Director, Strategic Finance

Director, Strategic Finance

College Board - Finance

Location: This is a fully remote role. Candidates who live near College Board 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 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 budget expert - masterfully tracking and telling the stories behind the investments, regularly adjusting projections to reflect new trends and inputs, and consistently using your financial modeling and analytical superpowers to provide actionable insights and recommendations to drive executive decision-making. Our ideal candidate is passionate about finance, has a strong understanding of FP&A best practices, and is driven by a desire to make a positive impact on student's lives.

In this role, you will be responsible for:

Budgeting & forecasting (40%)

• Run annual budgeting and quarterly forecasting processes for programs in your portfolio

• Lead monthly variance reviews with budget managers and ensure your programs stay on track to meet annual finance targets
• Maintain expense projections, regularly updating assumptions to reflect the latest vendor agreements, program decisions, and market trends
• Build and streamline financial models to improve budgeting and forecasting accuracy
• Proactively identify and size risks, opportunities, and other watch items

Financial analysis (25%)

• Support key analytical work streams, which may include unit cost analyses, ROI assessments, targeted cost reduction exercises, or other strategic finance projects.
• Distill complex analyses into key insights and recommendations that drive sound business and strategy decisions

Reporting (15%)

• Develop and deliver monthly and quarterly financial performance reports
• Proactively design custom strategic financial reports, outlining actionable insights for senior leadership

Partnership management (10%)

• Build and maintain relationships with program and supporting cross-functional teams to ensure understanding of priority work and resourcing needs
• Serve as a finance expert and business partner for portfolio programs

About You

You have:

• Expertise in financial planning and analysis, with 5-7 years experience with budgeting and forecasting work
• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, or related technical field preferred
• Strong organization and prioritization skills and the proven ability to move forward multiple projects in concert, both independently and as a member of the team
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills, including extensive experience in financial modeling
• Strong communication and customer service skills, including experience summarizing complex financial analyses and presenting key findings to senior management
• Solid understanding of corporate finance
• Advanced MS Excel, PowerPoint, and Word skills
• Experience with financial planning systems preferred, e.g. Workday Adaptive Planning
• A passion for supporting educational and career opportunities for millions of 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 United States

All roles at College Board require:

• A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work
• Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and a comfort learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively.
• Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal
• A learner's mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receiving timely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input.
• A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking.
• A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success.

About Our Process

• Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.
• While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise such as live coding, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.

What We Offer

At College Board, we offer more than just a paycheck-we provide a meaningful career, a supportive team, and a comprehensive package designed to help you thrive. We're a self-sustaining nonprofit that believes in fair and competitive compensation, grounded in your qualifications, experience, impact, and the market.

A Thoughtful Approach to Compensation

• The hiring range for this role is $80,00-$130,000
• Your exact salary will depend on your location, experience, and how your background compares to others in similar roles at the College Board.
• We aim to make our best offer upfront - rooted in fairness, transparency, and market data.
• We adjust salaries by location to ensure fairness, no matter where you live.

You'll have open, transparent conversations about compensation, benefits, and what it's like to work at College Board throughout your hiring process. Check out our careers page for more.

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