Financial Analyst
Job description
About the role
The is responsible for coordinating budgeting, planning, and modeling activities across various departments to ensure financial alignment and operational efficiency. This position requires the management and enhancement of reporting systems to provide accurate and actionable insights that support finance operations on a daily basis. The role plays a critical part in enabling strategic and operational planning initiatives for MeridianLink, ensuring that long-term goals are backed by robust financial analysis. You will act as a key partner to multiple departments, translating complex financial data into clear narratives that drive strategic conversations and decisions. The position demands a high level of business curiosity paired with strong technical abilities to dissect data and explain the underlying reasons for performance changes. Analysts in this role own recurring financial reports and are expected to continuously improve these deliverables to increase their value over time. You will serve as the bridge between raw data and executive decision-making, ensuring that stakeholders have the information they need to act confidently. The work directly supports the optimization of underwriting and decisioning strategies for financial institutions, aligning financial analysis with credit risk objectives.
Key facts
What you'll do
Analyze reporting results to assess performance against established plans and forecasts, identifying variances and root causes for discussion.
Manage source data queries and recommend improvements to data pipelines and processes to support accurate financial objectives.
Build and maintain financial models in Anaplan to translate complex business requirements into structured data calculations and outputs.
Develop ad hoc financial models to evaluate multiple scenarios and support data-driven decision-making across the organization.
Provide timely and accurate reports to management to enable performance monitoring and facilitate necessary operational adjustments.
Perform budget or cost analysis to ensure spending aligns with strategic priorities and resource allocation goals.
Gather, analyze, prepare, and summarize financial plans, acquisition activity, future requirements, and operating forecasts with clear recommendations.
Collaborate with sales, product, marketing, and operations teams to understand their data needs and deliver tailored analytical solutions.
Ensure the integrity and consistency of financial data across systems, acting as a steward for accurate and reliable reporting.
Participate in special projects that require advanced analysis, such as evaluating the financial impact of potential acquisitions or market expansions.
Contribute to the continuous improvement of financial processes, identifying automation opportunities and best practices for reporting excellence.
Support the development of dashboards and visualizations that communicate key financial metrics to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Assist in the documentation of financial methodologies and assumptions to promote transparency and reproducibility in analysis.
Act as a subject matter expert in financial planning and analysis, providing guidance to stakeholders on best practices and standards.
Requirements
A bachelor's degree is required and must be paired with 2-4 years of relevant experience in finance or a related field.
Moderate skill proficiency in spreadsheet tools and financial modeling is required for this role to handle standard analyses.
Work assignments of increasing complexity can be conducted under moderate supervision while exercising some independent judgment on key tasks.
At least 4 years of experience is expected in a role with responsibilities closely aligned to financial analysis or planning.
Candidates must be eligible to work in the United States without sponsorship for this position at this time.
A degree must be obtained from an accredited institution to meet the educational requirements of this role.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment is essential.
Strong attention to detail is required to ensure accuracy in financial calculations and reporting outputs.
Proficiency with data analysis concepts and the ability to question data validity is a necessary part of the role.
Experience with collaborative planning tools such as Anaplan is highly relevant to the responsibilities of this position.
Nice to have
Preferred experience with credit risk analysis or consumer lending performance to align with client-focused analytical needs.
Familiarity with financial institutions and their specific regulatory or compliance considerations.
Understanding of underwriting principles and how they intersect with financial performance and risk management.
Practical notes
Remote work is available from US locations, and the role may require occasional onsite presence or travel as defined by policy.
This role operates within the General & Administrative department.
Typical interview steps
Analyst interviews often include a SQL or spreadsheet exercise, a case question, and behavioral rounds. Candidates may be asked to analyze a dataset, define a metric, or estimate an outcome. Presenting findings clearly is tested as often as the analysis itself. Interviewers often test speed and clarity with a timed exercise. Explaining what the numbers mean, not just what they are, is the differentiator.
Good to know
Financial analyst roles typically use spreadsheet and modeling tools to structure data and test scenarios.
Clear communication of findings to nonfinancial stakeholders is a common expectation.
Tools such as Anaplan are often used for collaborative planning and model management.
Independence and judgment develop with experience in finance reporting and analysis.
Questions to ask
Worth asking in any interview: how the team measures success, who the role works with daily, what the onboarding looks like, and what the company is trying to achieve this year.
Asking what past hires did well is a strong final question.
Keep the list short and pick the questions that matter most to you.
Career growth
Analyst careers can grow into senior analyst, analytics manager, or data science roles.
Some analysts move into product or business operations.
Deeper technical skills or broader business ownership are the two main paths.
Analyst roles are a common on-ramp into product, marketing, or operations leadership.
Building deep domain knowledge alongside analytics is the fastest path to advancing your career.
About the company
MeridianLink is seeking a Data Analytics Consultant with a strong foundation in credit risk analysis and consumer lending performance to support financial institutions in optimizing their underwriting and decisioning strategies. This role focuses on analyzing credit data, loan performance, and bureau information to help clients improve approval rates, manage risk, and enhance portfolio health.