How to hire a senior finance analyst

How to hire a senior finance analyst, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior finance analyst hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a senior finance analyst job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior finance analyst
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a senior finance analyst do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the senior finance analyst you need to hire. Certain senior finance analyst roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect senior finance analyst also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of senior finance analyst salaries for various roles:

   Type of Senior Finance Analyst	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Finance Analyst	Financial analysts provide guidance to businesses and individuals making investment decisions. They assess the performance of stocks, bonds, and other types of investments.	$29-52
   Finance Planning Manager	A finance planning manager oversees the budget and finance development processes within a company. Their responsibilities revolve around analyzing financial records, participating in auditing processes, producing reports and forecasts, and coordinating with different company personnel to obtain accurate data... Show more	$37-73
   Finance Supervisor	A finance supervisor is typically in charge of overseeing the budgets and financial activities of a company. Among their responsibilities include coordinating with different departments to gather and analyze financial data, performing audits and assessments, preparing and presenting financial reports and budget plans, updating databases, and developing strategies to optimize the finance department's operations... Show more	$26-50

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Financial Analysis
   • Hyperion
   • Financial Models
   • Strong Analytical
   • Variance Analysis
   • Ad-Hoc Analysis
   • Financial Performance
   • Financial Data
   • Work Ethic
   • Power Bi
   • Process Improvement
   • SQL
   • Strong Work Ethic
   • Reconciliations

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Used SharePoint repository to manage all project documents.
   • Manage deployment of SQL databases across multiple platforms within a secure environment focusing on security and data integrity.
   • Leverage and improve key performance indicators to drive portfolio management to core business team leads and executive sponsors.
   • Develop, maintain financial models/applications (VBA Excel/Access) to automate and streamline business processes and perform financial analysis.
   • Validate data in Hyperion EssBase for implementation.
   • Perform month end accounting close activities including preparation of accruals and monthly financial analysis reports for business unit management.

   More senior finance analyst duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your senior finance analyst job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A senior finance analyst can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, senior finance analysts' average salary in maine is 28% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior finance analysts 44% less than senior-level senior finance analysts.
   • Certifications. A senior finance analyst with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a senior finance analyst's salary.

   Average senior finance analyst salary

   $83,222yearly

   $40.01 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior finance analyst salary

   $62,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 16, 2026

   Average senior finance analyst salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$101,993	$49
   2	Washington	$94,516	$45
   3	New York	$92,386	$44
   4	Connecticut	$88,325	$42
   5	New Jersey	$87,495	$42
   6	Michigan	$84,940	$41
   7	District of Columbia	$84,930	$41
   8	Massachusetts	$83,462	$40
   9	Pennsylvania	$82,541	$40
   10	Virginia	$82,001	$39
   11	Oregon	$81,277	$39
   12	Utah	$81,134	$39
   13	North Carolina	$80,858	$39
   14	Maryland	$80,389	$39
   15	Texas	$79,776	$38
   16	Arizona	$78,863	$38
   17	Minnesota	$78,357	$38
   18	Illinois	$78,259	$38
   19	Missouri	$76,891	$37
   20	Ohio	$76,460	$37

   Average senior finance analyst salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Google	$125,500	$60.34	90
   2	Databricks	$123,712	$59.48	17
   3	Citi	$122,510	$58.90	83
   4	Bunge	$122,494	$58.89	11
   5	Mayo Clinic	$120,870	$58.11	13
   6	PayPal	$120,683	$58.02	10
   7	Apple	$119,671	$57.53	27
   8	TIBCO Software	$118,490	$56.97
   9	Open Systems Technologies	$118,335	$56.89
   10	Yahoo	$118,274	$56.86
   11	First Republic Bank	$118,167	$56.81
   12	Cargill	$117,719	$56.60
   13	Rivian	$117,476	$56.48	4
   14	Intuitive Surgical	$117,367	$56.43	5
   15	NRG Energy	$117,352	$56.42	12
   16	BNY Mellon	$116,562	$56.04	21
   17	American Tower	$115,993	$55.77
   18	CF Industries	$115,453	$55.51	2
   19	General Motors	$115,138	$55.35	13
   20	Arkema	$115,058	$55.32	1

4. Writing a senior finance analyst job description

   A good senior finance analyst job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a senior finance analyst job description:

   Senior finance analyst job description example

   Senior staff position within the Member Organization that works with Leadership Team, management, staff and external customers. Serves as a business consultant/financial advisor to the organization / management team regarding financial and business decisions related to the operations of the organization. Responsible for the development, implementation, management and overall coordination of systems and information for the support of financial and operational performance and continuous quality improvements (CQI) through the use of SQL report writing and data visualization. Serves as a consultant/systems analyst to address information management improvements and recommends more integrated approaches to collecting, reporting and using financial and operational performance data to support the goals of Trinity Health Saint Mary's.
   **What the Sr. Financial Analyst will need:**
   
   + Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance, or Engineering
   
   + Three to five years of healthcare experience in financial modeling (NPV & IRR), business pro formas, operating and capital budgeting, cost accounting/ product line analysis, benchmarking, productivity and strategic financial modeling. Experience in conducting training/ educational sessions for management.
   
   + Advance computer knowledge and skills related to database structures, query languages, software interfaces; software modeling skills to support organizational financial and decision support requirements. Ability to communicate and coordinate software/ server upgrades in partnership with Trinity Information Services.
   
   + Familiarity with standard desktop and windows based computer system, including email, e-learning, intranet and computer navigation. Ability to use other software required to perform essential functions. Microsoft Office (Excel, Access, PowerPoint and Word).
   
   **What the Sr. Financial Analyst will do:**
   
   + Consultant / Business Advisor. Advises / educate operational management on sound financial business management issues related to business planning, capital purchases, and operational performance. Analytical consultant for special assignments and projects relating to planning/strategic/ operational issues. Serves analytical expert and educator around financial management performance and business concepts.
   
   + Business Objects Plan and Activity Based Costing Software Model. Responsible for the development, implementation, management and overall coordination of the financial reporting software Business Objects Plan (Financial Reporting, Productivity Reporting, Payroll Reporting, Budgeting) and Activity Based Costing, model.
   
   + Administers the Operating and Capital Budgeting Process for the Regional Health Ministry (Trinity Health Saint Mary's, Trinity Health Medical Group) in coordination with Trinity Health. Accountable for providing the leadership, conducting analysis,forecasting and making recommendations in support to the Leadership Team and management in the development of budgets,resource utilization and volume demand that enables the Regional Health Ministry to improve its financial performance.
   
   **Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion**
   
   Trinity Health is a family of 115,000 colleagues and nearly 26,000 physicians and clinicians across 25 states. Because we serve diverse populations, our colleagues are trained to recognize the cultural beliefs, values, traditions, language preferences, and health practices of the communities that we serve and to apply that knowledge to produce positive health outcomes. We also recognize that each of us has a different way of thinking and perceiving our world and that these differences often lead to innovative solutions.
   
   Our dedication to diversity includes a unified workforce (through training and education, recruitment, retention, and development), commitment and accountability, communication, community partnerships, and supplier diversity.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right senior finance analyst for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with senior finance analysts they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit senior finance analysts who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   To find senior finance analyst candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as efinancialcareers, financialjobsweb.com, careerbank, financial job bank.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit senior finance analysts, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new senior finance analyst

   Once you've decided on a perfect senior finance analyst candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new senior finance analyst first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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