Manager, financial planning and analysis

The Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis owns the consolidation of the company’s forecasting and planning processes and leads monthly business performance recaps, explaining what happened operationally each month: volume, yield, cost, and margin drivers behind the numbers. They sit at the center of the consolidated P&L, leading forecasting, budgeting, monthly business reviews, and Board reporting, while partnering closely with segment finance leaders and Accounting. The Manager translates complex financial and operational data into actionable insights for Finance leaders and the Executive team.

The ideal candidate:

• Thinks like the business - understands how freight volume, yield, fuel and linehaul costs flow through the P&L
• Owns the answer, not the file - goes from question to recommendation without being told which tab to update
• Automates the second time - any task done twice gets a template, a query or a workflow
• AI native - uses AI daily to draft commentary, build decks, reconcile files and research markets, and knows how to check the output

Responsibilities

• Own the consolidated monthly forecasting process (3+9, 6+6, and 9+3 forecasts) and annual budget cycle, including timelines, templates, and segment submissions.
• Develop and maintain driver-based financial models linking volume, yield, purchased transportation, labor, and headcount assumptions to financial results.
• Build scenario analyses and pro forma models supporting acquisitions, divestitures, restructuring initiatives, and other strategic opportunities.
• Coordinate planning activities across business segments and ensure alignment of forecast assumptions.
• Deliver monthly variance analyses comparing actual results to forecast, budget, and prior year performance, including concise commentary on key drivers.
• Prepare consolidated Business Review MBR and Board reporting materials, including EBITDA bridges, margin analysis, and KPI dashboards.
• Partner with Finance, Accounting, and operational leaders across Ground, Air, Ocean, and Contract Logistics on forecast assumptions and performance.
• Lead ad hoc analyses related to pricing, fuel surcharge impacts, cost allocation, SG&A initiatives, capital expenditures, and working capital (DSO/DPO).
• Translate market data (freight indices, peer benchmarks) into planning assumptions
• Support monthly close activities through variance investigation, reporting validation, and reconciliation of planning and financial results.
• Serve as a power user and design partner for Anaplan implementation and related planning, consolidation, and reporting tools and data flows.
• Design and enhance automated reporting solutions, dashboards, and data pipelines using tools such as Databricks, Tableau, Excel, and Power Query.
• Leverage AI-enabled tools to automate recurring finance workflows, including reporting, commentary preparation, and data analysis.
• Present financial results, insights, and recommendations to senior leadership in a concise, executive-ready format.
• All other duties as assigned to meet evolving business needs.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field from an accredited college or university required; MBA preferred.
• Certification/Licensure: Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), or progress toward a professional finance certification preferred.
• Industry Exposure: Preferred experience in transportation, logistics, distribution, or other complex multi-entity operating environments preferred.
• Experience: 4+ years in FP&A, corporate finance, investment banking, consulting, or a related analytical finance environment; Prior people/team leadership preferred.
• Strong understanding of income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow dynamics.
• Advanced Excel skills, including financial modeling, driver-based forecasting, scenario toggles, Power Query, and dynamic arrays.
• Experience working with large, complex data sets and translating data into actionable business insights.
• Experience supporting budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, variance analysis, and capital expenditure planning.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate financial concepts to executive audiences.
• Experience with enterprise planning, financial consolidation, and business intelligence tools such as Anaplan, Workday Adaptive Planning, OneStream, Oracle EPM, Tableau, or Power BI.
• Preferred experience with SQL, Python, Databricks, or similar analytics tools.
• Demonstrated experience leveraging AI tools, such as Microsoft Copilot, Claude, or ChatGPT, to improve efficiency and automate finance workflows.
• Demonstrated discretion and confidentiality in handling and protecting sensitive information.
• Technical: Proficient with common office technologies, including Windows PCs, Microsoft O365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) and web conferencing (Teams, Zoom, Webex, etc.)
• Environment: Comfort commuting to/from and working in a 100% on-site setting (listed in this posting), with travel for related meetings/events.

Forward Air is an Equal Opportunity Employer.