Conveys those findings to Executives and Senior leaders in presentations, dashboards, and other communications + Builds and maintains labor/financial models that efficiently ladder from person/time to rollup financial summaries + Develops critical business case inputs for planning and investment decisions + Liaises with Technical Accounting and Fixed Assets to ensure proper treatment and documentation of capital projects + Assists in crafting budgeting and forecasting decks for executive discussions **Internal / External Reporting** + Prepares and distributes monthly financial reports detailing performance + Proactively identifies key insights in performance trends and provides analysis + Streamlines project tracking and transparency to stakeholders + Supports investor presentations and data requirements for reporting **Skills you will need here:** + Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in accounting, finance, or a related field + Minimum of 2-4 years' experience in FP&A, private equity, or a similar role + Prior experience in a Finance role supporting the R&D function with specific expertise with time-tracking tools, Jira, and/or similar; ability to translate those non-financial tools into financial metrics + Excellent working knowledge of Excel and PowerPoint + Experience, confidence, and capability to collaborate with and influence senior leaders + Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills with an ability to balance multiple activities + Aptitude for utilizing AI and partnering in operational transformations + Strong verbal and written communication skills + Outstanding analytical, quantitative, and problem-solving skills + Curiosity, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a willingness to collaborate + Self-starter who takes initiative; confident under pressure and meets deadlines **About Cengage Group** Cengage Group offers digital products and services to help learners develop proficiencies for job readiness. **What you will do here:** **R&D Project-Based Analysis including budgeting & forecasting** + Responsible for tracking time and cost spent in R&D supporting various Business Units, corporate initiatives, and alignment to strategic priorities + Monitors and analyzes R&D resource deployment activity and trends over time.