Operations Finance Analyst

Independent Forgings and Alloys Ltd.; Sheffield; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading manufacturing company in Sheffield is seeking an experienced Operations Finance Analyst to prepare operational financial reports, analyze costs, and support the finance team. The ideal candidate will have at least two years of experience in operations finance with strong analytical skills, advanced Excel capabilities, and experience with ERP systems. This role offers opportunities for professional development and comes with comprehensive benefits including holidays, pension contributions, and bonus schemes.

Benefits

33 days holiday including bank holidays

5% pension contribution

Bonus scheme

Westfield cash plan

Access to fitness apps and gyms

Free work wear and PPE

Genuine development opportunities

Qualifications

• Minimum two years’ experience in operations finance or cost analysis.
• Hands-on experience with ERP systems.
• Experience supporting budgeting and forecasting activities.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and deliver operational financial reports and KPIs.
• Identify and monitor cost-saving opportunities.
• Work closely with finance and operations teams.

Skills

Advanced Excel and data modelling capabilities

Strong analytical and cost-modelling skills

Excellent communication and presentation skills

Experience with ERP systems

Working knowledge of BI tools

Education

CIMA/ACCA (or equivalent)

Tools

SAP

Power BI

Tableau

Job description

Permanent, Full Time

Hours of work – Monday to Thursday 08.15 – 16:30, Friday – 08:15 – 16:00 (37 hours)

Independent Forgings and Alloys Ltd (IFA) are continuing to invest and grow, and we are looking to add to our Finance team.

We are now looking for an experienced Operations Finance Analyst. Over the last few years, we have invested in the business and have successfully doubled our turnover. We are looking to continue this growth and are looking to for the right people to help us join our team.

Main Purpose of the Role

As our Operations Finance Analyst, you will prepare and deliver operational financial reports, dashboards and KPIs and analyse production, procurement, inventory, and supply chain costs. You will monitor performance against budgets and forecasts, investigate variances and support month-end close activities, including accruals and cost allocations.

Main duties of the role include

Cost Control & Process Improvement

• Identify and monitor cost‑saving opportunities, supporting continuous improvement initiatives with financial analysis.
• Improve data accuracy, reporting tools, and analytical processes.

Operations Support & Decision‑Making

• Partner with commercial, manufacturing, and quality teams to evaluate performance and conduct root‑cause analysis.
• Deliver ROI analysis for capital expenditure and productivity initiatives, providing insight into pricing, product costs, and throughput optimisation.

Budgeting, Forecasting & Planning

• Support annual budgets and forecasts through financial modelling of operating scenarios, cost trends, and capacity planning.
• Track and forecast key cost drivers including labour, materials, overheads, and inventory.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with finance, operations, procurement, and supply chain teams.
• Communicate financial insights to finance and non‑finance stakeholders and support ERP or reporting system enhancements.

Your background should include

Essential

• Minimum two years’ experience in operations finance, cost analysis, financial planning, ideally within manufacturing.
• Advanced Excel and data modelling capabilities, including pivot tables, forecasting models and macros.
• Strong analytical and cost‑modelling skills to support data‑driven decision making.
• Hands on experience with ERP systems, such as SAP, Oracle, or NetSuite.
• Working knowledge of BI tools e.g. Power BI, Tableau etc.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with a proactive problem‑solving approach & strong commercial awareness.

Desirable

• Studying towards CIMA/ACCA (or equivalent).
• Exposure to the heavy metals industry.
• Experience supporting budgeting and forecasting activities.

About Independent Forgings

Independent Forgings and Alloys (IFA) is one of Britain’s leading independent aerospace and industrial forgers. The unique feature about IFA is the combination of open and closed‑die forging while also undertaking the whole production process from raw material to the finished product in one location. Operating from a 680 000ft² facility in Sheffield, we manufacture high‑integrity, open‑die and closed‑die forged components in nickel alloy, titanium, stainless steel and carbon alloys for customers and tier‑one suppliers within the aerospace, nuclear, power generation, marine as well as oil and gas sector.

Why work for us?

At IFA we pride ourselves on being a great place to work. As one of the UK’s leading forge manufacturing company we want to ensure that we attract, motivate and retain the best people who can deliver the best service to the company and our customers.

We offer you:

• Holidays – you will have 33 days holiday, including bank holidays.
• Pension scheme – IFA wants to provide its employees a good foundation for the life after work and hence offers a 5% contribution.
• Bonus scheme – this is linked to team and company performance.
• Westfield cash plan – IFA provides level 1 health cash plan which comes along with numerous discounts and special offers, including gym discounts, online, high street and grocery retailers and many more.
• Wellhub – access to various fitness apps and gyms in the local area.
• Free work wear and PPE.
• Development – we offer genuine development opportunities to progress your career.