Collinson is the global, privately-owned company dedicated to helping the world to travel with ease and confidence. The group offers a unique blend of industry and sector specialists who together provide market-leading airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement, and insurance solutions for over 400 million consumers.

Collinson is the operator of Priority Pass, the world’s original and leading airport experiences programme. Travellers can access a network of 1,500+ lounges and travel experiences, including dining, retail, sleep and spa, in over 650 airports in 148 countries, helping to elevate the journey into something special. We work with the world’s leading payment networks, over 1,400 banks, 90 airlines and 20 hotel groups worldwide.

We have been bringing innovation to the market since inception – from launching the first independent global VIP lounge access Programme, Priority Pass to being the first to sell direct travel insurance in the UK through Columbus Direct and creating the first loyalty agency of its kind in the travel sector with ICLP. Today we still invest heavily in innovation to ensure that we continue to deliver superior customer experiences.

Key clients include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, LATAM, Flying Blue, Accor, EasyJet, HSBC, Chase, HDFC.

Our mission is focused on doing good beyond profit, which for us means we seek out opportunities for our people to share in our success and that we give back to the communities and people within which we work.

Never short of ambition, the success of our business is delivered through the diverse and talented team of over 1,800 global colleagues.

Purpose of the role

The Head of Finance Analytics is a new role within Group FP&A, with the opportunity to build out a team of finance analysts embedded in the UK and overseas locations. The Head of Finance Analytics will be responsible for implementing scalable analytical models on cost and profitability that produce insights to support business decisions. This role involves spearheading initiatives in financial modelling, business intelligence, analytics and data governance, with a focus on delivering actionable insights that optimise financial performance.

The Head of Finance Analytics will collaborate closely across the Commercial Finance and Group Data & Insights teams, ensuring that finance data analytics aligns with broader business objectives while maintaining data accuracy, governance, and compliance standards.

Key Responsibilities

Finance Analytics Leadership

• Engage with Finance leadership to identify high-impact opportunities where analytics can add value to business strategy and financial planning.
• Lead the development and delivery of predictive models to forecast financial outcomes, guide investment decisions, and support operational improvements.
• Drive FP&A transformation through the implementation of self-service decision support tools and adoption of AI/ML capabilities in Finance.

Measure and Monitor Performance

• Establish and continuously monitor KPIs to assess the effectiveness of financial strategies and initiatives.
• Deliver data-driven insights and strategic recommendations to senior management. Focus on driving financial performance and enhancing operational efficiency through informed decision-making.
• Own the design, development and implementation of financial dashboards and reporting tools. Ensure these tools provide real-time, actionable data to support strategic and operational decisions

Model Development and Financial Analysis

• Oversee the creation of complex financial models to support budgeting, forecasting, and business scenario analysis, as well as cost & profitability models to support commercial decision making, taking a hands-on approach as required.
• Ensure the development and deployment of scalable models that can handle increasing data volume and complexity, providing accurate and timely insights.
• Promote initiatives to streamline and automate financial data reporting processes, reducing time-to-insight and improving decision accuracy.

Data Governance and Quality Control

• Collaborate with the Data governance team to establish and enforce data governance policies and standards to ensure the accuracy, consistency, and security of finance-related data.
• Partner with data engineering and IT teams to optimize data architecture, ensuring reliable data pipelines and effective data integration from multiple sources.
• Implement quality control mechanisms to validate data used in financial modelling and reporting, adhering to compliance and regulatory requirements.

Team Leadership and Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing finance analytics team, fostering a collaborative and innovative work culture across an international team.
• Set clear objectives, performance metrics, and development plans for the team, promoting continuous skill development in analytics, data science, and finance.
• Promote cross-functional collaboration within finance and with other business units to ensure alignment on data strategy, model usage, and business priorities.

Stakeholder Communication and Insights Delivery

• Translate complex analytical findings into clear, concise insights and actionable recommendations for stakeholders at all organisational levels.
• Prepare and present detailed financial reports and analyses for executive meetings, supporting key strategic decisions.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to business units, providing guidance on financial trends, risk assessment, and investment opportunities informed by data analytics.

 Skills required 

Strategic & Analytical Thinking

• Strong strategic thinking and business acumen, with a focus on achieving measurable results.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to translate complex data into impactful insights.

Technical Expertise

• Proficiency with data visualization tools such as Tableau or Power BI.
• Familiarity with analytical tools preferred (e.g., SQL, Python, R).
• Good understanding of data governance frameworks, data warehousing, and data integration techniques.

Leadership & Management

• Proven leadership skills to build and lead a high-performing team of analysts and finance professionals.
• Ability to foster a culture of continuous learning, innovation and collaboration.
• Deep understanding of finance and how analytics can drive business results and improve financial performance.
• High level of accuracy and meticulous attention to detail, particularly in financial modelling and data governance.

Communication and Collaboration

• Excellent communication skills to promote a culture of data-driven decision making.
• Ability to provide actionable insights and recommendations to senior management to drive financial performance and operational efficiency.

Qualification & Experience 

Education and qualifications

• Finance qualification required (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA, AAT).
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Data Science, Statistics, or a related field preferred.

Experiences

• Experience in finance, data analytics or a related field, with some years of experience in a management role.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and implementing data and analytics strategies within a finance function.

• Experience with large-scale data integration and governance projects.

Collinson is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes differences in all their forms including: colour, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurodivergence, family status, age, individuals with disabilities and people from all backgrounds, cultures and experiences as we strongly believe this contributes to our on-going success.

We are focused on continually evolving our purpose driven, high performing culture, providing an environment where our people have the opportunity to achieve their full potential and do interesting and meaningful work. Our company values are: Act smarter, Do the right thing, One team and Be insight led. These help guide everything we do internally in terms of how we think, act and interact, right through to how we deliver value to our customers and clients.

In your application, please feel free to note which pronouns you use (For example - she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs, etc).

If you need any extra support throughout the interview process, then please email us at