Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis

Forward Air · Coppell

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The Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis owns the consolidation of the company’s forecasting and planning processes and leads monthly business performance recaps, explaining what happened operationally each month: volume, yield, cost, and margin drivers behind the numbers. They sit at the center of the consolidated P&L, leading forecasting, budgeting, monthly business reviews, and Board reporting, while partnering closely with segment finance leaders and Accounting. The Manager translates complex financial and operational data into actionable insights for Finance leaders and the Executive team. 

The ideal candidate:

  • Thinks like the business - understands how freight volume, yield, fuel and linehaul costs flow through the P&L

  • Owns the answer, not the file - goes from question to recommendation without being told which tab to update

  • Automates the second time - any task done twice gets a template, a query or a workflow

  • AI native - uses AI daily to draft commentary, build decks, reconcile files and research markets, and knows how to check the output

Responsibilities

  • Own the consolidated monthly forecasting process (3+9, 6+6, and 9+3 forecasts) and annual budget cycle, including timelines, templates, and segment submissions.

  • Develop and maintain driver-based financial models linking volume, yield, purchased transportation, labor, and headcount assumptions to financial results.

  • Build scenario analyses and pro forma models supporting acquisitions, divestitures, restructuring initiatives, and other strategic opportunities.

  • Coordinate planning activities across business segments and ensure alignment of forecast assumptions.

  • Deliver monthly variance analyses comparing actual results to forecast, budget, and prior year performance, including concise commentary on key drivers.

  • Prepare consolidated Business Review MBR and Board reporting materials, including EBITDA bridges, margin analysis, and KPI dashboards.

  • Partner with Finance, Accounting, and operational leaders across Ground, Air, Ocean, and Contract Logistics on forecast assumptions and performance.

  • Lead ad hoc analyses related to pricing, fuel surcharge impacts, cost allocation, SG&A initiatives, capital expenditures, and working capital (DSO/DPO).

  • Translate market data (freight indices, peer benchmarks) into planning assumptions

  • Support monthly close activities through variance investigation, reporting validation, and reconciliation of planning and financial results.

  • Serve as a power user and design partner for Anaplan implementation and related planning, consolidation, and reporting tools and data flows.

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