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!
This position is with Cialfo, one of the brands under Manifest Global, which also includes BridgeU, Explore and Kaaiser.
About This Role
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&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.
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.
What You’ll Own
- Business Partnering & Commercial Impact
- 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.
- Sit alongside business leaders in commercial discussions — pipeline reviews, pricing decisions, investment cases — as a thought partner, not a scorekeeper.
- 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.
- Translate financial data into clear, actionable recommendations that non-finance stakeholders can act on.
- Drive accountability for business KPIs across your unit, ensuring financial outcomes stay aligned with strategic targets.
- FP&A Foundation
- Own the full P&L forecasting cycle for your business unit — budgeting, monthly and quarterly forecasts, and variance analysis.
- Build financial models from scratch — scenario analysis, sensitivity modeling, investment cases — rather than maintaining legacy templates.
- Track and report on key metrics including revenue, margin, CAC, ROI, and cost efficiency, generating insights that drive decisions.
- Identify risks and opportunities proactively by analysing growth trends, pipeline data, and margin movements.
- Continuously improve and automate FP&A processes to free up time for higher-value partnering work.
You’ll Thrive Here If…
- You find yourself asking “So what?” and “What should we do about it?” when you look at a report, not just “Is this accurate?”
- 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.
- You’re comfortable with ambiguity — you don’t need a playbook to be effective.
- You move naturally between strategy and execution. You can present to senior leadership in the morning and build a model in the afternoon.
- You’re curious about how the business actually works — not just the finance side of it.
- You’d rather influence an outcome than just report on one.
What We’re Looking For
- Experience & Qualifications
- 8–10 years of experience in Finance, with a strong FP&A foundation.
- 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.
- 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.
- Proficient in Excel and financial modeling. Knowledge of SQL or Python is a plus.
- Diploma or degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field.
- Skills & Qualities
- Strong analytical thinking and attention to detail, paired with the ability to see the bigger commercial picture.
- Excellent communication skills — you can explain financial concepts to non-finance audiences clearly and persuasively.
- Ability to drive projects end-to-end: problem definition, solutioning, stakeholder management, implementation, and tracking.
- A hands-on, entrepreneurial mindset. You don’t wait to be told what to do.
What We Offer
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.
