Controller Group Strategic Initiatives Lead

Roche•South San Francisco, CA

About The Position

The Strategic Initiatives Lead is a high-visibility leadership role responsible for driving disciplined transformation execution and value realization. This role acts as the primary Federated Digital Champion for the Controllers Group, serving as the strategic liaison between CG and Digital Finance to ensure functional needs are translated into scalable solutions. The Opportunity: The role also leads the identification and project management of non-digital-focused transformation projects required to deliver on the 2030 Vision for the Controllers Group.

Requirements

University degree in Business or Accounting, or similar qualification.
12+ years of relevant financial and business experience, with a bachelor’s degree Or, 8 + years of relevant financial and business experience, with a Master's degree
A Master’s degree (MBA or equivalent) is preferred.

Responsibilities

Transformation PMO (50% of Role): Governance & Roadmap: Designing transformation roadmaps and governance frameworks for the Controllers Group.
Project Portfolio: Leading the PMO management of critical projects, including RSS Evolution, ASPIRE Stabilization, and M&A Integrations, including facilitating the CG weekly Projects Update meeting and managing/tracking action items and milestones.
RSS Transfers: Support co-ordination of work package transfers from Genentech to RSS, validating suitability and working with the RSS team to ensure capacity and capabilities are in place to accept processes.
Global Alignment: Liaising with global teams when required to implement changes and drive impact beyond Genentech.
Strategic Digital Champion (50% of Role): Business Need Identification & Intake Identify digital, automation, reporting, and AI (EverydayAI and Reshape) opportunities within the function.
Translate business pain points into structured requirements and defined success criteria.
Submit and manage intake requests through ServiceNow.
Participate in the Digital Finance Council to represent functional priorities.
Collaborate on categorization, Tier classification (Tier 1 / 2 / 3), solutioning approach, and execution planning.
Tier 1 Ownership & Federated Execution Co-own and execute Tier 1 initiatives (Federated Self-Service) alongside Digital Finance and eCOE DNA.
Ensure initiatives operate within Digital Finance guardrails.
Maintain visibility of Tier 1 initiatives within the shared portfolio view.
Drive progression toward greater self-service maturity within the function over time.
Tier 1 initiatives are locally executed improvements that do not require enterprise architecture changes or RDT engagement.
Delivery Support & UAT Partner with Product Owners and Digital Finance teams during solution development.
Lead or coordinate User Acceptance Testing (UAT) from a functional perspective.
Validate that business requirements and success criteria are met.
Identify risks and escalate functional concerns during deployment.
Ensure functional readiness prior to go-live.
Change Management & Adoption Leadership Digital Champions partner closely with the Digital Finance team to drive change activation within their function.
While Digital Finance provides an overall change framework, communications alignment, and enterprise-level guidance, Digital Champions lead localized execution and adoption within their department.
In partnership with Digital Finance, they are responsible for: Assessing the functional change impact of digital initiatives.
Developing and executing functional rollout and communication plans.
Coordinating training, enablement, and knowledge sharing within the team.
Reinforcing new behaviors and ways of working.
Monitoring adoption and usage trends at the functional level.
Managing resistance and maintaining feedback loops to Digital Finance.
Sustained adoption and realized business value are shared expectations between Digital Finance and the Digital Champion, with the Champion accountable for embedding change within their function.
Value Realization & Continuous Improvement Track productivity improvements, time savings, and operational impact.
Monitor adoption metrics and usage trends.
Provide structured feedback to Digital Finance on solution effectiveness.
Identify enhancements and next-wave opportunities.
STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT & COLLABORATION Influence: Manages senior stakeholders with confidence and clarity in governance forums.
Dotted-Line Reporting: Maintains a strong collaboration with the Digital Finance team, providing feedback on solution effectiveness and receiving technical input for performance management.