Senior Vice President – Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)

The Head of Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) will report to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and will be responsible for managing the forecasting, financial planning, and analysis processes for GLG’s Financial Services, G&A, and corporate business segments. This executive will be a strategic and data-driven finance leader that will establish FP&A as an analytical think-tank that can be effectively leveraged by all parts of the organization. They will foster an entrepreneurial spirit, lead an established team and recruiting top talent, to manage the day-to-day revenue metrics, financial reporting, corporate division budgets, project management, and external reporting requirements.  

The successful Candidate has proven experience in a complex business at scale. The individual is a dynamic, rigorous, collaborative executive who works well as part of a team and has the executive courage to make difficult recommendations and / or decisions. They possess superior finance stewardship skills, a business partner mindset, authentic leadership, and impactful communication and influencing skills.  

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Oversee and manage monthly forecasting process, annual planning process, long-range strategic planning process and modeling, quarterly filings, and lender deliverables; provide strategic guidance and financial counsel to Executive Leadership Team.
• Establish Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) as a ‘Center of Analytical Excellence’ to be shared with functional leaders across the organization.
• Create and monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), highlighting trends and analyzing causes of variance, including all areas of revenue, cost of sales, expenses, operating metrics, and capital expenditures.
• Prepare a reporting package that includes full financial statements, comprehensive KPI reporting, operational dashboard reporting, analysis of key business trends, actual versus budget variances, and comprehensive executive level explanations of differences.
• Develop and prepare annual budget, managing forecasts for revenue, expenses, and headcount. Manage capital allocation, cash flow forecasting and all lender deliverables.
• Improve operating teams' understanding of financial statements and budget adherence with thoughtful and transparent analysis.
• Successfully manage, develop, and motivate the organization to collaborate with cross functional operating teams and provide fact-based recommendations that improve profitability, operating efficiency and effectiveness.
• Build, manage and lead the evolution of the organization, drive top performance and developing the key objectives and projections, both short-term and long- term.
• Provide transformational and inspirational leadership and guidance across the organization and set clear direction, aligning people and resources accordingly.
• Promote and drive best practice, adoption of new techniques, tools, and methodologies, and ensure management reporting yield business insights to drive recommendations and results against strategic objectives.
• Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of investment analysis and be able to play a key role in any associated M&A / Corporate Development activities.
• In partnership with others, continue to lead a significant transformation of GLG, redesigning processes for the finance organization, modernizing the finance organization, and helping to build a financial infrastructure for the business that can support future growth.  

Candidate Profile

The Head of FP&A will be a strategic, hands-on finance executive with diverse industry experience and a demonstrated business acumen. This leader will possess a deep understanding of ever-changing market dynamics who thrives in a fast-paced, lean organization and with an insatiable drive to focus on results while inspiring great talent to outperform in a complex, evolving and technology-driven organization. The successful Candidate is a team player who will balance a breadth of experience with the ability to drive consistency and accountability in the business and establish FP&A as a trusted partner.  

IDEAL EXPERIENCE  

Senior FP&A and Corporate Finance Leadership 

• 15 or more years of progressive FP&A experience demonstrating increasing responsibility, scope, and leadership, including at the corporate level. Highly involved and engaged with the business on a forward-looking view, and ideally has spent time in operationally focused positions in addition to finance roles.
• Strong business acumen and strategic skills with an obvious operational bent; ability to quickly grasp complex business strategies and identify downstream operational implications. Highly involved and engaged with the business on a forward-looking view.  

Industry & Scale

• Led FP&A teams in at-scale, complex organizations. Experience in a global business environment of relevant complexity, ideally over $300 million revenue. A background in technology-enabled services or other business services is preferred but not required.  

FP&A Organization and Transformation 

• Evolve complex finance organizations through integration, system upgrades, hiring and mentoring A-players, outsourcing, and automation. Experience leading, motivating, and mentoring / growing teams, with a strong lens toward future scale of the enterprise.
• Demonstrated track-record of designing, implementing, leading, and transforming a planning process into a more insightful, dynamic, and forward-looking engagement with the business.  

Strategic Insights, Tracking & Reporting 

• Deep understanding of business drivers and market trends. Oversee analytics and reporting to drive reliable insights. Ties insights to actionable suggestions and acts as a business enabler. Extraordinary analytical and critical thinking skills, with demonstrated intellectual and analytical rigor.
• Strategic thinker with broad finance functional experience, including accounting, reporting, customer/ channel profitability analysis, revenue recognition, financial modeling, and forecasting, balanced with sound business judgment.  

Education & Credentials 

• Degree in Finance, Accounting or other related business degree. An MBA or other advanced degree is preferred but not required.  

CRITICAL LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES 

Driving Results 

• Acts to surpass team goals, seizing opportunities to extend the limits of what is possible; sets continually higher goals for the team that are ambitious but achievable.
• Identifies and acts on new opportunities that enable performance targets to be exceeded.
• Seeks new challenges and is energized by exceeding targets.
• Continually utilizes data, metrics, and measurements to shape strategies, optimize performance and drive quantifiable improvements in team output.
• Proven ability to turn aspirational goals into reality, pairing high-level thinking with strong execution, driving outcomes, managing with metrics, and delivering transparency into results.
• Driven to succeed. Agile, with a high comfort level with ambiguity and fluidity, and the ability to make decisions in a rapidly changing environment while achieving quality results.  

Collaborating and Influencing 

• Identifies all necessary stakeholders and connects with them to gain support or agreement.
• Negotiates with a genuine give-and-take approach that takes all parties’ perspectives into account.
• Takes advantage of opportunities to build strategic relationships to achieve a specific outcome.
• Engages others in open dialogue and adapts own influence approach to different stakeholders in ways that address their interests or concerns.
• Anticipates emerging or potential conflicts among all stakeholders and takes steps to pre-empt them.
• Ability to effectively lead critical conversations / presentations and has innate ability to influence and build efficacy amongst Senior / Executive team stakeholders and leaders.
• Self-aware with the ability to form and foster organizational harmony and correct existing pain points and gaps.
• Relationship driven, builds trusting relationships in a dynamic environment with a broad range of colleagues, executive stakeholders, and business partners.  

Leading People

• Identifies and leverages individual strengths within the team, unlocking potential.
• Empowering and visionary leader who builds world-class functions.
• Communicates clearly and effectively, with proven executive presence; ability to bring immediate credibility to and influence both internal and external stakeholders.

This role will require four days in the office.

What We Offer: 

Benefits: All U.S. GLGers also have access to benefits such as:

• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage effective on your first day of employment
• Flexible paid time off. No pre-determined limits on vacation time, plus 10 company holidays
• 401(k) and Roth 401(k) plans with an employer match (subject to annual limits & vesting)
• Tuition reimbursement program for eligible courses including language skills courses
• Paid parental leave, adoption and surrogacy reimbursement
• Free wellbeing support with the Calm app, Maven and EAP, and free long-term therapy & counselling assistance through Pathways
• Other work perks and benefits available based on final job location

Compensation: GLG is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. Actual compensation is based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, depth of experience, certifications, and specific work location. Certain roles may also be eligible for incentive compensation.

About GLG / Gerson Lehrman Group

GLG is the world’s leading platform for trusted human expertise. We connect global decision-makers—from hedge fund managers and private equity partners to strategy leaders at Fortune 500s—with the specific, authoritative voices required to answer their most critical questions.

At GLG, you are an extension of our clients' core teams. You will work at the intersection of industries and global markets, navigating high-stakes challenges across the full spectrum of their strategic initiatives. Operating within the industry’s most trusted research environment, you’ll help our clients capture the nuanced perspectives that drive smarter, faster business outcomes.

We are a global team of pragmatic problem-solvers who mirror the intensity of the markets we serve. If you are driven by intellectual curiosity and a bias toward action, join us in reinventing the industry we invented.

Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. (“GLG”) is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of age, race, religion, color, marital status, disability, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any classification protected by federal, state, or local law.