Reporting Strategy Principal Analyst - Finance

Whole Foods Market (“WFM”) is hiring an experienced Finance professional to develop and lead its Financial Reporting Strategy. The primary focus will be to streamline reporting, align on key metrics, and provide consistent financial results across business partners. The Reporting Strategy Principal Analyst will lead efforts to automate existing reporting, define reporting ownership and best practices, educate the broader Finance team, and help define business needs. This person will utilize a network of other finance, analytics, and data partners to develop a Reporting Strategy based on an evolving reporting platform roadmap.
Our team thrives in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment and is skilled in prioritization, business case assessment, financial planning, and quantifying business outcomes to inform decision making. The ideal candidate is a strong communicator with the ability to partner cross-functionally, has strong written/verbal communication skills, drives continuous improvement, enjoys problem-solving, and has a strong finance background.
Additional Information:
Whole Foods Market is currently observing a 3-day hybrid office model.
This role has the option to be based in our Austin, TX or Chicago, IL office.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develops and maintains a financial Reporting Strategy based on an evolving system platform roadmap and establishes a governance and oversight process for the Finance team.
• Provides thought leadership, drives continuous improvement, and ensures strong modeling, reporting, and analytics.
• Maintains a high level of curiosity about our business and collaborates with peers and business leaders to understand primary drivers of performance to build long-term appropriate reporting tools.
• Develops and maintains reporting portfolio governance with a focus on streamlining to eliminate manual and redundant efforts.
• Ensures wide-spread sharing and application of lessons learned.
• Oversees the automation and production of senior-level, business-sensitive, and complex reports and plays a key role in providing actionable metrics, visualizations, and data-driven reporting.
• Contributes to the design and implementation of scalable, self-serve data products across multiple reporting platforms and toolsets.
• Communicates clearly to all stakeholders on goals/expectations to meet defined timelines.
• Generate high-quality, error-free deliverables appropriate for executive presentations.
• Partners with cross-functional leadership to determine Finance reporting requirements, definitions, processes, and accountabilities.
• Coordinates the overall approach, branding, and structure to create a unified voice amongst the team and allow for quick and consistent reconciliation between reports and systems.
• Facilitates meetings and committees to drive and influence decision-making.
• Ensures consistent and clear documentation for reporting ownership, standards, and reporting solutions which includes adherence to appropriate style guides and requirements.
• Supports identifying appropriate data security, availability and integrity.
• May lead projects that collaborate with multiple analysts across finance teams.
• Drives the evolution and utilization of the Financial Data Model (FDM) within WFM.
• Provides though leadership on FDM changes required to meet the evolving needs of the business.
• Informs requirements for upstream accounting and transactional systems to ensure the appropriate application of data elements.
• Ensures alignment and integration between WFM and Amazon FDMs.
• Participates in and supports data governance processes to maintain data integrity and relevance.
• Serves as an overall mentor for the Finance team on reporting resources and technical approach.
• Other ad hoc duties as required.

PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE

• Advanced understanding of Financial Planning & Analysis concepts, principles and practices.
• Excellent ability to compile, monitor, and examine financial statements, reports & accounts.
• Extensive experience with multiple reporting and Accounting and Financial systems.
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, Workday, Tableau, and other WFM reporting tools.
• Able to identify improved methods of performing database management, manipulation and analysis.
• Data warehouse architecture and modeling experience preferred.

ADAPTABILITY

• Engages with leadership to ensure priorities align with and support strategic business objectives.

COMMUNICATION, IMPACT & INFLUENCE

• Demonstrates exceptional interpersonal communication skills and levels of tact, diplomacy and confidentiality.
• Communicates effectively with all types of audiences, internally and externally, including senior leadership.
• Conveys and consults on complex matters with broad organizational significance.

TEAMWORK

• Cultivates a sense of community by collaborating with fellow Team Members to achieve group or organizational goals.
• Supports a philosophy of ‘shared fate’.

EMPOWERMENT & ACCOUNTABILITY

• Provides consultation and advice to others within and beyond the team.

JUDGEMENT & DECISION MAKING

• Develops complex solutions to business problems through in-depth analysis and coordination/negotiation with key decision-makers.
• Uses experience, innovation, and judgment to make decisions that may be based on partial information.
• Considers enterprise-wide implications of decisions and recommendations.

BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE

• Demonstrates strategic understanding of business objectives, competitive strengths, and opportunities of WFM and supported regions/stores.
• Leverages knowledge of customer, market, and industry trends and emerging challenges to make business improvement recommendations.
• Demonstrates exceptional knowledge of the WFM product mix, supply base, and retail operations.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

BA/BS and/or Master’s degree and 6-8 years relevant experience OR equivalent combination of education and relevant experience. Education in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance or Economics preferred.

At Whole Foods Market, we provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all Team Members and candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, marital status, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic. Whole Foods Market hires and promotes individuals solely based on qualifications for the position to be filled and business needs.

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