Finance Analyst/Rotational Program
FINANCE ANALYST/ROTATIONAL PROGRAM
We seek talented recent or upcoming graduates to join our office in Evanston, IL. These entry-level positions provide an excellent foundation within a dynamic business environment. These roles have the potential to offer significant career development and interaction with senior managers, including our CFO, Corporate Finance Directors, and Regional Leads.
Analysts will rotate through two functional roles within our finance team. These roles are within our corporate FP&A, controllership, client accounting, and finance business partnering teams. All positions are located within the Evanston office. After completing two 1-year rotations, analysts will be placed in an appropriate role below based on preference, ZS needs, and skillset.
Responsibilities:
Corporate Finance
- Create monthly, quarterly and annual reports calculating revenue, cost, and profitability;
- Update revenue and profit forecasts for client accounts, markets, and regions;
- Perform cost analysis to capture insights on company expense trends;
- Collect financial data, conduct trend and comparative analyses, and deliver key insights to senior management;
- Conduct ad hoc financial analysis support;
- Support client teams in project pricing;
- Support large ongoing client projects by calculating cost and margin variances from original plan;
- Manage accounting activities associated with revenue recognition, such as time entry, software and investment cost, and margin;
- Support large contract negotiation by testing financial scenarios.
Corporate Accounting
- Support ZS’s largest, most at-risk projects throughout the project lifecycle;
- Assist in managing revenue recognition including modeling forecast/completion estimates, margins at a project level, and variance analyses;
- Collaborate with others within finance to find solutions to at-risk projects, provide project commentary and flag to leadership if necessary;
- Ensure project financial transactions including billings and collections are maintained;
- Perform monthly governance workstreams to support accounting output, both at project and company level;
- Contribute to new processes, employ new technologies, and ensure governance around our revenue recognition policy;
- Collaborate with others in finance on special projects;
- Prepare general ledger entries by maintaining records and files; reconcile accounts on a monthly basis;
- Help manage corporate tax compliance.
Desired Skills & Experience:
- BA/BS degree in Accounting, Economics, Finance, Business or related field, master’s degree welcomed;
- Up to 2 years of relevant experience;
- Strong software and analytical skills using MS Excel/VBA/macros and experience with large data sets a plus;
- Demonstrated problem-solving skills in a multi-stakeholder environment;
- Strong communication skills, attention to detail, ability to prioritize and multitask;
- Curiosity for how a business performs and can improve;
- Motivation, personal initiative and strong collaborative skills.