and total cost of ownership calculations
- Assist in evaluating buy versus build decisions and on-prem versus cloud financial comparisons
- Ensure appropriate classification of project costs as capital or operating expense in accordance with accounting standards
- Support post-implementation financial reviews to validate benefits realization where applicable
Vendor & Contract Support
- Support financial review of vendor contracts including pricing structures, renewal terms, escalators, and consumption models
- Analyze historical spend and usage trends to inform renewal negotiations
- Partner with procurement and vendor management teams to assess financial impact of proposed contract changes
- Monitor vendor spend against contract commitments and flag overages or underutilized agreements
- Maintain a renewal calendar to support proactive financial planning for large or multi-year agreements
- Assist with financial due diligence for new vendor onboarding
QUALIFICATIONS
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, or a related field.
- An equivalent combination of education, and experience may be considered
Experience
- 3 to 7 years of progressive experience in financial analysis, FP&A, or accounting, with direct support of IT or technology organizations preferred
- Experience working with ERP(i.e. SAP) systems
- Hands-on experience managing departmental budgets and forecasts in a complex environment
- Strong financial modeling experience including scenario analysis and multi-year planning
- Experience supporting capital projects and understanding capitalization rules
- Familiarity with software licensing models, subscription-based services, cloud consumption billing, and enterprise agreements
- Experience working cross-functionally with IT, procurement, and accounting teams
Knowledge/Competencies/Skills
- Preference will be given to candidates with a strong understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) concepts and the ability to communicate and apply AI technologies effectively within a business context.
- Advanced Excel skills including pivot tables, lookups, complex formulas, and financial modeling techniques
- Experience working within ERP systems such as SAP or similar financial platforms
- Experience using budgeting, forecasting, and reporting tools
- Ability to interpret and analyze large datasets related to IT spend and vendor billing
- Working knowledge of IT infrastructure components, cloud services (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), and enterprise applications
- Understanding of operating vs capital expense treatment in a technology environment
- Strong analytical thinking with the ability to translate financial data into actionable insights
- Clear and confident communication skills when presenting financial information to technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Ability to challenge assumptions constructively and ask the right questions
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple deadlines
- High level of accuracy and attention to detail
- Proactive mindset with a willingness to take ownership of financial processes
WORKING CONDITIONS
- All CM employees work 40 hours per week, remotely from a home office environment.
PAY TRANSPARENCY
Expected Compensation:
- An annual base salary in the range of $70,000 to $90,000
The salary range listed complies with the Ontario Employment Standards Act and reflects a potential base salary range for this role. The actual salary offered will be determined within the range, and will depend on factors, such as the candidate’s unique qualifications, relevant experience, work location and expected contributions.
Job Vacancy Reason
This position is a current vacancy.
Artificial Intelligence
- AI is not used during our hiring processes.
Applicant and Interviewee Communication
- We thank all applicants for their interest. However, only those under consideration will be contacted.
- Applicants who have been interviewed will be informed whether a hiring decision has been made within 45 days of their final interview.
Record Retention
- Job posting records and associated application forms will be retained for at least three years.
ABOUT CIRCULAR MATERIALS
Circular Materials is a national not-for-profit producer responsibility organization (PRO) that supports producers in meeting their extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations across Canada. Created by producers for producers, Circular Materials develops, implements, and supports effective and efficient recycling programs to advance innovation, deliver improved environmental outcomes and drive value across the recycling supply chain. Our full-service offerings include collection, management, promotion and education, and reporting.
Together, we are advancing the circular economy where materials are collected, recycled, and can be returned to producers for use as recycled content in new products and packaging. As we develop enhanced recycling systems across Canada, we work to ensure more materials are looped into the circular economy, benefiting both people and the environment.
Learn more at circularmaterials.ca.
Circular Materials is an equal opportunity employer, seeking team members with a diversity of thought, skills, experiences, culture, and ethnicity to help us achieve our purpose of accelerating a circular economy for people and the planet. As a national organization operating across Canada, our goal is to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of the many provinces and territories where we do business.
Our inclusive hiring practices aim to foster a culture where all employees feel a strong sense of belonging. We are proud of our recent diversity survey results which showed that:
- 51% of Circular Materials employees identify as women.
- 53% of Circular Materials employees identify as visible minorities.
- 97% of employees believe Circular Materials fosters a strong sense of belonging for employees of all backgrounds.
- 95% of employees recommend Circular Materials as an inclusive workplace.
We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, including women, Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis), persons with disabilities, racialized individuals, and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. As part of our commitment to reconciliation, Circular Materials is working to advance Indigenous representation and partnerships within our organization and across our programs. We acknowledge that Circular Materials operates on the traditional territories of diverse Indigenous Nations, and we recognize the importance of respecting Indigenous rights, governance, and contributions in the workplace and beyond.
Circular Materials supports reasonable requests for accommodation in accordance with all applicable provincial accessibility standards. Requests for accommodation will be provided by Circular Materials through the recruitment and/or assessment processes, upon contacting [email protected]. This email is only used for accommodation requests.
