Senior Strategic Finance Analyst Resume Example
The bar for senior strategic finance analysts: ownership of models driving EBITDA growth. Reporting lists without strategic business context get filtered out.
This resume is for senior strategic finance analysts who own complex P&L segments and drive investment strategy, but aren't yet responsible for leading a full finance department or setting company-wide capital allocation. It also works for Financial Analysts or FP&A Analysts moving into more strategic, revenue-focused roles.
- Ownership of complex financial models that influence executive-level resource allocation
- Evidence of driving measurable EBITDA or revenue improvements through data-backed recommendations
- Ability to translate technical data queries into strategic business insights for non-finance stakeholders
- Professional summary emphasizing specific functional ownership and technical proficiency
- Technical skills categorized by analysis, visualization, and planning tools
- Experience bullets prioritized by business outcome and financial impact rather than task lists
Diana Nguyen
Summary
Experience
- Architected a dynamic financial model for the grocery delivery segment, integrating SQL-based user retention data to forecast long-term unit economics for 3M+ active customers.
- Reduced the monthly close cycle by 38% by automating variance analysis workflows across 14 departments using Anaplan and Power BI.
- Mentored 3 junior analysts on advanced Excel modeling and SQL optimization, increasing team output for quarterly business reviews by 25%.
- Prioritized investment in high-margin retail partnerships over lower-margin expansion zones, contributing to a $1.4M increase in quarterly EBITDA.
- Owned the $45M annual budget for the North American sales organization, tracking monthly spend against forecast for 18 distinct cost centers.
- Developed a churn prediction model in SQL and Tableau that identified $420K in at-risk ARR, enabling proactive retention strategies for the account management team.
- Refined the P&L reporting process for the customer success team, cutting manual data entry by 18 hours per month through Excel-based automation scripts.
- Drove cross-functional alignment between Product and Sales to define pricing for 3 new feature tiers, resulting in a 32% increase in average deal size.
- Engineered a standardized variance analysis template adopted by the global marketing team to track performance across 12 international markets.
- Identified $92K in redundant software licensing costs by auditing vendor contracts and consolidating SaaS seats across the engineering department.
- Created a dashboard for executive reporting that visualized weekly booking trends for 2.5M users, replacing static slide decks with real-time Tableau insights.
Education
Skills
Financial Modeling · Excel · Financial Analysis · Budgeting · Forecasting · SQL · Tableau · Anaplan · Power BI · Strategic Planning · Executive Reporting · P&L Management · Variance Analysis · Process Improvement
What makes this resume effective
- This resume meets the hiring bar for a senior strategic finance analyst by demonstrating advanced financial modeling, cross-functional leadership, and measurable operational efficiency gains.
- See how Diana Nguyen at Instacart uses specific technical triggers—like SQL-based user retention data—to build long-term unit economic forecasts rather than just static reports.
- Notice how the bullet regarding the $45M annual budget at Zendesk proves the scale of financial responsibility and the ability to manage significant cost centers.
How to write better bullet points
Created a financial model to forecast grocery delivery revenue.
Architected a dynamic financial model for the grocery delivery segment, integrating SQL-based user retention data to forecast long-term unit economics for 3M+ customers.
It moves from a vague task to a specific technical achievement that demonstrates scale and sophisticated methodology.
Helped Product and Sales teams decide on new pricing tiers.
Drove cross-functional alignment between Product and Sales to define pricing for 3 new feature tiers, resulting in a 32% increase in average deal size.
It highlights leadership and a specific, high-value business outcome rather than passive participation.
Improved the monthly close process using new software.
Reduced the monthly close cycle by 38% by automating variance analysis workflows across 14 departments using Anaplan and Power BI.
It quantifies the efficiency gain and specifies the tools used to achieve a broad organizational impact.
Senior Strategic Finance Analyst resume writing tips
- Connect your financial models to specific executive decisions or resource allocation shifts.
- Quantify how your process improvements reduced reporting cycles or manual data entry hours.
- Highlight instances where your analysis directly led to cost savings or revenue growth.
Common mistakes
- Over-indexing on reporting rather than strategic analysis; senior roles must show how they influenced the 'why,' not just the 'what.'
- Neglecting to mention technical tools like SQL or Anaplan, which signals you are still relying on basic manual spreadsheets.
- Listing tasks without scope; failing to mention the dollar value of the budgets or P&Ls managed obscures your level of seniority.
Frequently asked questions
Is this resume right for someone with 5-8 years of experience? Yes, if you've transitioned from basic accounting to influencing strategy. It's less effective for roles focused strictly on data entry.
Yes, if you've transitioned from basic accounting to influencing strategy. It's less effective for roles focused strictly on data entry.
Yes, if you have moved beyond basic accounting and are now influencing business strategy through modeling. It is less effective if your primary responsibilities are still limited to data entry and basic ledger reconciliation without decision-making power.
What if my background is in corporate finance rather than a tech startup like Instacart? Yes, because strategic finance principles are universal. Focus on how you managed P&L segments to drive efficiency in your specific industry.
Yes, because strategic finance principles are universal. Focus on how you managed P&L segments to drive efficiency in your specific industry.
The core principles of strategic finance remain the same across industries. You should focus on how you managed P&L segments or budgets to drive efficiency, regardless of whether the product is software or physical goods.
What if I don't have access to exact EBITDA or revenue impact numbers? Highlight the dollar scale of budgets you managed or the percentage of time saved through process automation to demonstrate seniority.
Highlight the dollar scale of budgets you managed or the percentage of time saved through process automation to demonstrate seniority.
You can still demonstrate impact by highlighting the scale of the budgets you managed or the percentage of time saved through process automation. In this resume, Diana Nguyen uses percentage-based improvements for her close cycle and team output, which are just as compelling as dollar figures.
How much should I change before applying? Maintain the technical focus and 'Action + Context + Result' structure, but swap specific software names for the tools used by your target company.
Maintain the technical focus and 'Action + Context + Result' structure, but swap specific software names for the tools used by your target company.
You should maintain the focus on technical tools and the 'Action + Context + Result' bullet structure. Replace the specific software names like Anaplan or Power BI with whatever enterprise resource planning or visualization tools you use daily.
What do hiring managers focus on most at the senior level? They look for strategic partners who identify risks and opportunities early. Show how you identified variances and drove corrective actions.
They look for strategic partners who identify risks and opportunities early. Show how you identified variances and drove corrective actions.
They are looking for strategic partners who can identify risks and opportunities before they show up in the quarterly report. This resume signals that capability by showing how the candidate identified at-risk ARR and prioritized high-margin partnerships.
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