Operations Finance Analyst
| Posting date: | 19 December 2025 |
|---|---|
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 18 January 2026 |
| Location: | Sheffield, South Yorkshire |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | Blue Octopus Recruitment Limited |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | IFAA198576 |
Summary
Permanent, Full Time
Hours of work – Monday to Thursday 08.15 – 16:30, Friday – 08:15 – 16:00 (37 hours)
Independent Forgings and Alloys Ltd (IFA) are continuing to invest and grow, and we are looking to add to our Finance team.
We are now looking for an experienced Operations Finance Analyst. Over the last few years, we have invested in the business and have successfully doubled our turnover. We are looking to continue this growth and are looking to for the right people to help us join our team.
Main Purpose of the Role
As our Operations Finance Analyst, you will prepare and deliver operational financial reports, dashboards and KPIs and analyse production, procurement, inventory, and supply chain costs. You will monitor performance against budgets and forecasts, investigate variances and support month-end close activities, including accruals and cost allocations.
Main duties of the role include:
Cost Control & Process Improvement
Identify and monitor cost-saving opportunities, supporting continuous improvement initiatives with financial analysis.
Improve data accuracy, reporting tools, and analytical processes.
Operations Support & Decision-Making
Partner with commercial, manufacturing, and quality teams to evaluate performance and conduct root-cause analysis.
Deliver ROI analysis for capital expenditure and productivity initiatives, providing insight into pricing, product costs, and throughput optimisation.
Budgeting, Forecasting & Planning
Support annual budgets and forecasts through financial modelling of operating scenarios, cost trends, and capacity planning.
Track and forecast key cost drivers including labour, materials, overheads, and inventory.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Work closely with finance, operations, procurement, and supply chain teams.
Communicate financial insights to finance and non-finance stakeholders and support ERP or reporting system enhancements.
Your background should include
Essential:
Minimum two years’ experience in operations finance, cost analysis, financial planning, ideally within manufacturing.
Advanced Excel and data modelling capabilities, including pivot tables, forecasting models and macros.
Strong analytical and cost-modelling skills to support data-driven decision making.
Hands on experience with ERP systems, such as SAP, Oracle, or NetSuite.
Working knowledge of BI tools e.g. Power BI, Tableau etc.
Excellent communication and presentation skills, with a proactive problem-solving approach & strong commercial awareness.
Desirable:
Studying towards CIMA/ACCA (or equivalent).
Exposure to the heavy metals industry.
Experience supporting budgeting and forecasting activities.
About Independent Forgings
Independent Forgings and Alloys (IFA) is one of Britain’s leading independent aerospace and industrial forgers. The unique feature about IFA is the combination of open and closed-die forging while also undertaking the whole production process from raw material to the finished product in one location. Operating from a 680 000ft2 facility in Sheffield, we manufacture high-integrity, open-die and closed-die forged components in nickel alloy, titanium, stainless steel and carbon alloys for customers and tier-one suppliers within the aerospace, nuclear, power generation, marine as well as oil and gas sector.
Why work for us?
At IFA we pride ourselves on being a great place to work. As one of the UK’s leading forge manufacturing company we want to ensure that we attract, motivate and retain the best people who can deliver the best service to the company and our customers.
We offer you:
Holidays – you will have 33 days holiday, including bank holidays.
Pension scheme – IFA wants to provide its employees a good foundation for the life after work and hence offers a 5% contribution.
Bonus scheme – this is linked to team and company performance.
Westfield cash plan – IFA provides level 1 health cash plan which comes along with numerous discounts and special offers, including gym discounts, online, high street and grocery retailers and many more.
Wellhub – access to various fitness apps and gyms in the local area.
Free work wear and PPE.
Development – we offer genuine development opportunities to progress your career.
Hours of work – Monday to Thursday 08.15 – 16:30, Friday – 08:15 – 16:00 (37 hours)
Independent Forgings and Alloys Ltd (IFA) are continuing to invest and grow, and we are looking to add to our Finance team.
We are now looking for an experienced Operations Finance Analyst. Over the last few years, we have invested in the business and have successfully doubled our turnover. We are looking to continue this growth and are looking to for the right people to help us join our team.
Main Purpose of the Role
As our Operations Finance Analyst, you will prepare and deliver operational financial reports, dashboards and KPIs and analyse production, procurement, inventory, and supply chain costs. You will monitor performance against budgets and forecasts, investigate variances and support month-end close activities, including accruals and cost allocations.
Main duties of the role include:
Cost Control & Process Improvement
Identify and monitor cost-saving opportunities, supporting continuous improvement initiatives with financial analysis.
Improve data accuracy, reporting tools, and analytical processes.
Operations Support & Decision-Making
Partner with commercial, manufacturing, and quality teams to evaluate performance and conduct root-cause analysis.
Deliver ROI analysis for capital expenditure and productivity initiatives, providing insight into pricing, product costs, and throughput optimisation.
Budgeting, Forecasting & Planning
Support annual budgets and forecasts through financial modelling of operating scenarios, cost trends, and capacity planning.
Track and forecast key cost drivers including labour, materials, overheads, and inventory.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Work closely with finance, operations, procurement, and supply chain teams.
Communicate financial insights to finance and non-finance stakeholders and support ERP or reporting system enhancements.
Your background should include
Essential:
Minimum two years’ experience in operations finance, cost analysis, financial planning, ideally within manufacturing.
Advanced Excel and data modelling capabilities, including pivot tables, forecasting models and macros.
Strong analytical and cost-modelling skills to support data-driven decision making.
Hands on experience with ERP systems, such as SAP, Oracle, or NetSuite.
Working knowledge of BI tools e.g. Power BI, Tableau etc.
Excellent communication and presentation skills, with a proactive problem-solving approach & strong commercial awareness.
Desirable:
Studying towards CIMA/ACCA (or equivalent).
Exposure to the heavy metals industry.
Experience supporting budgeting and forecasting activities.
About Independent Forgings
Independent Forgings and Alloys (IFA) is one of Britain’s leading independent aerospace and industrial forgers. The unique feature about IFA is the combination of open and closed-die forging while also undertaking the whole production process from raw material to the finished product in one location. Operating from a 680 000ft2 facility in Sheffield, we manufacture high-integrity, open-die and closed-die forged components in nickel alloy, titanium, stainless steel and carbon alloys for customers and tier-one suppliers within the aerospace, nuclear, power generation, marine as well as oil and gas sector.
Why work for us?
At IFA we pride ourselves on being a great place to work. As one of the UK’s leading forge manufacturing company we want to ensure that we attract, motivate and retain the best people who can deliver the best service to the company and our customers.
We offer you:
Holidays – you will have 33 days holiday, including bank holidays.
Pension scheme – IFA wants to provide its employees a good foundation for the life after work and hence offers a 5% contribution.
Bonus scheme – this is linked to team and company performance.
Westfield cash plan – IFA provides level 1 health cash plan which comes along with numerous discounts and special offers, including gym discounts, online, high street and grocery retailers and many more.
Wellhub – access to various fitness apps and gyms in the local area.
Free work wear and PPE.
Development – we offer genuine development opportunities to progress your career.