Job Description
The Director, Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) - Ground leads a team of Finance professionals in delivering financial planning, forecasting, budgeting, and business performance analysis for the company’s Ground businesses, including less-than-truckload (LTL), truckload services (TLS), domestic freight forwarding (DFF), and pool distribution. They are the primary finance partner to Ground business leadership, providing strategic insights, decision support, and financial guidance to drive operational and financial performance. They own the Ground financial planning models, forecasting processes, and monthly reporting package, with a focus on modernizing and migrating from spreadsheet-driven workflows to scalable, governed data platforms in partnership with Business Intelligence and Pricing teams. This is a high-visibility position that regularly presents financial results, risks, opportunities, and recommendations to executive leadership.
Responsibilities
Lead financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning activities for the company’s Ground product business, including annual budgets, quarterly forecasts, and medium-term planning processes.
Serve as a strategic finance partner to business unit leaders by developing financial plans, monitoring performance against targets, and providing actionable recommendations.
Build, maintain, and enhance driver-based financial models encompassing volume, weight, revenue per shipment, linehaul, pickup and delivery, terminal costs, and other key operational metrics.
Advance the migration of Ground planning and reporting processes from spreadsheet-based tools to governed enterprise platforms, including Databricks and Microsoft Fabric, in partnership with the Analytics team.
Automate and streamline monthly financial reporting processes to increase team capacity for value-added analysis and business partnership activities.
Prepare and present monthly, quarterly, and annual financial results, forecasts, and business insights to executive leadership.
Perform variance analysis against budget, forecast, and prior-period results, clearly explaining operational and financial drivers.
Provide financial analysis and decision support for strategic initiatives, pricing actions, network optimization efforts, and capital investment opportunities.
Identify, assess, and communicate financial risks and opportunities while recommending corrective actions and mitigation strategies.
Develop, track, and maintain key performance indicators (KPIs), dashboards, and performance metrics for Ground operations.
Serve as the business lead for Ground-related FP&A planning tool initiatives, including requirements gathering, process mapping, user acceptance testing, and implementation support.
Ensure compliance with internal controls, accounting policies, financial reporting standards, and established procedures.
Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing Ground FP&A team, fostering both analytical excellence and technical capability development.
Conduct ad hoc financial analysis, reporting, and special projects in support of senior leadership and evolving business priorities.
All other duties as assigned to meet evolving business needs.
Qualifications
Education: Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related quantitative field from an accredited college or university required; MBA preferred.
Certification/Licensure: Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), other relevant professional designation(s) preferred.
Experience: Seven (7)+ years of progressive experience in financial planning and analysis, budgeting, forecasting, corporate finance, or related disciplines, including leadership responsibilities.
Industry Exposure: Transportation, logistics, supply chain, or less-than-truckload (LTL) industry experience preferred.
Proven ability to lead, mentor, and develop high-performing finance teams in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
Demonstrated experience building financial models, forecasts, reporting solutions, or analytical tools outside of Excel utilizing technologies such as SQL, Python, R, business intelligence platforms, or FP&A planning applications.
Proven success replacing spreadsheet-based processes with automated, governed, and scalable reporting or planning solutions.
Strong understanding of financial modeling, financial statements, performance management, forecasting methodologies, and corporate finance principles.
Experience partnering with senior business leaders to provide strategic financial insights, influence decisions, and drive business performance.
Preferred experience with Databricks, Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Tableau, Python, data warehousing concepts, and collaboration with data engineering or analytics teams.
Demonstrated discretion and confidentiality in handling and protecting sensitive information.
Technical: Proficient with common office technologies, including Windows PCs, Microsoft O365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) and web conferencing (Teams, Zoom, Webex, etc.).
Environment: Comfort commuting to/from and working in a 100% on-site setting (listed in this posting), with travel for related meetings/events.
Forward Air is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
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Numbers & Facts
| Location | Coppell, TX |
| Industry | Transport and Storage - Materials |
| Company Size | 2,500 to 4,999 employees |
| Year Founded | 1981 |
| Website | https://www.forwardair.com/content/careers-0 |
About Company
Since 1990, Forward Air has been a leading provider of ground transportation and related logistics services to the North American air freight and expedited LTL market. We offer surface shipping on an accelerated “time-definite” basis, delivering cargo at a specific time, but under less time-sensitive situations – supplying you with a cost effective, reliable alternative to air transportation. We work with companies of all sizes to develop tangible advantages and build the best products to meet your specific needs. Forward Air presents to the wholesale transportation community (logistics companies, freight forwarders, integrated air cargo carriers, passenger/ cargo airlines, and non-traditional shippers), a single-source provider that can deliver more supply chain services and a superior menu of choices. Throughout the years we have added supplementary lines to our linehaul service, such as full truckload operations (Truckload Services), final-mile coverage (Complete® Cartage), and an Airline Logistics program, and we will continue to expand our services to meet the changing needs and growth of our customer base.
Forward Air is structured to optimize both savings and service to our customers. Direct partnerships with owner-operators and other surface transportation providers, enable us to remain cost-competitive. The Forward Air network is designed with over 90 facilities located at or near major U.S. and Canadian airports, 12 regional sort centers and over 300 beyond points (secondary airports provided through our Complete Cartage service), creating one of the most comprehensive linehaul networks in the industry.
The foundation product for Forward Air is our expedited linehaul service, offering consistent and reliable transit and on-time, damage-free deliveries. By locating terminals on or near airports and maintaining a scheduled transportation network, we are able to arrange for convenient and consistent service with broad geographic coverage. Shipments of varying sizes (TL/LTL) are received at our terminals and transported by contracted service providers either (1) on a direct truck to the destination terminal, (2) through our Columbus, Ohio central sorting hub, or (3) through one of our 12 regional hubs, where they are unloaded, sorted, and reloaded in rapid fashion. After reloading the shipments, our contracted service providers deliver them to the destination city for early morning recovery. Through our Forward Air Complete® cartage service, customers also can have shipments picked up from the shipper, delivered to the final consignee, or transferred at the airport, simplifying the freight management processes. These options allow us to maximize handling efficiency of each shipment while minimizing freight loss and damage, improving transit times over traditional ground transportation.
Skills
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