Strategic Finance Associate

Dubizzle Limited; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading finance and analytics firm in Cambridge is seeking a strategic Finance Associate to support commercial finance. You will design robust Excel models to forecast player churn and analyze lifecycle data. Essential qualifications include strong Excel skills and a relevant degree. This role provides a chance to collaborate with various teams and offers a hybrid working model.

Qualifications

• Experience building financial or analytical models from scratch.
• Strong understanding of cohort analysis and churn metrics.
• Ability to communicate insights clearly to non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Design and build Excel model to track and forecast player churn.
• Support preparation of Board materials and business cases.
• Analyse player lifecycle data to identify churn drivers.

Skills

Strong Excel skills

Analytical skills

Cohort analysis

Communication skills

Education

Relevant degree in Finance, Economics, Mathematics

Tools

SQL

Power Query

BI tools (Looker, Tableau, Power BI)

Job description

Role Overview

We are seeking a highly analytical and detail-oriented strategic Finance Associate to support the commercial finance team in understanding and forecasting player behaviour, with a particular focus on player churn and retention.

The successful candidate will design, build, and maintain a robust Excel-based cohort model that quantifies churn dynamics, supports financial forecasting, and helps guide strategic decisions around player lifetime value, marketing ROI, and retention initiatives.

Location: Hybrid – 2 days a week in Jagex office (Cambridge)

Reports to: Director of Commercial Finance

Key Responsibilities

Model Development & Maintenance

• Design and build a dynamic Excel model to track and forecast player churn by cohort, incorporating key behavioural and financial metrics (e.g. acquisition date, spend, activity, retention curves).
• Maintain and update the model regularly with new data from finance and data analytics teams.
• Ensure the model is transparent, auditable, and scalable for future business needs.

Support with the preparation of Board materials & Data Analysis & Insights

• Support with the preparation of Board materials.
• Maintain the on-going partnership with the Games and Data teams to reflect changes to assumptions and game roadmaps.
• Supporting creation of business cases to calculate and support ROI narrative.

Analyse player lifecycle data

• Analyse player lifecycle data to identify churn drivers, retention trends, and revenue impacts.
• Segment players into cohorts (e.g. by acquisition channel, geography, game title, or spend level).
• Work closely with marketing and product teams to quantify the impact of retention campaigns or game changes.

Financial Forecasting & Reporting

• Integrate churn assumptions into revenue and cash flow forecasts.
• Support budgeting and scenario modelling by providing insight into expected churn rates and lifetime values.
• Prepare and present findings to finance leadership and key stakeholders across the business.
• Work closely with product teams to translate Jagex position in the games industry & beyond.

Collaboration & Cross-Functional Work

• Partner with Data, Marketing, and Product teams to align definitions and data inputs.
• Collaborate with BI and data engineers to automate model inputs over time (e.g. via SQL or Power Query).
• Translate complex analytical outputs into clear, actionable insights for non-technical stakeholders.

Key Skills & Experience

Essential

• Strong Excel skills, including advanced formulas, data modelling, Power Query, and data visualisation (PivotTables, Charts).
• Experience building financial or analytical models from scratch.
• Excellent quantitative and analytical skills with a keen attention to detail.
• Strong understanding of cohort analysis, churn modelling, or customer lifetime value (LTV) metrics.
• Ability to communicate insights clearly to senior non-technical audiences.
• Relevant degree in Finance, Economics, Mathematics, or related field.
• Experience relating to prior employment in Big 4, Investment Banking, Consulting, other Corporate Finance or similar / equivalent.

Desirable

• Experience in gaming, entertainment, or subscription-based businesses.
• Familiarity with SQL or data extraction from BI tools (e.g. Looker, Tableau, Power BI).
• Exposure to Python, R, or other statistical tools for churn or retention modelling.
• Understanding of digital marketing metrics and player acquisition funnels.

Personal Attributes

• Curious and data-driven with a proactive approach to problem solving.
• Comfortable managing large, complex datasets.
• Strong business acumen – able to link data insights to financial performance.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Passion for gaming and understanding player behaviour.