FINANCIAL ANALYST

SMCP North America, business unit of SMCP Group, lead the development of Parisian brands Sandro and Maje in North America. It directly operates 129 points of sales in the US and Canada, and gathers about 450 staff. 
With three distinct contemporary Parisian fashion brands, SMCP is a global leading company in the accessible luxury sector. The Group operates 1,176 points of sales and its brands are present in 35 countries worldwide as of June 2016. Evelyne Chetrite and Judith Milgrom founded Sandro and Maje in Paris, in 1984 and 1998 respectively and continue to provide creative direction for the brands. Claudie Pierlot was also founded in 1984 by Madame Claudie Pierlot, and acquired by the Group in 2009. 

Summary:

The senior financial analyst will support the USA and Canada business units and assist in developing business controls and reports to ensure financial integrity and accuracy.  Essential duties and responsibilities include monthly close, budgeting, long range planning and forecasting, variance analysis, decision support projects, and ad hoc analysis. 

Responsibilities:

Participate in the monthly financial close process; perform comprehensive analysis of key expense and balance sheet items to ensure accurate financial results.
Conduct deep dive analysis on gross margin by style on a monthly basis; compare actual to budget/forecast and highlight key findings.
Monitor P&L performance, providing reporting on actual results to budget and forecast, including detailed measurements and explanations to all variances.
Assist in the preparation of presentations including monthly business reviews, annual budgets, and long-term strategic planning initiatives.
Manage the upload process of budgets and forecasts into Cognos. Develop templates and maximize the use of Cognos in the budgeting/forecasting process.
Contribute to the preparation of annual budgets and long range plans that meet all corporate requirements, are aligned with divisional strategies, and incorporate recommendations from key business partners.
Provide business partners with ongoing financial insight into operational efficiencies; assess and communicate spending reduction opportunities; share early identification of problem areas and relevant reporting as appropriate.
Develop value-added cross-divisional and cross-functional partnerships to maintain awareness of business activities, and leverage knowledge and best practices.
Prepare special projects and ad-hoc financial analysis as required.

Qualifications:

Individual must have a Bachelors degree in Finance or Accounting and at least 2 years of equivalent work experience in retail planning and analysis.  Solid knowledge of accounting and related financial issues with exceptional mathematical and analytical abilities.  Qualified candidate must be extremely detail-oriented, strong verbal and written communication skills.  Fluent in French a plus.