FP&A Analyst in retail vs medical device
Hi all,Any advice please. Sorry if it appears duplicated, I couldn't seem to edit the content but just write new one.I am wondering which of the below 2 FP&A Analyst opportunities (in Australia) would better prepare me for a future executive role.
- A national retailer with revenue $570m, PE backed. The FP&A team has 4 including the manager. The role seems to also include sales forecast though I don't know to what extent. They use Power BI and plan to expand to SQL and Alteryx. I was told there would be opportunities to assist Ops in their projects down the track.
- Mature medical device manufacturer, also do SaaS healthcare. Globally listed, HQ in the US though started in Sydney where the Australian HQ is, market cap ~$30b in each. Global sales $3bn. The Fp&A role is in Operations so I think it's on the expense side. They use many tools but I am not sure what is used the most in this role. The team in Ops currently has 3. The biggest FP&A team is in the US.
The JD is quite similar and the differences were mentioned above to my best knowledge.
This will be my first FP&A role and I don't plan to stay in either industry for life, but rather want to develop skills that are transferable to any industry in FP&A. Ultimate goal would be CFO/COO.
I've read a couple of threads about similar topics but would appreciate any advice.
Cheers,
Up
i think the sector that you ultimately want to stay in is more important than the individual company. Like, why do FP&A at a med device co, if you have 0 longterm interest in remaining in that industry? Same can be said for retail. It depends on what YOU are most interested in.
Thanks for the advice, that's a good point. I have not been in any of the 2 so I guess I am at the stage of exploring, which is why I think it's important to pick one that provides me with more transferable skills so that if I end up not liking the industry I can easily move to the FP&A in another.
I think the industry is less important than the actual experience you'll be getting. I prefer option 1 because you'll be acquiring very useful technical skills in Power BI (great data viz), SQL, and Alteryx. Also, working in sales/revenue forecasting will likely be a lot more interesting and strategic in nature than tracking expenses, which is what your second option sounds like will be full of. The fact that the first option is a lot smaller will also provide you more opportunities to wear multiple hats and work closer with leadership, which is a great skillset of its own. Just know that the tradeoff here is that these smaller, leaner companies will likely have more demanding hours and possibly more pressure, but depending on where you're at in your career and life this could be just what you're looking for.
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