Finance Data Lead

We’re 1st Central, a market-leading insurance company utilising smart data and technology at pace. Rapid growth has been based on giving our 1.4 million customers exactly what they want: great value insurance with an excellent service. And that’s the same for our colleagues too; we won Insurance Employer of the Year at the British Insurance Awards 2024 and our Glassdoor score is pretty mega too!

Are you passionate about driving data excellence within finance? Do you thrive on enhancing data functionality that supports business success? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

At First Central, we’re looking for a skilled Finance Data Lead to own and evolve our financial data landscape. In this pivotal role, you’ll lead the change journey to support and deliver data management, reporting, and analytics for our Finance team. With a strong foundation in financial data analysis, data governance, and business intelligence, you’ll work closely with stakeholders across Finance, IT, and the wider business to ensure our financial data is accurate, secure, and fit for purpose.

Skills that will make you a great fit:

• Data expertise in a finance context – You bring strong experience in financial data analysis, reporting, and business intelligence, with a solid grasp of systems like Workday and Adaptive Insights.
• Solution-focused mindset – You’re skilled at translating finance requirements into actionable data solutions and thrive on improving processes through automation and analytics.
• Strong data governance knowledge – You understand the importance of data accuracy, consistency, and control, and can ensure financial data aligns with governance principles and business needs.
• Collaborative and influential – You’re proactive, great with stakeholders, and confident working across Finance, Data, and Tech teams to drive change and deliver results.

We're big on working flexibly - you'll spend most of your time working from home, with 1 day per week in the office at Haywards Heath, West Sussex - because collaborating with colleagues is always great, right? But of course, it’s your choice - if you prefer to be in the office more - that's good with us too. We're also open for you to work from our Salford Quays office in Manchester. If you're based a little further afield, let’s chat—remote working within the UK is absolutely an option!

What’s involved:

• Develop a clear understanding of First Central’s finance data landscape and how it supports reporting, forecasting, and planning.
• Work closely with Finance, Data, and Technology teams to define, capture, and document data requirements.
• Ensure smooth integration between finance systems and the wider data pipeline, including key logic and calculations.
• Help shape and evolve the Data Roadmap for Finance, aligning with strategic priorities and business needs.
• Collaborate with Data teams on key projects such as the ADP initiative, delivering valuable financial reporting improvements.
• Drive the resolution of Management Information (MI) issues to ensure financial data is accurate, complete, and consistent.
• Lead the impact assessment of data changes across the organisation, ensuring Finance is aligned and informed.
• Develop and maintain data models, insightful dashboards, and reports to support financial analysis and decision-making.
• Continuously improve reporting outputs from our core finance systems — Workday and Adaptive — making them more accessible and valuable.
• Implement automation and analytics tools that streamline and future-proof financial data processes.
• Manage data integration across multiple systems (ERP, CRM, BI tools), ensuring consistency and data integrity.
• Champion data governance and quality standards from a finance lens, working closely with our dedicated Data teams.

Experience, knowledge, skills & qualifications:

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights and drive process improvement.
• Demonstrated experience in facilitating business change, including defining and re-engineering processes, developing new services, and delivering structured yet agile analysis.
• Solid understanding of finance processes and terminology, ideally supported by experience in the insurance or financial services sector (other sectors also considered).
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, especially Excel; familiarity with cloud-based data platforms such as AWS or Azure.
• Experience with data-driven decision-making, supported by a strong business acumen and an understanding of FCA requirements (including Consumer Duty)
• Confident in stakeholder engagement, with excellent communication, negotiation, and influencing skills; experienced in building strong internal and external relationships.
• Skilled in a range of elicitation techniques including interviews, workshops, user task analysis, wireframing, exploratory prototypes, surveys, focus groups and process re-engineering.
• Effective under pressure, able to work logically in challenging situations, and comfortable facilitating meetings and workshops.
• Familiarity with machine learning or AI-driven financial analytics is a plus.

Behaviours:

• Empathetic and collaborative approach, with an ability to get the best out of a wide range of stakeholders
• Commercially focused and results driven
• Self-motivated and enthusiastic
• An organised and pro-active approach
• Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team
• A flexible approach and positive attitude
• Emphasis on attention to detail and accuracy
• Takes initiative to make decisions
• Strives to drive business improvements to contribute to the success of the business

First Central are not your typical insurance business. We combine the agility of a tech company with the reliability of an insurer, putting people, data, and innovation at the heart of what we do. As a key member of our Finance and Data community, you’ll help shape our future while working in an open, collaborative environment that values your input and expertise. Ready to lead the charge in finance data excellence? Apply now and let’s build something brilliant together.

What can we do for you?

People first. Always. We’re passionate about our colleagues and know the best people deserve an extraordinary working environment. We owe it to them so that’s what we offer. Our workplaces are energetic, inspirational, supportive. To get a taste of the advantages you’ll enjoy, take a look at all our perks in full here. 

Intrigued? Our Talent team can tell you everything you need to know about what we want and what we’re offering, so feel free to get in touch.