Director of Strategic Finance

Overview

This role will own strategic finance planning and forecasting end to end and rebuild how finance produces its numbers. The organization is transitioning from spreadsheet-driven processes (including manual uploads and vendor-by-vendor cleanup) to automated, system-to-system workflows supported by finance tools and engineering collaboration.

This is a director-level position designed for a strong senior manager or director who wants full ownership and the ability to build processes and models, rather than managing a large team on day one.

Responsibilities

1) Planning and forecasting (end to end)

• Run the annual operating plan.
• Build departmental OpEx and headcount templates, guide leaders through inputs, and produce one driver-based plan.
• Own the operating model covering revenue, gross profit, OpEx, headcount, EBITDA, working capital, and cash, plus a 3 to 5-year long-range plan.
• Reforecast on a regular cadence and run monthly budget-vs-actual reviews with department heads to track pacing before quarter end.
• Own short- and long-term cash flow forecasting, including collections and payment timing.
• Build the monthly reporting package and Board materials with the Head of Finance, including clear explanations for variances (for example, how R&D spend is under plan).

2) Finance systems, automation, and process

• Lead the transition from spreadsheet-driven finance operations to automated workflows between systems.
• Partner with engineering on the product team:
  • Write requirements
  • Define logic
  • Check the numbers
  • Run user acceptance testing until finance needs are met
• Define general ledger structure so leadership gets cost visibility by team, function, and initiative (not just broad categories).
• Partner with accounting on cleanup and on keeping new entries coded correctly.
• Evaluate and select finance tools (including a planning platform) based on demonstrated value.
• Use AI for time savings where it applies, including variance commentary, data validation, and recurring reporting.

3) Analysis that drives decisions

• Measure payback on sales investment by team (enterprise and mid-market) in months.
• Build advertiser/partner cohort, retention, and spend-distribution analysis by segment.
• Develop methodologies to answer open-ended questions and explain the data-backed story (examples include determining whether a campaign is working, modeling a new business line, or showing investor partner stickiness).
• Write your own SQL using production data (read access) and a finance schema without relying on a data team for pulls.

First-year expectations

• First 90 days: Own the operating model and annual plan; run the first monthly close review with accounting; deliver the first reporting package and Board pack.
• By month 6: Deliver a driver-based plan and rolling forecast leaders actually use; establish a monthly cadence with predictable book close timing and explained variances; ensure at least one manual workflow (invoicing or partner payouts) runs system-to-system.
• By month 12: Produce trusted cash forecasting; implement a ledger structure that answers “what does this team cost?” without manual rework; run sales payback and cohort analysis on a regular rhythm; enable a finance function that can operate without the Head of Finance doing day-to-day work.

Requirements

Must-haves

• 7+ years in FP&A or strategic finance. Investment banking or transaction advisory is acceptable if you have since owned planning and forecasting in an operating company.
• Strong, hands-on SQL capability; ability to query, join, and reconcile messy data directly. Using AI to help write queries is fine, but it does not replace understanding the intended logic.
• Full ownership of P&L planning for either a smaller company or a division operating like its own business, including building and owning the entire model.
• Mastery of the three statements and how the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow connect.
• A track record of building something new in finance (process, model, reporting pipeline, or automation).
• Ability to translate analysis into clear recommendations for a CEO or Board.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in performance marketing, adtech, martech, ecommerce, consumer, SaaS, or another data-heavy, variable-cost business.
• Cohort, retention, LTV, and unit economics experience.
• Exposure to finance systems projects such as invoicing, payables, planning tools, or an ERP rollout, including working with engineers and running UAT.
• Experience with board reporting or investor materials.

What this role is not

• Accounting: Accounting runs the close, AP/AR, payroll, and audit relationship. Partnership includes close reviews, audit schedules, and data quality, but this role will not run the books.
• Deal-focused: The organization is profitable, not raising right now, and M&A is limited. Support for Board and investors is included, but transaction modeling is not the primary focus.
• A team-management role on day one: Work will be built and run by the role holder; a team may come as the function grows.

Compensation & Benefits

• Not specified in the provided description.

Location

• Not specified in the provided description.