Anna Huish
Hamilton,New Zealand
Summary
Dynamic Finance Manager with a proven track record at Spark New Zealand Limited, leading teams to drive $870M in annual revenue. Expert in financial modeling and stakeholder engagement, consistently delivering actionable insights that enhance performance and support strategic initiatives. Renowned for strong analytical skills and an impeccable work ethic, fostering growth and innovation.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
Work History
Finance Manager - Total Mobile
Spark New Zealand Limited
Auckland, New Zealand
12.2023 - Current
- Leadership – Lead, develop a team of 3 Finance analysts and mentor 2 commercial analysts
- Month End Financial Reporting & Analysis – Ownership of the month-end process for 4 mobile segments looking after $870m annual revenue & 1.9m customers
- Understanding performance, variance to budget & highlight any headwinds and / or tailwinds
- This includes product mix, plan mix, volume, customer behavior, cost out and / or revenue opportunities
- Budgeting & Forecasting – Lead the total mobile annual budget and forecasting process
- Present clear financial and non-financial expectations to stakeholders
- Stakeholder Engagement – Present financial performance to key stakeholders including finance, marketing and the leadership team
- Ensuring stakeholders receive clear, consistent & actionable updates
- Financial Modelling – Build and present robust financial models for new products and propositions as well as build and maintain financial models for budgeting and forecasting
- Commercial Strategy – Understand the wider telco market and the impact pricing and propositions have on the competitive landscape and market share
- Strategic Decision Making – Present commercial analyses and strategic recommendations to the leadership team, ensuring they are aligned with broader business goals and objectives
- Refreshed the Spark Mobile lineup servicing 1.3 million customers by analysing customer behaviour, renewing customer testing, and modelling the feasibility of a new product launch
- This initiative established new strategic drivers and OKRs to support the business achieve budget
- Financial and commercial ownership for Mobile & Broadband pricing strategy, impacting up to 1.0 million customers
Finance Manager – Commercial
Spark New Zealand Limited
Auckland, New Zealand
08.2021 - 11.2023
- Leadership – Lead & develop 2 Financial Commercial Business Partners
- Growth & Market Strategy – Collaborate with multiple product squads to identify and capitalize on new growth opportunities
- Consistently ensuring Spark and Skinny have the correct market positioning to leverage growth
- Financial Modeling & Commercial Analysis – Develop and deliver financial modelling and market assessments - effectively dealing with vast amounts of data — to inform key business decisions that align with wider business OKRs
- Financial Product Performance Reviews – Conduct post-implementation reviews of launched propositions, analyzing actual performance versus projections and providing insights for future improvements
- Engagement & Decision Support – Present in-depth commercial analyses and strategic recommendations to the leadership team and relevant stakeholders, ensuring data-driven decision-making
- Financial and Commercial modelling to refreshed Sparks Roaming plan line up post Covid with travel restrictions being lifted
- Financial and Commercial modelling of the 'Mobile Team Up Saver' proposition where customers can team up and save with two+ lines on the same account
- Part of the team that assessed the feasibility & viability of the new Skinny 'Low Cost / Low Offer' Strategy
- This involved customer testing, commercial modelling and alignment to the business strategy
- Part of the team that assessed the feasibility & viability of launching a new telco brand to market
Finance Product Owner - Business
Spark New Zealand Limited
Auckland, New Zealand
06.2020 - 07.2021
- Leadership & Financial Performance – Lead a team of 2 finance analysts to ensure the SME (Small Medium Enterprise) EBITDAI is achieved
- Contract & Revenue Model Oversight – Understand and operate the SME Hub Model (the contract through which we remunerate Spark’s franchise owners) and ensure it is in line with expectations through targets and results
- Month End Financial Analysis – Review monthly channel results through Hub profitability and performance
- Business Growth – Review opportunities within the SME segment, including new product and proposition ideas, cost-out initiatives, and the discovery of software resellers
- Stakeholder Engagement – Act as the key financial contact for the channel/Hub owners, managing commission payments, targets, performance tracking, and channel operations
- Successfully manage the handover of the Spark Business Hub Ownership model
- This included ensuring all ~120k Spark SME customers were assigned to the correct Regions / Hub owners to allow customers to be serviced by the right regional owners
- Coordinate a commission review of the channel to ensure all Hub owners are paid a commission that is inline with Spark and independent owners’ expectations
Finance Product Owner – Broadband & Voice
Spark New Zealand Limited
Auckland, New Zealand
11.2019 - 05.2020
- Leadership – Lead a team of 2 financial analysts to own the financial and commercial performance for broadband and voice
- Month End & Financial Reporting – Ownership of the month end process, budgeting and forecasting and variance analysis for the Broadband and Voice portfolio (covering gross margin and Opex)
- Strategic Business Partnering – Collaborate with the Broadband and Voice Tribe to deliver on key priorities, ensuring financial and commercial alignment to business OKR’s
- Stakeholder Support – Help stakeholders understand financial and non-financial performance by providing clear insights and explanations
- Analysis & Recommendations – Conduct analysis and suggest ways to improve performance for the Consumer & Business segments, considering key market factors, risks, and opportunities
- Implemented regular reporting to track the achievement of key strategic ambitions for broadband
- When reports indicated that targets were at risk, we proactively launched new offers and propositions to mitigate issues and drive performance
Junior Finance Manager – Pay Monthly & Skinny Mobile
Spark New Zealand Limited
Auckland, New Zealand
06.2017 - 10.2019
- Leadership – Lead a team of 1 financial analyst looking after Consumer Pay Monthly Mobile
- Financial Reporting & Forecasting – Deliver month end reporting, monthly forecasting, and annual budgeting to support business decision-making for both Spark & Skinny Mobile generating ~$570M in annual revenue with ~670K customers
- Financial Modeling & Pricing Analysis – Conduct financial modeling for pricing and new propositions to evaluate business opportunities
- Customer Insights – Analyse customer behavior and ensure Spark’s multi-brand strategy aligns with customer needs
- Contract & Partnership Support – Provide analysis, modeling, and recommendations for contract negotiations with Spotify
- Built the financial model for the mobile plan refresh
- This involved modelling plan allowance changes, introducing new props to plans i.e
- Rollover data & Spotify eligibility and casual rate changes
- Built the financial model for contract negotiations with Spotify
- This contract renewal was ~$50m contract to spark
- Pay Monthly gross margin growth of $24m in the last financial year
- Manage and develop a Senior Finance Analyst on best practice financial and business performance management
Senior Finance Analyst – Pay Monthly Mobile
Spark New Zealand Limited
Auckland, New Zealand
02.2014 - 05.2017
- Month End & Forecasting – Manage monthly forecasting, budgeting, and reconciliation for the Pay Monthly Mobile, including external commissions, plan mix, and sales projections
- Performance Reporting & Analysis – Track Pay Monthly mobile performance, identify trends, and communicate risks/opportunities to stakeholders
- Stakeholder Collaboration – Partner with Marketing, Sales, and Finance to drive data-driven decisions and support go-to-market strategies
- Financial Modeling & Business Cases – Build financial models for cost-saving, channel mix, and profitability to support strategic decisions
- Commission & Sales Reporting – Oversee commission reporting and sales performance, ensuring alignment with business objectives
- Built a rolling monthly forecast for Mobile to allow the business to understand the risks and opportunities
- Collaborated with internal data teams to develop and productionise reporting the business did not have visibility to previously
- Involved in the buyback of 26 Dealer owned Spark stores including financial modelling on the sustainability and viability of the buyback cost and payback period
- Raised the Finance teams’ profile with the Sales team by developing strong working relationships which helped provide key insights into sales reporting and being the key link between Finance and Sales
Product Controller
Lloyd’s Banking Group
London, England
10.2012 - 04.2013
- Product Control & P&L Management - Oversee product control for Futures, FX, and Swaps, ensuring accurate financial tracking and reporting
- P&L Reporting - Produce daily P&L reports with detailed analysis and insightful commentary for the front office and management
- Explain variances between actual results and estimates, clarifying product-specific P&L drivers
- Data Reconciliation - Extract and reconcile data, resolving variances across front, middle, and back offices
- Balance Sheet Control - Provide month-end balance sheet substantiation and commentary on significant changes/trends
- Financial Pack Preparation - Prepare monthly financial packs and P&L summaries for senior leadership review
Product Controller
Union Bank of Switzerland
London, England
11.2011 - 08.2012
- Product Control & P&L Management – Daily Product control for products including credit default swaps and loans
- P&L Reporting & Commentary - Prepare daily and monthly P&L reports, providing analysis, commentary, and variance explanations between actuals and front office estimates
- Include trade movement analysis
- Reporting Process Design & Development - Designed and developed new reporting processes, including new P&L reporting models and monthly financial packs for senior management
- Data Reconciliation & Control - Ensure all reporting is subject to strict reconciliation, substantiation, and control
- Streamlined reporting process to allow reallocation of work to offshore
- Improved financial control in all P&L reporting to limit risk and ensure reliable financial reporting
Markets and Treasury Accountant
ANZ Banking Group
Wellington, New Zealand
01.2009 - 10.2011
- Product Control & P&L Management - Product control for products including currency swaps, interest rate swaps, spots, and futures
- Month End Reporting - Handle P&L reporting and analysis, including MTM attribution, risk positions, and rate validation
- Complete the accounting cycle, including journal postings, balance sheet reconciliations, and preparing monthly packs and commentary for senior management
- Data Reconciliation & Variance Analysis - Analysis of trade discrepancies and other variances generated through system transaction processing as well as Long-term funding cost analysis
- Treasury & Settlement Management - Manage the nostro settlement accounts through liaising with The Reserve Bank of New Zealand on interbank trading and reconciliations
Education
Bachelor of Management Studies - Finance, Economics
University of Waikato
Hamilton, New ZealandSkills
- Leadership
- Financial Reporting
- Budgeting & Forecasting
- Financial Modelling
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Strong Analytical Skills
- Product & Customer Analysis
- Impeccable Work ethic
- Manages work effectively
Key Transferrable Skills
- Leadership
- Impeccable Work ethic
- Financial Reporting
- Manages work effectively
- Financial Modelling
- Strong Analytical Skills
- Budgeting & Forecasting
- Product & Customer Analysis
- Stakeholder Engagement
Qualifications - Degree
University of Waikato, Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand, Bachelor of Management Studies, Finance, Economics
Timeline
Finance Manager - Total Mobile
Spark New Zealand Limited
12.2023 - Current
Finance Manager – Commercial
Spark New Zealand Limited
08.2021 - 11.2023
Finance Product Owner - Business
Spark New Zealand Limited
06.2020 - 07.2021
Finance Product Owner – Broadband & Voice
Spark New Zealand Limited
11.2019 - 05.2020
Junior Finance Manager – Pay Monthly & Skinny Mobile
Spark New Zealand Limited
06.2017 - 10.2019
Senior Finance Analyst – Pay Monthly Mobile
Spark New Zealand Limited
02.2014 - 05.2017
Product Controller
Lloyd’s Banking Group
10.2012 - 04.2013
Product Controller
Union Bank of Switzerland
11.2011 - 08.2012
Markets and Treasury Accountant
ANZ Banking Group
01.2009 - 10.2011
Bachelor of Management Studies - Finance, Economics
University of Waikato
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