Financial Analyst

Financial Analyst

This position supports financial planning, analysis, regulatory and budgeting needs for Southern Company and its subsidiaries. 

Responsibilities include: 

• Provide timely solutions using critical thinking to resolve complex requests from the subsidiaries
• Understand, develop, maintain, and effectively use the UISolutions models to support the needs of the various Southern Company subsidiaries
• Train and support users on the UISolutions Models
• Continuously examine and improve processes and tools used throughout supported organizations
• Build and sustain trusted relationships and communicate effectively based on the audience

JOB REQUIREMENTS

 Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Finance, Accounting, or related field required

Experience:

• 2-4 years of experience in Engineering, Finance, Accounting, or related field required
• Experience using UI Solutions software including financial, capital or tax model preferred
• Experience in financial systems/planning, analysis, or regulatory preferred
• Will consider candidates with an industrial engineering background
• Experience with Excel based models or reporting systems preferred
• Experience in utility finance, accounting and rate making principles preferred

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

Financial & Business Acumen requirements:

• Knowledge of all of the common financial statements and the interactions/interrelationships between them
• Knowledge of general financial concepts and common financial formulas (for example, debt structures, earnings per share (EPS), cost of capital, etc.)
• Knowledge of finance principles and processes
• Knowledge of basic macro-economic values (e.g., CPI, GDP, exchange rates, etc.)   
• Knowledge of accounting concepts and practices (e.g., accrual accounting, cash accounting, etc.) 
• Knowledge of the accounting close process 
• Knowledge of sources of information about tax policies and their implications on projections   
• Ability to read and interpret corporate annual reports
• Ability to provide input or support financial close and reporting activities
• Ability to define, incorporate and report on financial and/or non-financial key performance indicators
• Ability to define and schedule project/workflow elements and their interaction
• Ability to coordinate and communicate deadlines, deliverables and expectations in the workflow process
• Ability to synthesize information to create conclusions, alternatives and recommendations
• Ability to perform variance analysis and reporting (e.g., actuals v. prior periods, actuals v. plan, actuals v. forecast, etc.)
• Ability to create financial statement projections - (P&L/income statement, cash flow, balance sheet, equity statements, etc.)
• Ability to create a capital expenditure/investment analysis 
• Ability to create and perform sensitivity analyses and scenario analyses, including "what-if" scenarios and analyses

Thought process and analytical requirements:

• Seek out and embrace opportunities to research and resolve complex and challenging problems
• Supplement previous knowledge and experience with robust critical thinking skills to effectively and efficiently solve complex problems
• Ability to perform an information gap analysis (i.e., determine the information that is missing or needed to complete the task)       
• Ability to integrate information and data into analysis       
• Ability to identify outliers in data and determine the causes (i.e., data that does not seem to fit, etc.)       
• Ability to distill (combine and/or aggregate data while excluding irrelevant data) from numerous sources to create meaningful information       
• Ability to determine and assess the seasonality of an industry       
• Ability to assess reasonableness of conclusions and to test conclusion against various scenarios
• Ability to research and self-educate to close knowledge gaps and learn new concepts
• Knowledge of user acceptance testing (UAT) during software implementation
• Knowledge of spreadsheet and database structures and functions
• Knowledge of software/data version control concepts and techniques (e.g., naming conventions, annotations, comments, protocols and documentation, etc.) 
• Ability to identify processes that can be automated and communicate desired output to the implementation team
• Ability to create templates for information gathering       
• Ability to assess existing systems and reporting tools 
• Ability to review a completed task and identify continuous improvement opportunities
• Ability to engage with stakeholders to achieve management expectations
• Ability to test and validate a model (e.g., cross-footing, consistency testing, reasonableness assessment, etc.)      

Systems and Models requirements:

• Knowledge of user acceptance testing (UAT) during software implementation
• Knowledge of spreadsheet and database structures and functions
• Knowledge of software/data version control concepts and techniques (e.g., naming conventions, annotations, comments, protocols and documentation, etc.) 
• Ability to identify processes that can be automated and communicate desired output to the implementation team
• Ability to create templates for information gathering       
• Ability to assess existing systems and reporting tools 
• Ability to review a completed task and identify continuous improvement opportunities
• Ability to engage with stakeholders to achieve management expectations
• Ability to test and validate a model (e.g., cross-footing, consistency testing, reasonableness assessment, etc.)       

Behavioral Attributes:

• Able to adjust easily to changing priorities
• Exhibits a high degree of initiative and is proactive
• Takes personal responsibility for assignments and pride in their work product
• Understands broad implications of decisions and work activities
• Grasps new concepts quickly
• Ability to build effective relationships with team and other groups 
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Strong organization and documentation skills
• Demonstrate basic leadership skills
• Ability to prioritize, organize and complete projects