Business Finance Manager, India

<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Cialfo is a leading platform connecting students, higher education institutions, and counselors through technology-driven solutions. Launched in 2017 with a mission to make education accessible to 100 million students, Cialfo provides a range of mobile and web solutions to students, K-12 institutions, and higher education institutions. We’re one of the fastest-growing tech startups in the region, consistently charting new heights!</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This position is with&nbsp;<a class="notion-link-token notion-focusable-token notion-enable-hover" href="https://www.cialfo.co/about-us" data-token-index="1"><span class="link-annotation-unknown-block-id-1056885267">Cialfo</span></a>, one of the brands under&nbsp;<a class="notion-link-token notion-focusable-token notion-enable-hover" href="https://www.manifest.inc/about-us" data-token-index="3"><span class="link-annotation-unknown-block-id--574351288">Manifest Global</span></a>, which also includes BridgeU, Explore and Kaaiser.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>About This Role</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This is not a back-office finance role. You will be embedded in a business unit as its financial leader — sharing its targets, sitting in its reviews, and co-owning its commercial outcomes. Think of it as becoming the mini-CFO of the business unit you’re assigned to. You’ll bring a strong FP&amp;A foundation — budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis — but those are the tools, not the job. The job is to use those tools to drive business growth, challenge decisions, and translate numbers into action. </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We’re looking for someone who has already shown flashes of this — maybe you’ve challenged a pricing decision, flagged a commercial risk before anyone asked, or gone beyond the spreadsheet to influence a business outcome. You’re ready for a role where that’s the expectation every day, not the exception.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>What You’ll Own</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Business Partnering &amp; Commercial Impact</strong></span> <ul> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Serve as the embedded finance leader for your assigned business unit. You share their KPIs — revenue growth, margin, unit economics. You succeed when they succeed.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Sit alongside business leaders in commercial discussions — pipeline reviews, pricing decisions, investment cases — as a thought partner, not a scorekeeper.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Challenge assumptions with data. When the business unit proposes a new initiative, your job is to pressure-test it financially and offer alternatives, not just model what you’re told.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Translate financial data into clear, actionable recommendations that non-finance stakeholders can act on.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Drive accountability for business KPIs across your unit, ensuring financial outcomes stay aligned with strategic targets.</span></li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>FP&amp;A Foundation</strong></span> <ul> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Own the full P&amp;L forecasting cycle for your business unit — budgeting, monthly and quarterly forecasts, and variance analysis.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Build financial models from scratch — scenario analysis, sensitivity modeling, investment cases — rather than maintaining legacy templates.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Track and report on key metrics including revenue, margin, CAC, ROI, and cost efficiency, generating insights that drive decisions.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Identify risks and opportunities proactively by analysing growth trends, pipeline data, and margin movements.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Continuously improve and automate FP&amp;A processes to free up time for higher-value partnering work.</span></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>You’ll Thrive Here If…</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You find yourself asking “So what?” and “What should we do about it?” when you look at a report, not just “Is this accurate?”</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You’ve worked in lean teams where you had to figure things out end-to-end, without large support structures or highly segmented finance functions.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You’re comfortable with ambiguity — you don’t need a playbook to be effective.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You move naturally between strategy and execution. You can present to senior leadership in the morning and build a model in the afternoon.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You’re curious about how the business actually works — not just the finance side of it.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You’d rather influence an outcome than just report on one.</span></li> </ul> <h2><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">What We’re Looking For</span></h2> <ul> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Experience &amp; Qualifications</strong></span> <ul> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">8–10 years of experience in Finance, with a strong FP&amp;A foundation.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">You may not have held a formal “Business Partner” title, but you’ve consistently gone beyond reporting — you can point to specific business outcomes you’ve influenced through financial insight.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Experience in high-growth, fast-paced, or evolving business environments. You’ve operated where things aren’t perfectly defined and that’s where you do your best work.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Proficient in Excel and financial modeling. Knowledge of SQL or Python is a plus.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Diploma or degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field.</span></li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Skills &amp; Qualities</strong></span> <ul> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Strong analytical thinking and attention to detail, paired with the ability to see the bigger commercial picture.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Excellent communication skills — you can explain financial concepts to non-finance audiences clearly and persuasively.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ability to drive projects end-to-end: problem definition, solutioning, stakeholder management, implementation, and tracking.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A hands-on, entrepreneurial mindset. You don’t wait to be told what to do.</span></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>What We Offer</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A seat at the table from day one. You’ll have direct access to business unit leaders and senior management, with the platform and support to grow from a strong finance professional into a true commercial partner. We’ll invest in your development — you bring the curiosity and the drive.</span></p>