Job Description
The Director of FP&A - Ground leads financial planning, forecasting, budgeting, and analysis for Forward Air's Ground businesses: less-than-truckload (LTL), truckload (TLS), domestic freight forwarding (DFF), and pool distribution. The Director is the finance partner to Ground business unit leadership, owns the Ground financial models and monthly reporting package, and leads a team of a manager and analysts. A central expectation of the role is to move Ground planning and reporting off spreadsheet-based processes and onto the company's data platform, so the team's time shifts from producing numbers to analyzing them.
Core Responsibilities & Duties:
• Lead Ground financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting: annual budget, quarterly forecasts, medium-term plan inputs
• Serve as finance partner to Ground business unit leadership; develop financial plans and monitor performance against targets
• Build and maintain Ground driver-based models (volume, weight, revenue per shipment, linehaul, pickup and delivery, and terminal cost) with the model logic in a governed platform or code rather than in linked workbooks
• Lead the migration of Ground planning and reporting from spreadsheet processes to the company's data platform (Databricks / Microsoft Fabric), in partnership with the Analytics team, which owns the underlying data infrastructure
• Automate the monthly Ground reporting package; success is measured by team time spent on analysis rather than production
• Prepare and present monthly, quarterly, and annual Ground financial results and analysis to executive leadership
• Conduct variance analysis against budget, forecast, and prior periods, explained in terms of the operating drivers
• Provide decision support for Ground strategic initiatives, pricing actions, network changes, and capital investments
• Identify and communicate risks and opportunities in Ground financial performance and recommend corrective actions
• Develop and maintain Ground performance metrics and KPIs
• Serve as business lead for the Ground P&L in the FP&A planning-tool initiative: requirements, process mapping, and testing
• Ensure compliance with internal controls, accounting policies, and procedures
• Manage and develop the Ground FP&A team (manager and analysts), building both analytical and technical skills
• Perform ad hoc analysis and projects as required by senior leadership
Qualifications:
Required
• BA/BS degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related quantitative field; MBA or CFA is a plus
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in financial planning, analysis, budgeting, and forecasting
• Has built financial models, forecasts, or reporting outside Excel (SQL, Python or R, a BI tool, or a planning platform) and can show the work
• Has replaced at least one spreadsheet-based process with an automated, governed one and can explain what changed and who maintains it
• Strong knowledge of financial modeling, financial statements, and corporate finance principles
• Demonstrated experience partnering with business leaders to provide strategic financial insights and recommendations
• Proven track record of leading and developing high-performing teams
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills
• Excellent communication and presentation skills; conveys complex financial information clearly and concisely
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities effectively
• High level of integrity and professionalism, with a commitment to ethical standards
Preferred
• Databricks or Microsoft Fabric; Power BI or Tableau; Python
• Experience working with data engineering on pipelines and data models
• Experience in a finance team that works directly in the data warehouse, or time spent in an analytics or BI role
• Transportation or logistics industry experience, LTL in particular
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