Senior Financial Analyst

Department/Group Overview:

The Ad Sales Finance team is seeking a Senior Financial Analyst to support Entertainment digital/addressable ad sales, reporting to the Manager, Ad Sales Finance. The team works closely with Disney Ad Sales Revenue and Yield Management (RYM), Research, Accounting, Strategy, Partnerships teams to deliver strategic, financial and operational insights and goals of the business.

Job Summary:

The Senior Financial Analyst (SFA) will partner with the RYM, Business Development, Programming/Content and Research teams to prepare strategic financial plans and provide KPIs for key forecast periods (annual budget, long-range plan, and quarterly forecasts) for the digital line of business.  This individual will also collaborate with Data Platforms teams to support the development and implementation of forecasting and planning tools and provide all measurement and reporting related to the Ad Sales business.  The successful candidate will contribute to recurring deliverables including Ad Sales Pacing, Rate/Volume analysis, and Forecast/Plan modeling as well as analysis and insights into digital OI growth initiatives such as programmatic, advanced audience targeting, and inventory optimization.

Due to the market-facing nature of our work and our shifting industry landscape, a successful candidate will have the aptitude to efficiently execute their tasks, develop new ways of analyzing and thinking about existing problems, work cross-functionally to get the job done, and contribute to ideas and initiatives generation. This role relies heavily on a working knowledge of the ad sales business.  The ideal candidate will be able to easily navigate and clearly communicate between the ad sales organization and the finance organization.  A strong analytical background to drive business insights and recommendations with quantifiable impact is required.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Work closely with operation teams including Sales, Business Development, Product, Marketing, and Data teams to forecast revenue (weekly reporting, monthly forecasts, Budget, Long Range Plan). Build and develop data queries to extract insights from existing data base, utilize data skills to identify trends in business/metrics, and discover opportunities to improve business health and yield optimization

• Assist with the development, maintenance, and enhancement of reporting tools and financial models.

• Participate in ad-hoc analysis to help drive business strategic business decisions including rights acquisitions, fast channels, podcasting, 3rd party partnerships, and new product updates to help drive engagement.

• Presentation & Decision Support: assist process of creating presentations to support executive decision-making. Regularly present analytical insights to drive decisions and identify areas for improvement

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

• 2-5 years experience in a corporate finance / business analytics role (ad sales experience is a plus)

• Experience with SQL, Tableau, MicroStrategy, database tools preferred.

• Extensive experience and proficient in Microsoft Excel modeling and quantitative data analysis.  Exceptional Excel skills required (nested statements, pivot tables, charting, combining functions like Index Match, Offset and Indirect)

• Exceptional analytical abilities, capable of using data tools to drive decision-making and managing large pools of data in Excel.

• Experience in SAP, COGNOS, or similar financial reporting tool preferred.

• Proactive communication style with the ability to build/foster relationships with business partners internally and externally.

• Strong ability to extract key information and share results that are clear and adaptable to the audience.

• Acute attention to detail and aptitude for troubleshooting data discrepancies

• Strong intellectual curiosity and ability to think outside-the-box.

• Strong work ethic and an ability to prioritize across multiple projects. Goal-oriented and client-facing mentality, entrepreneurial spirit to continue innovating and adding value.

• Bachelor’s degree required; in fields of Finance, Accounting or Economics a plus.