Job Description Summary

The Lead Engineering Operations Specialist – Budget Management executes tactical budget management for specific engineering portfolios under the guidance of the Senior Engineering Budget Leader. Starting with the Engineering Intellectual Property portfolio and potentially expanding to other operational or strategic portfolios, this role executes standard work for budget management and collaborates directly with operations partners, finance, program managers, and engineering teams to achieve annual operating plans for assigned portfolios. The Lead Operations specialist will be involved in developing and improving standard operating procedures, tools, and processes that enable effective budget management across the Wind Engineering portfolio.

Job Description

Roles and Responsibilities

• Portfolio Budget Execution: Execute all financial planning, forecasting, and tracking for assigned engineering portfolios (initially Intellectual Property portfolio, with potential expansion to other operational/strategic portfolios) following established standard work.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner directly with engineering teams, program managers, and operations colleagues to gather budget requirements, ensure alignment with program objectives, and support quarterly and annual operating plan execution.
• Budget Analysis & Performance Monitoring: Develop and maintain budget models, variance analyses, risk identification and financial reports using established dashboards and KPIs to provide visibility into portfolio spending and forecast accuracy.
• Standard Work Support & Continuous Improvement: Take a leading role in developing, testing, and refining standard operating procedures, tools, and resources for budget management; identify opportunities for process optimization and efficiency gains.
• Stakeholder Communication: Serve as primary point of contact for assigned portfolio budget questions, providing clear explanations of budget status, risks, and tradeoff recommendations to engineering leadership.
• Planning Cycle Execution: Drive quarterly and annual budget planning cycles for assigned portfolios following established operating rhythms, ensuring timely submission of accurate forecasts and supporting documentation aligned with Strategy to Operating Plan process.
• Data Integrity & Analytics: Ensure accuracy and completeness of budget data in financial systems; provide data analytics and historical trend analysis to support portfolio-level decision making.
• Process Execution Support: Support execution of engineering Purchase Order (PO) processes and contractor management for assigned portfolios, ensuring compliance with standard operating procedures.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, or relevant business discipline, from an accredited college or university.
• 5+ years of experience in financial planning, budget management, program management, or related engineering or analytical roles.

Eligibility Requirements

• The work location for this role is Greenville, SC (Relocation assistance provided if not already local). 

Desired Characteristics

• Excellent analytical, organizational, problem solving and communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work with cross-functional teams and managing multiple stakeholders.
• Ability to influence decision-making at senior leadership levels.
• Systems thinker and Proactive problem-solver with continuous improvement mindset.
• Strong independent worker who knows when to escalate to senior leadership.
• Proficiency in advanced Excel, financial planning software, and data visualization tools (PowerBI, Tableau, Smartsheet).
• Experience with technical tools such as Python, VBA, or automation/scripting languages.
• Knowledge of AI tools and willingness to leverage emerging technologies for process improvement.
• Experience with engineering product development process; preferably in Wind Industry.
• Familiarity with patent portfolio management, IP operations, or other engineering operational portfolios.