Senior Director, Strategic Finance

Senior Director, Strategic Finance

College Board - Finance

Location: 1) This is a fully remote role. Candidates who live near CB offices have the option of being fully remote or hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office).

Type: This is a full-time position

About the Team 

The Strategic Finance team is a highly collaborative team, working with senior leaders across the organization to drive key decisions that strengthen the outcomes of our programs and services. As the Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) arm of the Finance division, we leverage a strong understanding of College Board’s economics, a broad range of financial models, and deep relationships with program leaders to manage and analyze a billion-dollar budget. Our work ensures that the College Board’s resources are strategically and sustainably allocated in support of our mission to clear a path for all students to own their future.   

About the Opportunity  

As a Senior Director of Strategic Finance, you are an adept translator between program priorities and the organization's financial strategy. You help teams craft and refine their budgets, accurately forecast changes throughout the year, and keep leadership apprised of the financial health and needs of your portfolio of programs. You are your portfolio’s financial expert – masterfully telling the story behind the P&L, regularly adjusting projections to reflect new inputs and market trends, and consistently using your financial modeling and analytical superpowers to provide actionable insights and inform key decisions. Our ideal candidate is passionate about finance, and has a strong understanding of FP&A best practices and a track record of effective business partnership with senior leaders. 

In this role, you will:

Own Strategic Financial Planning (50%)

• Perform complex financial analyses to generate recommendations to drive sound business and strategy decisions. Projects may include new product business case development, cost of acquisition and ROI analyses, competitive benchmarking and pricing analyses, and long-term financial planning.

• Lead key analytic work streams from start to finish, identifying Finance and Program needs, scoping projects, coordinating with cross-functional teams to gather and analyze data, and managing towards deliverables and deadlines.

• Effectively identify and communicate clear, synthesized, and actionable insights and recommendations from analytical projects to senior leaders.

• Deeply grasp the economics of the College Board, including revenue and expense drivers, key performance indicators, and recent historical trends, and ensure that programs and service units have the information they need to apply these insights to their work.

Manage Budgeting & Forecasting (40%)

• Drive the budget and forecasting processes in partnership with large, complex and/or revenue-generating departments; leverage data to ensure key assumptions are accurately reflected and identify risks and cost savings opportunities.

• Own the development of financial projections and performance reports in collaboration with program and Finance colleagues.

• Proactively design and deliver custom strategic financial reports, outlining actionable insights for senior leadership.

Complete Special Projects (10%)

• Manage ad-hoc projects and initiatives

 About You 

You have: 

• A bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics or related technical field preferred

• 10+ years of relevant and progressive experience in FP&A, finance business partner, and/or strategy roles; extensive experience in financial modeling and quantitative analyses and experience supporting growth strategies

• A strong understanding of corporate finance

• Experience with financial planning systems preferred, especially Workday and Adaptive Planning

• The ability to succinctly summarize complex financial analysis, present key findings to senior management, and influence decisions

• Project management skills and the ability to prioritize and independently manage multiple time-sensitive projects

• A strong interest in proactive problem-solving and continuous improvement; the ability and willingness to both teach others and learn from colleagues

• Advanced MS Excel, PowerPoint, and Word skills

• Exceptional attention to detail

• A strong interest in expanding educational opportunity for all students

• The ability to travel 4-6 times a year to College Board offices or on behalf of College Board business

• Authorization to work in the Unite