Lead Finance Director for Technology, Data and Research

Your Team Responsibilities

MSCI is seeking a senior business leader to serve as a key Finance leadership member, trusted advisor and strategic business partner to the Chief Technology Officer and the Chief Research Officer. This Lead Finance Director will be partnering closely with the CFO, the CTO and the CRO and will oversee a team of professionals managing all aspects of the financial management and financial operations of the firm’s production processes across technology infrastructure, software development and data process throughput. The individual will play key role in driving operational excellence and efficiency across MSCI.

 

MSCI is an independent provider of research-driven insights and tools for institutional investors.  The company offers deep expertise in the areas of risk and performance measurement that is based on more than 40 years of academic research, real-world experience and collaboration with our clients. MSCI’s broad product line supports clients’ needs across all major asset classes and provides them with a consistent way of looking at risk and performance from front to middle office.  The company has a highly flexible business model that enables clients to select the individual products and services they need and integrate them into their own investment processes and methodologies.

 

Asset owners use MSCI research, data, benchmarks and multi-asset class risk management tools to determine whether the managers they hire are delivering appropriate risk-adjusted returns. Chief investment officers use MSCI’s extensive, high-quality data to develop and test investment strategies.  They also use MSCI models and performance attribution tools to understand the drivers of return in their portfolios. Active managers rely on MSCI factor models, data and portfolio construction and optimization tools to build portfolios and keep them aligned with their investment objectives. Passive managers use MSCI’s index data, equity factor models and optimizer to construct their index funds and ETFs. Chief risk officers choose MSCI’s risk management systems to understand, monitor and control risk in the portfolios they are safeguarding.

 

For more than 40 years, MSCI’s research-based indexes and analytics have helped the world’s leading investors build and manage better portfolios.  Clients rely on our offerings for deeper insights into the drivers of performance and risk in their portfolios, broad asset class coverage and innovative research. Our line of products and services includes indexes, analytical models, data, real estate benchmarks and ESG research.  MSCI serves 98 of the top 100 largest money managers, according to the most recent P&I ranking.

Your Key Ressponsibilities

Scope of Responsibility

 

The Finance Director will report to the CFO and will partner closely with the CTO and the CRO and the leaders of the Technology & Data and Research organizations. As Finance Director, s/he will play a critical role in driving the strategic roadmap across our production processes, improve business performance and decision making, drive cross product/function coordination to ensure close alignment with product roadmaps and commercial agendas, and establish a strategic approach to the management of the firm’s resources and more than 6,000 global employees. As a leadership position, the individual will provide coordination and direction to a team of Finance professionals that drive the day-to-day financial management of each product/function as well as establish segment strategy and drive operational execution to support sustainable growth. 

 

Your skills and experience that will help you excel

Specific Knowledge:

 

• Strong financial acumen, with proven track record in Financial and/or Operational leadership roles
• Experience with IT Finance and Operations and driving process improvement, reengineering and efficiency initiatives
• Strong leadership, partnership, communication and influencing skills
• Experience developing and leading strategic initiatives and investments through understanding the competitive landscape, industry trends, market structure and the potential business impact
• Proven expertise in articulating and presenting the Tech/Data and Research strategy to executive leadership
• Demonstrated ability to translate data into actionable insight
• Strong collaboration skills and comfortable providing indirect leadership
• Comfortable working in a global, high intensity and high energy environment
• Experience in capital budgeting, resource planning, risk management, P&L analysis, customer profitability, business development, competitor analysis, pricing strategy, product development
• Experience in developing and using metrics on profitability and growth
• Experience with product pri