RateGain - Director - Financial Planning & Analysis - CA

Location: Noida / Delhi NCR.

Function: Finance.

About The Role:

We are looking for a strategic and commercially oriented Director - FP&A to lead Financial Planning & Analysis, business finance, financial modelling and strategic finance initiatives.

The role will partner closely with the CFO, CEO, business heads and cross-functional leadership to drive data-led decision-making, optimise capital allocation and support the company's revenue and EBITDA objectives.

The ideal candidate will combine strong FP&A fundamentals with business acumen, financial modelling, M&A exposure and strategic thinking, and should be able to translate complex financial and business data into clear, actionable insights for senior leadership.

Key Responsibilities:

Financial Planning & Analysis:

• Lead the annual budgeting, forecasting and long-range financial planning process across the organisation.
• Own monthly P&L reporting, management reporting and Budget vs. Actual / Forecast vs. Actual analysis.
• Partner with business and functional leaders to drive revenue, EBITDA, margin and cost-efficiency targets.
• Identify key business drivers, risks and opportunities and provide actionable recommendations to the CFO and senior management.
• Monitor departmental OPEX, CAPEX and resource utilisation to ensure adherence to approved budgets.
• Track business performance through relevant financial and operational KPIs.

Business Finance & Strategic Partnering:

• Act as a strategic finance partner to business heads and leadership teams.
• Support business decisions through market, product, customer and profitability analysis.
• Develop business cases and financial models for new products, markets, investments and strategic initiatives.
• Support pricing strategy, commercial analysis, sales productivity and margin optimisation.
• Evaluate ROI and cost-benefit implications of key business initiatives and investments.
• Translate complex financial information into concise, business-relevant insights for decision-making.

Financial Modelling & Strategic Finance:

• Build and review sophisticated financial models for business planning, investment decisions and strategic initiatives.
• Conduct scenario analysis, sensitivity analysis and financial impact assessments.
• Support capital allocation decisions and evaluate optimal deployment of company resources.
• Analyse business performance, unit economics, margins and key SaaS/business metrics as applicable.
• Develop dashboards and analytical tools to improve visibility into business performance.

M&A and Corporate Finance:

• Partner with the M&A / Corporate Finance team on potential acquisitions and strategic transactions.
• Develop financial models and valuation analyses for acquisition targets and new investment opportunities.
• Support financial due diligence, including assessment of revenue, costs, profitability, working capital and business drivers.
• Identify financial risks, revenue leakages and improvement opportunities during due diligence.
• Support post-merger integration through financial planning, reporting, synergy tracking and performance monitoring.
• Work closely with external advisors, bankers and other transaction stakeholders.

Cash Flow & Capital Management:

• Monitor the company's cash flow position and provide visibility into sources and uses of cash.
• Support working capital optimisation and cash-flow forecasting.
• Analyse capital requirements and support capital allocation decisions.
• Partner with the CFO on fundraising, banking relationships and strategic financing initiatives, where required.
• Maintain strong financial controls and ensure integrity of financial information used for decision-making.

MIS, Analytics & Automation:

• Own and enhance monthly/quarterly MIS and management reporting for the CFO and CEO.
• Build dashboards and automated reporting solutions using tools such as Power BI, Tableau, Excel or similar platforms.
• Drive the adoption of advanced analytics and automation across FP&A processes.
• Improve reporting accuracy, timeliness and quality through technology and process improvements.
• Establish standardised reporting frameworks and performance dashboards across functions.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management:

• Work closely with the CFO, CEO, business heads and functional leaders on strategic and financial priorities.
• Present financial insights, forecasts, scenarios and recommendations to senior management.
• Collaborate with Sales, Commercial, Operations, Engineering, HR and other functions to improve financial performance.
• Lead and mentor the FP&A team and build a high-performing, data-driven finance organisation.
• Manage relationships with external stakeholders including bankers, consultants, auditors and transaction advisors.

Key Deliverables:

• Accurate and timely annual budgets, forecasts and long-range plans.
• Strong visibility into revenue, EBITDA, margins, OPEX, CAPEX and cash flow.
• High-quality MIS and dashboards for CEO/CFO decision-making.
• Robust financial models for investments, new products, markets and M&A.
• Improved cost efficiency and capital allocation.
• Identification of revenue leakage and profitability improvement opportunities.
• Strong business partnering across commercial and functional teams.
• Automation and continuous improvement of FP&A processes.

Candidate Profile:

We are looking for a finance leader who is commercially minded, analytically strong and comfortable operating at both strategic and execution levels.

Required Experience:

• 12 - 16+ years of relevant experience in FP&A, Corporate Finance, Business Finance, Strategy Finance or CFO Office roles.
• Experience in a high-growth, technology, SaaS, digital or multinational organisation will be preferred.
• Strong experience in budgeting, forecasting, P&L management and management reporting.
• Proven expertise in financial modelling, business case development and scenario analysis.
• Exposure to M&A, financial due diligence and post-merger integration.
• Strong understanding of capital allocation, cash flow and corporate finance.
• Experience partnering with senior business stakeholders and CXO-level leadership.
• Strong presentation and communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex financial information.

Qualification:

• CA / MBA (Finance) / CFA or equivalent qualification.
• Strong proficiency in Advanced Excel and financial modelling.
• Exposure to Power BI, Tableau or other BI/analytics platforms will be an advantage.

Key Competencies:

• Strategic & commercial mindset.
• Financial modelling & analytical thinking.
• Business partnering.
• FP&A and P&L management.
• M&A / Corporate Finance.
• Capital allocation.
• Pricing & profitability analysis.
• Cash-flow management.
• Data analytics & automation.
• Executive communication & presentation.
• Stakeholder management.
• Problem solving and decision orientation.

What Success Looks Like:

The successful candidate will evolve FP&A from a reporting function into a strategic decision-support function, providing the CFO and business leadership with timely insights on growth, profitability, investments, costs, cash and capital allocation.

This is a high-impact role for a finance leader who can combine strong technical finance expertise with commercial understanding, strategic thinking and the ability to influence business decisions.