Financial and Business Intelligence Analyst

About the role

Recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Chicago by Fortune Magazine and Great Place to Work, Sasser prides itself on supporting an employee-driven, opportunity-based culture that empowers, recognizes, and rewards its employees. From highly competitive benefits to exciting employee events to organic, grassroots philanthropy and volunteerism, Sasser is an awesome place to begin and grow your career.

We are a transportation asset services and management company with roots dating to 1928. Sasser's subsidiary units are leaders in providing commercial- and industrial-focused rail, automotive, and containerized shipping solutions, including asset leasing, fleet administration management, asset repair and maintenance, and innovative technology services.

Sasser family of companies includes subsidiaries Chicago Freight Car Leasing, CF Rail Services, Moventum Fleet Management, Express 4x4 Truck Rental, and Falcon Lease.

This role supports our Express 4x4 Truck Rental business, a specialized provider of mid-to-long-term pickup truck rentals serving customers across North America. Established in 1993 and part of the Sasser family of companies since 2013, Express provides flexible ½-ton, ¾-ton, and 1-ton truck rental solutions with a focus on reliability and on-time delivery.

The Business Intelligence & Financial Analyst combines financial planning and analysis with hands-on business intelligence and reporting to support data-driven business decisions. This role is responsible for analyzing financial performance, supporting budgeting and forecasting, and developing reporting solutions that provide meaningful insights into business operations.

Working closely with Finance, Business Intelligence, IT, and Operations, the analyst will use tools such as Power BI, SQL, and Excel to bring together financial and operational data, investigate discrepancies, and identify the underlying drivers of business performance.

The ideal candidate brings a strong foundation in financial analysis, practical experience working with data from multiple sources, and the technical ability to develop and improve reporting solutions. They are naturally curious, detail-oriented, and comfortable working through complex data to uncover meaningful business insights.

As a Business Intelligence and Financial Analyst, Here's What You Will Do:

Financial Planning & Analysis Responsibilities

• Support annual budgeting, monthly and quarterly forecasting, and financial planning processes by gathering business inputs, developing financial models, and analyzing performance.
• Prepare recurring financial and management reporting, including monthly results, budget-to-actual comparisons, forecasts, and key performance indicators.
• Analyze financial results against budgets, forecasts, and prior periods to identify significant variances and understand the underlying business drivers.
• Evaluate how operational activities, including rental utilization, mileage, and asset performance, impact revenue, expenses, and profitability.
• Partner with Finance and operational leaders to understand business performance, evaluate financial trends, and incorporate business assumptions into forecasts and projections.
• Develop financial models and ad hoc analyses to support business planning, strategic initiatives, and management decisions.
• Support month-end financial reporting, including validating data accuracy and reconciling reporting outputs to financial source systems.
• Identify opportunities to improve and automate budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting processes.

Business Intelligence Analyst Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and enhance dashboards and reports using Power BI, SSRS, and other reporting tools to support financial and operational analysis.
• Write and modify SQL queries to extract, combine, and analyze data from multiple systems and sources.
• Build reporting solutions that integrate financial and operational data, ensuring information is accurate, consistent, and meaningful.
• Investigate data discrepancies, identify potential errors or inconsistencies, and validate information against underlying source systems.
• Partner with Business Intelligence and IT teams to troubleshoot reporting issues, resolve data-quality concerns, and improve the reliability of reporting outputs.
• Work with business stakeholders to understand reporting requirements, establish consistent metrics, and translate business needs into effective reporting solutions.
• Evaluate existing reports and dashboards to eliminate redundancy, improve consistency, and increase reporting efficiency.
• Automate manual reporting processes, particularly those currently maintained in Excel, to improve accuracy and reduce manual effort.
• Document reporting logic, data definitions, and processes to support accurate, consistent, and reliable reporting.

Business Partnership

• Collaborate with Finance, Accounting, Business Intelligence, IT, Sales, Operations, and other business functions to support reporting and analytical needs.
• Translate complex financial and operational data into clear, actionable insights for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Independently investigate business questions, troubleshoot discrepancies, and identify the root causes of reporting or performance issues.
• Balance recurring reporting responsibilities with new analytical requests and evolving business priorities.
• Identify opportunities to improve reporting accuracy, data quality, processes, and overall analytical capabilities.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, Mathematics, Data Analytics, or a related field.
• 2+ years of experience in financial analysis, business intelligence, or a similar analytical role combining financial and operational data.
• Strong understanding of financial analysis, including budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, financial reporting, and evaluating business performance.
• Hands-on experience using Power BI, Tableau, or a comparable business intelligence platform to develop, maintain, and enhance reports and dashboards.
• Practical SQL proficiency, including experience writing queries, joining tables, extracting data, and analyzing information from multiple data sources.
• Advanced Excel skills, including experience building financial or analytical models.
• Demonstrated ability to investigate complex data, identify trends and discrepancies, and translate findings into meaningful business insights.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain analytical findings to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Working knowledge of Python or R for data analysis.
• Experience with Azure Data Factory, Azure Data Lake, or similar data platforms.
• Exposure to machine learning, artificial intelligence, or advanced analytics tools such as Azure Machine Learning or DataRobot.
• Experience troubleshooting data-quality issues or working with technical teams to resolve reporting and data-pipeline problems.

Location & Work Schedule

This position is based in Oak Brook, IL, and follows a hybrid schedule.

Compensation/Benefits

• The hiring range for this role is $90,000 - $105,000 USD annually.
• This role is classified as exempt for purposes of applicable wage and hour laws, which means that the individual hired will not be eligible for overtime pay.
• This role is also eligible for an annual incentive bonus based on financial and personal performance throughout the plan year.

• Sasser is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices.
• Pay ranges are assigned to a job based on market data according to 3rd party salary benchmarking surveys.
• Actual base salary is dependent upon factors such as knowledge, skill level, and experience.

This role is also eligible for benefits. Sasser employees enjoy a competitive benefits program that:

• Includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance plans, including HSA and FSA accounts with employer contributions toward HSA
• Includes a 100% Company-paid disability and life insurance plans
• Includes a 401K plan with company match PLUS additional end-of-year funding
• Provides paid vacation time (tiered based on tenure), as well as personal time, sick days and summer half days for certain roles
• Provides 10 paid holidays annually
• Provides paid parental leave for new parents, as well as a monetary gift towards a 529 education account
• Provides a confidential Employee Assistance Program
• Provides training and tuition reimbursement
• Provides community service opportunities, charity match opportunities, employee recognition programs, and many celebrations!

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