Finance Manager

TITLE: Finance Manager Income

DEPARTMENT: Finance

REPORTS TO: Head of FP&A

DIRECT REPORTS: 1

LOCATION: Hybrid working: Luton Airport / Remote

DURATION: 15 month FTC

COMPANY OVERVIEW:

London Luton Airport (LLA) is a key gateway to the city of London, which is the world’s largest aviation system. LLA is the United Kingdom’s fifth largest and fastest growing airport, having facilitated 18 million passenger journeys in calendar year 2019, and with ambitions to continue this growth story.

11 airlines operate from LLA, including key carriers easyJet, Wizz Air and Ryanair. LLA’s route network serves over 150 destinations across 42 countries with 24/7 operations. LLA is an integral part of the local region and a major economic contributor to the UK through direct employment of over 700 people and indirectly supports over 10,000 jobs.

The freehold owner of the airport is the Luton Borough Council (“LBC”) (held in Luton Rising (“LR”), and the current concession to operate and develop the airport is held by London Luton Airport Operating Limited (LLAOL), an entity that is joint owned by AENA, the world’s largest airport operator, and AMP Capital, a specialist global infrastructure investment manager.

ROLE CONTEXT:

LLA is on an exciting journey in the coming years and is forecast to reach 32 million passengers per annum by 2050. To meet this rising demand, significant investment is being made to ensure the airport is capable of handling this increase in passengers. As part of this investment, the FP&A team is being restructured to ensure sufficient resource is available to analyse financial information.

ROLE OVERVIEW:

• Additional capability is required in the finance team to execute LLA’s growth strategy.
• Specifically, a greater level of analysis is required on income yields.
• This role has a focus on the analysis and forecast of income, however, it is expected that the candidate will display flexibility and a willingness to engage with the wider FP&A process to understand the characteristics of opex and capital expenditure and how this could impact income.
• Partner with the wider business to provide analysis to support strategy and growth.
• This role will be supported by a Junior Business Partner. The Junior Business Partner will provide support to all Finance Managers and won’t be a sole resource for this role.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Take sole ownership of the forecast of income, including:
• Business Partnering
• Provide analysis for the monthly Board pack in an accurate and timely manner.
• Work with the wider business to provide explanations that accompanies the analysis.
• Explain actual variances against budget and forecast amounts.
• Work with the wider business to prepare a robust forecast.
• Assist the business in one-off projects that require income analysis.
• Work with the Commercial team to assist in developing pricing strategies and provide support in analysis of the numbers to enable accurate and robust business decisions to be made.
• Provide cross-FP&A support if required.
• Contribute to delivering a great guest experience by performing your role with accuracy and efficiency. Recognising that every task whether guest facing or behind the scenes contributes to supporting the company’s overall LLA Way Strategy and service standards.
• Proactively and positively promote the LLA Way initiatives and projects with all employees and the wider airport community.

PERSON SPECIFICATION:

LLA is looking for an enterprising self-starter who has the attributes shared by the wider business, being integrity, open-mindedness, resilience, and agility, with the desire to continually learn and apply the values of LLA. The specific requirements that are considered essential and desirable for this role are set out below.

Essential:

• Education
• Graduate level or equivalent as demonstrated through experience.
• Chartered Accountant (ACA, CIMA, ACCA, or equivalent) or equivalent as demonstrated through experience.
• Skills and Knowledge
• Communicate effectively and appropriately both face-to-face and in writing.
• Manage and develop mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders.
• Deliver high quality work in a timely manner whilst managing the expectations of stakeholders.
• Responsive and disciplined with the proven ability to manage multiple, potentially conflicting and/or changing priorities, often under time pressure.
• Analyse data and issues and present practical solutions to problems in a clear manner, supported by sound reasoning to form a clear and decisive solution.

Desired:

• Skills and Knowledge
• Broader leadership capability. Ability to contribute to the airport’s growth agenda beyond immediate role remit.
• Experience
• Previous experience within the retail / property industry and ideally, an airport environment, or another infrastructure and/or multi-disciplinary led business.
• Industry Awareness of who key stakeholders are (both external and internal) within the aviation industry and of the organisation's aims and objectives.
• Prior experience in an FP&A team and/or an audit or transactional advisory team.