Finance · FP&A · Strategy

David
Penner

Finance professional who builds the models that drive decisions. Where analytical rigor meets strategic clarity.

4.00 GPA across MBA & International Exchange
4 Countries covered
7 Markets analyzed in price elasticity model
24mo Data integration in automated Power BI dashboard
Get in touch
$1.1M Projected annual savings
19.5% Operational waste identified
4.6% Unit cost reduction achieved
200–300% Sales target achievement in high-performance environment

About

I don't just report numbers. I build the systems behind them.

My path has been deliberately unconventional. Studying in Germany, completing an exchange in California, and now pursuing an MBA in Finance — I've chosen depth over convention at every turn. That cross-continental trajectory isn't a quirk; it's the lens through which I approach complex problems.

At my core, I'm a builder. Whether architecting a linear programming model to restructure a multinational production network, engineering a Direct Cash Flow Forecast from raw SAP data, or designing a Power BI dashboard that finally gives executives the variance clarity they need — I gravitate toward problems where analytical rigor and strategic judgment intersect.

I've been trusted with CFO-level work as an intern. I've presented directly to executive leadership. I was selected for a CFA Institute Scholarship — a recognition I carry as both a responsibility and a signal of direction. I carry a 4.0 GPA not as a credential, but as evidence of a standard I hold myself to. I'm building toward a career in FP&A, corporate finance, or strategy — where the work is complex, the stakes are real, and precision matters.

CFA Institute

Recognition · March 2026

CFA Institute Scholarship Recipient  ·  Awarded by the CFA Institute in recognition of academic merit and commitment to investment excellence

Experience

Mar – Aug 2025

GuS glass + safety

Lübbecke, Germany

Financial Controller Intern — FP&A

  • Exclusively selected for 1-on-1 mentorship with the Group CFO, contributing directly to Long-Range Planning, Rolling Forecasts, and the Annual Budgeting cycle — scope typically reserved for senior finance staff.
  • Designed a financial optimization model combining Activity-Based Costing, Linear Programming, and ROI analysis to restructure global production networks — culminating in a capital investment recommendation projecting $1.1M in annual savings for a UK subsidiary.
  • Built an automated Power BI dashboard with 24-month ETL integration, delivering executive-level variance reporting on key operational metrics — turning a fragmented manual process into a real-time decision support tool.
  • Extracted AR/AP data from SAP via SQL to engineer a Direct Cash Flow Forecast model, optimizing working capital and ensuring liquidity visibility across a global business unit.
  • Identified 19.5% operational waste in final assembly using Work Sampling analysis; traced root causes to inaccurate SAP master data and achieved a measurable 4.6% unit cost reduction.

Jul – Aug 2024

Schulz Gebäudeservice

Espelkamp, Germany

Business Analyst Intern

  • Built price elasticity models across 7 geographical segments to develop a dynamic pricing strategy, presenting revenue recommendations directly to the CEO.
  • Optimized the candidate acquisition funnel through conversion rate analysis, reallocating resources to drive a 20% increase in applicant flow for critical operational roles.

Feb – Jun 2024

Hochschule Osnabrück

Osnabrück, Germany

Investment Analyst — Academic Project

  • Constructed investment models and ROI frameworks to quantify budget impacts and inform capital allocation decisions under real-world constraints.
  • Led financial due diligence to stress-test assumptions and identify risk exposure — synthesized findings into investment decks that drove adoption by management.

Nov 2023 – May 2024

Telekom

Porta Westfalica, Germany

Business Development — Promotion

  • Optimized lead-acquisition strategies across an assigned territory, driving the agency's highest lead-conversion rate — demonstrating applied sales analytics and performance ownership.
  • Onboarded four new hires and standardized sales workflows, building repeatable processes that ensured consistent service delivery and team performance.

Sep – Nov 2023

Telekom

Porta Westfalica, Germany

Sales Associate

  • Surpassed sales targets by 200–300% in a high-velocity environment, generating $1.1M in annualized contract value — establishing a track record of high performance under pressure from the outset.

Key Projects

01

Global Production Network Optimization

Problem → Approach → Result

A multinational manufacturer needed to rationalize its production footprint. Cost structures were opaque; no model existed to evaluate network trade-offs with analytical precision.

Approach: Integrated BPMN/EPC process flows with Activity-Based Costing and Linear Programming into a unified optimization model. Ran ROI analysis across capital investment scenarios for international subsidiaries.

↳ $1.1M projected annual savings · Capital investment initiated for UK subsidiary

02

Executive Variance Reporting Dashboard

Problem → Approach → Result

Finance leadership lacked a consistent, automated view of operational metrics. Reporting was manual, backward-looking, and disconnected from source systems.

Approach: Built a Power BI dashboard from scratch with an ETL pipeline covering 24 months of data. Designed variance analysis views tailored for C-suite review cycles.

↳ Real-time executive reporting · Manual process fully automated

03

Direct Cash Flow Forecast Model

Problem → Approach → Result

A global business unit had limited visibility into working capital position and short-term liquidity. AR/AP data was siloed inside SAP and inaccessible to FP&A.

Approach: Wrote SQL queries to extract and aggregate datasets from SAP. Engineered a Direct Cash Flow Forecast to surface liquidity exposure and support treasury decisions.

↳ Working capital optimized · Liquidity risk visibility established

Toolbox

Finance

  • FP&A / Budgeting
  • Long-Range Planning
  • Rolling Forecasts
  • Variance Analysis
  • Activity-Based Costing
  • Cash Flow Forecasting
  • Capital Investment Analysis
  • ROI & Sensitivity Analysis

Data & Analytics

  • Power BI — ETL, KPI dashboards, financial tracking
  • Tableau — data prep, visualization, pattern analysis
  • SQL — ERP extraction, AR/AP aggregation, forecasting data
  • Scenario & Price Elasticity Modeling
  • Performance Analytics

Systems & Process

  • Excel — Advanced (financial modeling, ABC costing, LP)
  • SAP — FP&A data extraction & P2P workflows
  • Salesforce — lead tracking & conversion optimization
  • BPMN / EPC — process mapping & network optimization
  • AI Workflow Automation

Languages

  • English — Fluent
  • German — Fluent
  • DE · US · UK · ES

Education

Master of Business Administration — Finance Track

San José State University
Expected Aug 2026

GPA 4.00

B.A. International Business Administration — FP&A Track

University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück
Germany · Aug 2025

Controlling / FP&A Focus

Exchange Semester — Strategic Management (Capstone)

California State University, East Bay
Aug – Dec 2024

GPA 4.00

Let's connect.

Open to FP&A, corporate finance, and strategy roles. Always glad to talk shop.

Connect on LinkedIn → [email protected]
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