Director of Financial Planning and Analysis

Director, Financial Planning & Analysis

Latitude Food Group

The Director, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) leads budgeting, forecasting, long-range planning, and performance analysis for Latitude Food Group and its two brands, &pizza and Tijuana Flats. Reporting to the CFO, this role turns financial and operating data into clear, timely insight that helps leadership make better decisions at the platform, brand, and restaurant level. The Director is expected to be a heavy, hands-on user of AI and business intelligence (BI) tools, using them to automate reporting, sharpen forecasts, and give leaders self-service access to the numbers.

As LFG brings two brands together and grows through multi-unit franchising, the Director of FP&A builds the planning and reporting frameworks the platform needs: the annual budget and rolling forecasts, consolidated and brand-level management reporting, company and franchise restaurant economics, and new restaurant return models that support development decisions. The role also identifies and helps implement opportunities to improve sales, margins, and productivity in &pizza and Tijuana Flats restaurants, and builds a modern, AI-enabled FP&A function that spends less time assembling data and more time analyzing it.

The Director partners closely with the CFO, Controller, and brand and functional leaders, and supports Board, lender, and investor reporting with forecasts, analysis, and presentation materials.

Company

Latitude Food Group, supporting both &pizza and Tijuana Flats

Location

Orlando, FL – in office

Reports To

Chief Financial Officer

Department

Finance – Financial Planning & Analysis

Direct Reports

FP&A analyst(s) – team size to be confirmed

FLSA Status

Exempt

Bonus Eligibility

Yes – target to be confirmed

Travel

Periodic domestic travel to LFG support centers, restaurants, and Board, lender, or investor meetings

Recommended Salary Range

Based on Market

A. Budgeting, Forecasting & Long-Range Planning (25%)

●     Lead the annual budget process for &pizza, Tijuana Flats, and the LFG platform, partnering with the CFO and leadership team to set financial performance and growth goals in line with the company’s culture and vision.

●     Own rolling forecasts and build scalable, airtight budgeting and forecasting models at the consolidated, brand, and restaurant level, with timely and accurate analytical insights.

●     Lead long-range planning, building processes and cross-functional workstreams that capture all key levers, including company and franchise unit growth, menu and pricing, labor, food and packaging costs, and G&A.

●     Drive scenario and sensitivity analysis to help leadership weigh risks and opportunities.

●     Apply AI and predictive techniques to forecasting, such as driver-based and machine learning models for sales, traffic, labor, and food costs, to improve accuracy and speed.

B. Management Reporting & Performance Analysis (20%)

●     Build and maintain consolidated and brand-level management reporting, automated BI dashboards, and restaurant scorecards that leadership and field teams use to run the business.

●     Analyze performance against budget, forecast, and prior year for each brand, explaining key drivers such as traffic, average check, labor, cost of goods, and occupancy.

●     Partner with the Controller to ensure reporting ties to the close, and support franchise revenue analysis, including royalties and fees.

●     Stay current with market and financial trends and bring relevant insight to the leadership team.

C. Restaurant Economics, Development & Strategic Analysis (20%)

●     Identify, propose, help implement, and build feedback loops for strategic opportunities to increase sales, margins, and productivity in &pizza and Tijuana Flats restaurants.

●     Lead new restaurant return forecasting and unit economics analysis to support company and franchise development decisions in new and existing markets.

●     Monitor competitor initiatives and public market comparable companies to inform strategic planning and operating decisions, including menu changes, menu pricing, and lease review.

●     Support corporate strategy initiatives with financial analysis, including any fundraising, capital markets, and M&A activity.

D. Board, Lender & Investor Support (10%)

●     Prepare forecasts, analysis, and presentation materials for Board-level cyclical and ad hoc reporting.

●     Support the CFO with credit agreement compliance calculations, covenant forecasting, and lender and investor reporting.

E. Cross-Functional Business Partnership (10%)

●     Serve as the finance partner to Operations, Franchise Operations, Development, Supply Chain, and Marketing leaders, translating financial results into clear actions for each brand.

●     Evaluate the financial impact of initiatives such as menu pricing, promotions, labor models, and new products, and track results after launch.

F. AI, BI & Analytics Automation (10%)

●     Lead LFG’s use of AI and BI in finance, using tools such as Power BI or Tableau, SQL, and AI assistants and copilots in daily FP&A work.

●     Automate data collection, consolidation, and recurring reporting across POS, labor, inventory, and accounting systems for both brands, reducing manual work and cycle time.

●     Use AI to speed up variance commentary, anomaly detection, and ad hoc analysis, while maintaining strong data accuracy, governance, and review.

●     Partner with IT and data teams on the finance data model and single source of truth, and help train finance and business partners to use self-service dashboards and AI tools.

G. Team Leadership & FP&A Infrastructure (5%)

●     Lead, coach, and develop FP&A team members, setting clear expectations, providing regular feedback, and building the team’s AI and BI skills.

●     Continuously improve FP&A tools, systems, and processes to build scale and efficiency as LFG grows.

●     Advanced financial modeling skills, including budgeting, forecasting, scenario analysis, and return analysis.

●     Deep understanding of the P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow, and how operating drivers flow through to results.

●     Strong understanding of restaurant unit economics and franchise business models strongly preferred.

●     Ability to present financial information clearly and build strong relationships with senior leadership, brand and functional leaders, and external stakeholders.

●     Comfortable leveraging both strategic and analytical skills to turn data into practical business decisions.

●     Effective, pragmatic project management skills; able to manage multiple planning cycles and ad hoc requests under pressure.

●     Self-starter who identifies opportunities or issues and develops and executes a plan to address them.

●     Entrepreneurial by nature or practice: shows up as an owner, adapts to change, and has a bias for action and accountability.

●     Hands-on, advanced proficiency with BI tools (such as Power BI or Tableau) and strong data skills, including SQL; Python or similar a plus.

●     Daily, practical use of AI tools (such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, or Claude) for analysis, modeling, reporting, and automation, with sound judgment about accuracy and data security.

●     Advanced Excel and financial planning system experience.

●     Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, or business administration required; MBA or CFA preferred.

●     10+ years of progressive finance experience, including 5+ years in FP&A, corporate finance, or financial analysis with increasing leadership responsibility.

●     Multi-unit restaurant, hospitality, retail, or franchise experience strongly preferred.

●     Demonstrated track record of building BI dashboards and using AI or automation to transform FP&A reporting, forecasting, or analysis.

●     Experience supporting Board, lender, or investor reporting.

●     Investment banking, corporate development, or private equity-backed company experience a plus.

●     Reports to the CFO and serves as a key member of the finance leadership team.

●     Partners closely with the Controller and accounting team on close, reporting, and reconciliation of plan to actuals.

●     Works cross-functionally with LFG executive leadership and &pizza and Tijuana Flats leaders across Operations, Franchise Operations, Development, Supply Chain, Marketing, HR, and IT.

●     Partners with IT and data teams on finance data, systems, BI, and AI tools.

●     Supports the CFO in interactions with the Board of Directors, lenders, and investors.

●     In-office role based in Orlando, FL, with some domestic travel.

●     Travel may include visits to LFG support centers, &pizza and Tijuana Flats restaurants, and Board, lender, or investor meetings.

●     Periodic extended hours may be required during budgeting, forecasting, and Board reporting cycles.

●     Annual budget and rolling forecasts are delivered on time, with forecast accuracy within agreed tolerances.

●     Management reporting and KPI dashboards are trusted, timely, and used by leadership to make decisions for each brand.

●     Variance analysis clearly explains performance drivers and leads to specific actions.

●     Financial insights lead to measurable improvements in sales, margins, and productivity at &pizza and Tijuana Flats restaurants.

●     New restaurant return models are well supported and used in company and franchise development decisions.

●     Board, lender, and investor materials are accurate, clear, and delivered on schedule.

●     Recurring reporting is largely automated through BI and AI, reducing manual effort and shortening reporting and forecasting cycles.

●     Leaders across both brands use self-service dashboards to access timely, reliable numbers.

●     Viewed by the CFO and business leaders as a trusted, proactive finance partner.