Strategic Business Analyst

Strategic Business AnalystThe Strategic Business Analyst works across all departments to help leadership understand business performance, identify opportunities, solve problems, and support better decision-making. This role goes beyond reporting by analyzing data, uncovering trends, investigating issues, and providing actionable insights that improve profitability, efficiency, and overall business results.The ideal candidate is naturally curious, enjoys digging into data, asks questions, identifies root causes, and helps tell the story behind the numbers.Responsibilities:Develop a strong understanding of company systems, data sources, and business processes.Create and maintain meaningful dashboards, KPIs, and management reporting.Analyze financial and operational performance to identify trends, risks, and opportunities.Evaluate expenses, cost drivers, and budget-to-actual variances.Support audits, reconciliations, exception reporting, and special investigations.Analyze customer, product, and market profitability.Identify pricing issues, margin leakage, and revenue improvement opportunities.Evaluate supply, purchasing, fleet, and logistics performance to improve efficiency and reduce costs.Develop sales and customer analytics related to growth, retention, volume, revenue, and margin.Monitor accounts receivable trends and identify potential risks.Support forecasting, financial modeling, strategic planning, and acquisition analysis.Serve as a trusted resource for leadership by investigating business questions and providing data-driven recommendations.Partner with department leaders to identify operational challenges, measure performance, and recommend process improvements.Evaluate data quality, reporting accuracy, and system integration opportunities to improve confidence in business decisions.Develop and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with company goals and strategic objectives.Perform root cause analysis on operational, financial, and customer-related issues and provide recommendations for corrective action.Lead ad hoc analyses and special projects for executive leadership, including market evaluations, business cases, and growth initiatives.Proactively identify emerging trends, risks, and opportunities and communicate insights to leadership before they become significant business issues.Perform other duties as assigned.Education and Experience:Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, Economics, Data Analytics, or a related field.5+ years of experience in business analysis, financial analysis, business intelligence, or a related role.Experience working with large datasets, reporting tools, and business systems.Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel.Experience with forecasting, financial modeling, and strategic planning.Preferred experience with Power BI, Tableau, or similar business intelligence tools.Preferred experience in transportation, logistics, fuel distribution, manufacturing, or wholesale distribution.Preferred MBA, master's degree, CPA, CMA, or similar professional designation.Required Skills / Abilities:Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.Ability to translate data into actionable business insights.Strong financial and operational acumen.Ability to identify trends, anomalies, and root causes.Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills.Strong attention to detail and organizational skills.Ability to manage multiple priorities and projects.Effective collaboration across departments and leadership levels.High degree of curiosity, initiative, and critical thinking.Ability to work independently and make sound, data-driven recommendations.