Lead Specialist, Finance Business Partner

Description - Help shape the commercial finance capability of Pearson’s growing Enterprise Learning & Skills business, combining planning, insight and stakeholder partnership with practical process transformation.

Also known in the market as: Commercial Finance Manager; FP&A Business Partner; Senior Finance Business Partner; Strategic Finance Manager.

Pearson is looking for a Finance Business Partner to join its Enterprise finance team in the United States. This role supports a newly consolidated, high-visibility business and reports to the Finance Director, Enterprise.

You will own core planning and performance activity while partnering with leaders across HR, strategy, sales, delivery and product. The environment is closer to a growth business than a mature corporate structure, so you will also help build clearer processes, reporting and decision support.

This role suits someone who combines strong FP&A or financial advisory foundations with commercial judgement, curiosity and the confidence to challenge constructively.

• Own annual budgets, quarterly forecasts and long-term planning.

• Provide variance analysis, performance commentary and decision-ready financial insight.

• Partner with operational leaders on business cases, investments, pricing and cost optimisation.

• Produce timely management accounts, KPI dashboards and month-end analysis.

• Support strategic and operational planning for the Enterprise business.

• Improve reporting, forecasting and finance workflows through standardisation and automation.

• Build practical cross-functional solutions, including workforce and hiring-data visibility.

• Maintain strong controls, governance and alignment with group finance requirements.

• Strong FP&A or financial advisory experience, ideally in a large, matrixed or fast-moving organisation.

• Evidence of working effectively with non-finance stakeholders and influencing senior decisions.

• Excellent logical problem-solving, analytical and commercial judgement

• Advanced Excel skills, financial modelling and scenario analysis.

• Ability to turn complex data into clear insight and recommendations.

• A proactive approach to improving processes and delivering through ambiguity.

• Clear communication, constructive challenge and dependable ownership.

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics or a related field.

• MBA, CPA or CFA is preferred rather than essential.

• Experience with Essbase, Oracle or Salesforce is helpful but not required; practical use of AI in work, or genuine curiosity to develop it, is valued.

This role would suit an individual looking to progress upwards within the finance organization into a Finance Director role or with longer term CFO track ambition - Pearson has an excellent track record of mobility within the finance organization.

United States, remote. East Coast location is preferred for working-time overlap, although strong candidates elsewhere in the US may be considered.

Compensation at Pearson is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and specific location. As required by the California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York State, New York City, Vermont, Washington State, and Washington DC laws, the pay range for this position is as follows:

This position is eligible to participate in an annual incentive program, and information on benefits offered is here.

Applications will be accepted through October 28th . This window may be extended depending on business needs.

Join a visible growth business where finance is helping shape the operating model, not simply reporting on it. You will work across functions, improve how decisions are made and build experience that can support progression towards broader finance leadership.

Originally posted on Himalayas