Role: Senior Director Finance Business Processes and Governance
Location : New Brunswick, NJ
Duration: Contract to Hire
Job Description:
The Senior Director, Finance Business Processes & Governance is accountable for the end-to-end effectiveness, governance, and continuous improvement of core Finance business processes—supported by the SAP S/4HANA for Finance platform and complementary best-of-breed finance capabilities. This role ensures trusted outcomes across consolidations & close, group reporting, planning (EPM IBP), Account to Report (A2R), FX, and finance reporting/analytics, with strong data governance to maintain control integrity, auditability, and decision-ready reporting.
Key Responsibilities:
1) Own Finance Process Outcomes (Supported by SAP S/4HANA for Finance)
• Own and govern major Finance process journeys, including:
• Consolidations & Close
• Group Reporting
• Planning and Performance (EPM IBP)
• A2R
• Ensure processes are designed for:
• speed (cycle time, throughput)
• accuracy (reduced rework and exceptions)
• compliance (auditability and control alignment)
• Drive standardization across entities/regions while enabling controlled local needs
• Define process KPIs, operating rhythms, and continuous improvement priorities
2) Consolidations & Close Excellence, Controls & Issue Resolution
• Lead close effectiveness initiatives focused on:
• exception reduction
• reconciliation discipline
• improved trial balance readiness and reporting timeliness
• Establish governance for:
• close timelines and ownership
• escalation and issue management
• remediation tracking to closure
• Drive root-cause analysis for recurring issues and ensure sustainable corrective actions
• Ensure close outputs align to group reporting requirements and external deadlines
3) Reporting Integrity, FX Governance & Decision-Ready Outputs
• Ensure finance reporting outputs are consistent, trusted, and decision-ready across close and planning cycles
• Own governance for:
• FX treatment and reporting principles (as applicable to your scope)
• reporting definitions, calculation principles, and KPI logic
• reporting consistency across stakeholders and entities
• Partner with Finance users to improve:
• reporting usability and explainability
• timeliness and responsiveness to leadership needs
• Ensure reporting reconciles to source processes and supports audit and control expectations
4) Data Governance & Master/Reference Data Stewardship
• Establish and lead finance data governance for the end-to-end reporting lifecycle
• Define and enforce:
• data ownership and stewardship model
• data standards (definitions, business rules, metadata ownership)
• data quality expectations and validation principles
• Ensure data lineage and traceability from source processes through reporting and planning outputs
• Lead governance for changes to finance-critical definitions and logic (including versioning and approval workflows)
• Partner with Risk/Compliance/Internal Audit to ensure governance supports control effectiveness and audit readiness
5) Enterprise Performance Management (EPM IBP) & Planning-to-Reporting Alignment
• Own the planning-to-reporting lifecycle performance model using EPM IBP
• Drive planning process improvements such as:
• better scenario management and driver logic governance
• smoother workflows and approvals
• improved alignment between planning outputs and consolidation/reporting needs
• Ensure planning outputs are governance-ready, explainable, and consistent with close/group reporting principles
• Support adoption and continuous improvement across planning cycles
6) Leadership, Stakeholder Alignment & Operating Model Execution
• Lead cross-functional execution with Finance process owners, Controllers/Group Reporting teams, and operations stakeholders
• Set priorities, manage the portfolio of initiatives, and measure outcomes (quality, timeliness, adoption)
• Establish governance mechanisms for:
• key decisions and escalation paths
• issue/problem management and continuous improvement tracking
• Ensure effective stakeholder engagement and readiness for change
• Report to the VP and build trusted relationships across Finance, Risk/Compliance, and delivery partners
Required Qualifications:
• 12+ years of experience in Finance operations, Finance transformation, group reporting, consolidations/close, and/or performance management
• Demonstrated leadership delivering improvements in:
• consolidations & close
• group reporting
• planning and performance (EPM IBP)
• Strong understanding of FX governance and impacts to financial statements and reporting integrity
• Proven expertise in finance data governance (definitions, standards, stewardship, quality, lineage/traceability)
• Experience working with SAP S/4HANA for Finance as a platform enabling Finance processes (direct involvement preferred)
• Ability to lead in multi-entity environments with audit and control expectations
• Strong stakeholder management and governance operating model skills
Preferred Qualifications:
• Experience defining operating governance models (close governance, KPI governance, issue management, reporting definition governance)
• Experience with finance reporting/analytics governance and compliance-ready reporting packs
• Background supporting integration alignment between close/group reporting and planning cycles
Success Measures (KPIs):
• Close and reporting performance: improved cycle times, reduced exceptions, fewer late-breaking issues
• Reporting trust: reduced rework/reconciliation effort; improved stakeholder satisfaction
• Data governance effectiveness: higher data quality, improved stewardship adherence, fewer definition/control disputes
• Governance & compliance: fewer audit findings; timely remediation of control issues
• Planning effectiveness: smoother cycles, improved forecast quality, higher adoption
Reporting Line:
• Reports to: VP
• Partners with: Controllers/Group Reporting, Finance operations, Risk/Compliance/Internal Audit, and delivery partners supporting execution
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