Senior Financial Analyst, Purchasing & VAVE

Senior Financial Analyst, Purchasing & VAVE

The Senior Financial Analyst – Purchasing & VAVE drives profitability and cost competitiveness by partnering with Purchasing, Engineering, Operations, and Finance to identify, validate, and deliver sustainable cost-saving opportunities. Through strategic financial analysis, supplier cost management, and value engineering initiatives, this role provides actionable insights that influence business decisions, improve margins, optimize sourcing strategies, and generate measurable financial results across the organization.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Partner with Purchasing, Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, and Finance teams to identify, evaluate, and prioritize VAVE (Value Analysis/Value Engineering) and cost optimization opportunities that drive margin improvement and business performance.
• Develop, analyze, and present financial business cases for sourcing, cost reduction, and VAVE initiatives, providing data-driven recommendations to support strategic decision-making.
• Identify cost reduction, cost avoidance, and value creation opportunities through analysis of product costs, supplier performance, material pricing, market trends, and total cost of ownership (TCO).
• Perform detailed financial and operational analyses to identify cost, gross margin, and profitability outliers across products, programs, suppliers, and business units.
• Evaluate the financial feasibility and expected return of proposed VAVE initiatives and support cross-functional teams through review and approval processes.
• Validate, track, and report realized and projected savings from Purchasing and VAVE initiatives, ensuring alignment with financial targets and accounting requirements.
• Collaborate with suppliers and Purchasing teams to analyze cost structures, benchmark pricing, and identify mutually beneficial cost improvement opportunities.
• Prepare and deliver executive-level reporting, dashboards, and presentations that communicate opportunity pipelines, savings performance, risks, and financial impact.
• Maintain and continuously improve VAVE savings tracking tools, databases, and reporting processes to ensure accurate measurement and visibility of results.
• Monitor and analyze monthly Purchasing and VAVE savings performance against budget, forecast, and strategic objectives, recommending corrective actions as needed.
• Support the annual budget, forecast, and long-range planning processes for material costs, savings initiatives, and other relevant financial metrics.
• Lead or support special projects, ad hoc analyses, and continuous improvement initiatives focused on enhancing profitability, cost competitiveness, and operational efficiency.
• Support the validation, analysis, and reporting of Purchase Price Variance (PPV), ensuring reported savings are supported by SAP transactions, purchasing documentation, and financial validation requirements.
• Support the development and maintenance of financial tracking tools for Purchasing initiatives that extend beyond ERP reporting, including rebates, commercial recoveries, supplier claims, inflation recovery, and other strategic cost initiatives.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Economics, or a related field.
• 5–8 years of progressive financial analysis experience, preferably in manufacturing, purchasing, supply chain, cost management, or operations finance.
• Strong financial modeling, forecasting, business case development, and cost/profitability analysis skills.
• Experience partnering with cross-functional teams and influencing decisions through data-driven insights and recommendations.
• Proven ability to present complex financial information to senior leadership and non-finance stakeholders.
• Advanced pro