Financial Analyst Job Description
A financial analyst job description template covering FP&A duties, the ATS keywords recruiters screen for, and how the title differs by track.
"Financial analyst" is one of the most overloaded titles in the job market. Under that one label sits corporate FP&A — the person who builds the forecast and explains why revenue missed it — investment or equity analysis, and pricing or revenue analysis, and the three have almost nothing in common day to day beyond a shared fondness for spreadsheets.
This particular posting is worth reading closely for exactly that reason. Tessworth is a financial-services company, and a candidate skimming the title might assume the opening is a research seat evaluating outside securities. It isn't. This is an internal FP&A role: building the budget, explaining variance to the people who set it, and turning the close into a forecast the executive team can act on. The employer's industry and the role's actual function are two different facts, and postings rarely separate them.
The other thing worth knowing before applying: the years-of-experience line on financial analyst postings swings more widely than the job itself does. A two-year requirement and a five-year requirement often describe the same day-to-day work at different companies; what actually separates candidates is how far they can take a model — whether they can build a three-statement forecast from scratch or only maintain one someone else built.
Tessworth · Boston, MA
Full-time · Hybrid
$78,000 – $102,000
About the role
Tessworth is hiring a Financial Analyst to join the corporate FP&A team supporting our executive leadership and business-unit heads. You will own a piece of the monthly forecast, build the analysis that goes into board materials, and be the person people come to when a number needs explaining before a Friday afternoon.
This is an internal-facing analyst role, not an investment or portfolio seat — you'll spend your time in our own numbers, not in outside markets.
What you'll do
- Build and maintain the monthly forecast and variance analysis for assigned business units, in partnership with department leads.
- Prepare board-ready financial packages, translating raw numbers into a narrative leadership can act on.
- Partner with accounting to understand what drove the month's actuals before presenting them upward.
- Maintain and improve the three-statement financial model used for annual budgeting.
- Run ad hoc analysis on pricing, headcount and vendor spend as questions come up from leadership.
- Support the annual budgeting cycle end to end, from templates to final sign-off.
- Document the assumptions behind every forecast so the next person — including future you — can follow the logic.
What we're looking for
- 2-4 years of experience in financial planning and analysis, corporate finance, or a related analytical role.
- Advanced Excel skills — you build models, not just fill in someone else's template.
- Solid grasp of GAAP and how the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement connect.
- Experience with SQL or a BI tool sufficient to pull your own data rather than waiting on someone else.
- The ability to explain a variance to a non-finance audience without losing the nuance.
- A bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics or a related field.
Nice to have
- Experience with NetSuite or a comparable ERP and reporting stack.
- Exposure to Power BI or Tableau for building self-serve dashboards.
- Progress toward the CFA, particularly if you're interested in moving toward investment analysis later.
- Prior experience in financial services specifically, where regulatory reporting adds a layer general-industry FP&A doesn't have.
- Comfort presenting directly to senior leadership, not just preparing the slides someone else presents.
Benefits
- Medical, dental and vision coverage, with employee premiums covered in full.
- 401(k) with a 4% company match, vested immediately.
- Hybrid schedule: three days a week in the Boston office.
- Exam and materials reimbursement for the CFA or another relevant professional certification.
- Twenty days of paid time off plus company holidays.
Salary range
As posted for this sample role. Real pay varies by employer, location and experience.
$78,000–$102,000/ yr
ATS keywords for this role
The applicant tracking system (ATS) — the recruiting software a hiring team searches and filters applicants with — will screen for these. Weight shows how central each one is to this specific posting.
Required and central (6)
Important (6)
Mentioned in passing (6)
Frequently asked questions
Is a financial analyst at a financial-services company the same as an investment analyst?
Not necessarily, and this posting is a good example of why. This role is internal FP&A — budgeting, forecasting and reporting on Tessworth's own numbers — not an investment or equity-research seat evaluating outside securities. Both jobs carry the same title. Read the responsibilities section, not the employer's industry, to tell them apart.
Do I need a CFA for this role?
No. The CFA is far more relevant to investment analysis and portfolio management tracks than to corporate FP&A. It's listed here as a plus, mainly useful if you eventually want to move toward the investment side, not a requirement for doing this job well.
How many years of experience do I actually need?
Postings for this title vary widely — some ask for two years, others five, for comparable day-to-day work. What matters more than the number is whether you can build a financial model from scratch versus only maintain one someone else built. Emphasize that in your application regardless of your exact years.
What's the difference between a financial analyst and a business analyst?
A financial analyst works in dollars — forecasts, variance, GAAP-based statements. A business analyst works in process and requirements — mapping how a system or workflow should function, often for a software or operations change. The titles sit near each other on an org chart but call on different skills.
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