Associate Director, FP&A

Studs is a category-defining ear piercing and earring brand named one of "the 10 most innovative companies in retail for 2023" by Fast Company. Studs connects ear piercing with aftercare and earring shopping to create an end-to‑end Earscaping® experience. We offer a better retail and digital experience that prioritizes safety and expertise in a cool, fun and welcoming environment, along with a wide earring assortment-all at an accessible price point.

The Associate Director, FP&A owns financial planning and analysis at Studs, with a focus on improving studio profitability, supporting disciplined expansion, and managing cash. Reporting to the CFO, this person builds and runs the annual budget, rolling forecast, and long‑term financial plan directly, translating financial and operational results into clear recommendations. This is an individual contributor role with no direct reports at the outset; as the finance team grows, the planning function may report into this role.

This role partners with Retail, Operations, Marketing, Merchandising, and Accounting to connect business decisions to revenue, EBITDA, cash flow, and investment returns. It helps leadership set studio‑level performance goals, allocate capital, and identify risks and opportunities early enough to act.

This is a hands‑on role for someone who has worked in four‑wall retail finance, builds models directly, works through imperfect data, challenges assumptions constructively, and follows through with business partners to improve results.

Salary Range: $155,000 - $175,000 plus equity

Key Responsibilities:

• Own the annual budget and rolling forecast process across departments, including timelines, assumptions, and reviews with business leaders.
• Own an integrated P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow forecast; partner with Accounting to assess liquidity, inventory and other working capital needs, and funding requirements.
• Connect studio and e‑commerce revenue plans, operating expenses, and capital investments to company profitability and cash targets; identify gaps and recommend adjustments.
• Build scenarios that test growth, profitability, and cash assumptions, making trade‑offs and downside risks clear before decisions are made.
• Improve planning tools and processes so forecasts are accurate and assumptions are consistent; use AI, automation, and lightweight software development to streamline recurring work, strengthen reporting, and free up the finance team for higher‑value analysis, with appropriate data safeguards and validation.

Performance Analysis & Business Partnership

• Run regular reviews of company, channel, and studio performance against plan and prior periods, explaining the drivers of results and surfacing risks and opportunities.
• Partner with Retail to set and track studio‑level targets for revenue, EBITDA dollars and margin, labor productivity, and utilization; analyze performance by studio and cohort to identify opportunities across the fleet.
• Partner with Marketing and Retail to analyze traffic, conversion, customer acquisition and retention, and marketing returns; recommend investments that connect demand generation to studio capacity and profitable growth.
• Challenge plans constructively, agree on actions and owners with business partners, and track whether those actions improve results.

Strategic Planning & Investment Analysis

• Build the long‑term financial plan and capital allocation analysis, helping leadership prioritize investment across new studios, existing studio improvements, marketing, and other growth initiatives.
• Underwrite new studio investments with Real Estate and Retail, including buildout costs, sales ramp, operating profitability, cash requirements, and payback; compare actual results with the original investment case.
• Evaluate pricing, assortment, new services, and other strategic initiatives; establish financial success measures and compare actual results with expectations.

Reporting & Executive Visibility

• Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual management reporting, forecasts, and performance analysis for leadership and the board; partner with Accounting, which owns the close and financial statements, to ensure consistent and reliable reporting.
• Support the