Director Finance, Labor Planning and Analytics

Learning Care Group•Novi, CA

4d•$160 - $185

About The Position

The Director, Labor Planning and Analytics will serve as Learning Care enterprise lead for labor intelligence — owning the financial model that translates enrollment forecasts into school-level staffing targets, and partnering with HR and Operations to ensure labor costs align with the company's strategic and financial objectives. This leader will develop the models, reporting infrastructure, and cross-functional partnerships necessary to give LC a sustainable competitive advantage through disciplined labor planning. The role demands rigorous model ownership combined with strong communication and influence skills, translating complex labor economics into guidance that is actionable at every level of the organization, from school leaders to the executive team.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Business, or related field required; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
8–12+ years in FP&A, labor planning, or workforce analytics in multi-unit, hourly-workforce environments (retail, healthcare, hospitality, education, or similar); direct experience with a major labor or total compensation expense line strongly preferred.
Proven experience building and maintaining complex labor models tied to demand drivers (enrollment, attendance, or traffic) and publishing location-level targets to operational teams at scale.
Strong command of rate/volume/mix analysis, COH modeling, overtime dynamics, and total compensation cost structures; able to diagnose variance precisely and translate findings into actionable guidance.
Experience modeling the financial implications of compensation programs (COLA, merit, incentive pay, bonuses) and communicating P&L impact to HR and business leaders; able to partner effectively with a Total Rewards function without duplicating its ownership.
Exceptional analytical storytelling skills; able to build for executive, peer, and field audiences simultaneously; comfortable bringing a data-driven perspective to conversations at any level of the organization.
Advanced Excel required; Power BI or Tableau strongly preferred; familiarity with WFM/labor planning platforms (e.g., UKG/Kronos, Workday, ADP) preferred.
Familiarity with regulated staffing ratios, multi-state wage variation, and geographic labor market dynamics.
Track record of building analytical processes from the ground up in lean, high-growth environments; strong ability to influence across functions without formal authority.

Responsibilities

Labor Model & Forecast Ownership Own the enterprise labor model (hours and dollars), translating enrollment forecasts into ratio and out-of-ratio hours needs at the school level; maintain a dynamic, auditable model updated on a monthly and quarterly reforecast cadence.
Manage the end-to-end labor planning process, from annual plan development tied to the five-year plan through weekly/biweekly school-level target publication to planning tools.
Integrate out-of-ratio labor inputs (administrative hours, PD days, service days, family events) from Operations and HR into the model; challenge assumptions and ensure alignment with budget and forecast.
Maintain a structured cross-functional review process with HR and Operations; Finance issues final labor targets following structured input from both functions.
Labor Economics & Cost-of-Hour Analytics Model cost-of-hour (COH) across position, geography, and scheduling mix; provide HR and Operations with analytics that drive better hiring, scheduling, and workforce deployment decisions.
Analyze rate/volume/mix dynamics, including FT/PT mix, overtime, and wage tier distribution, to identify key drivers behind labor cost variance and surface areas of opportunity.
Conduct scenario modeling on the P&L implications of compensation decisions: cost-of-living adjustments, merit increases, pay-for-performance programs, bonus structures, and other variable compensation; serve as Finance's analytical counterpart to HR Total Rewards on compensation economics.
Expand analytical coverage beyond base wages to model total compensation economics, workers' compensation, benefits, payroll taxes, and other employer costs, to give leadership a complete view of the total labor cost line.
Performance Reporting & Accountability Build and maintain a three-tier reporting architecture: executive-level dashboards for leadership visibility, peer-level reporting for cross-functional accountability, and field-actionable reporting that gives school and area leaders clear, measurable targets; developed in partnership with Operations and the enterprise reporting team.
Deliver consistent variance analysis (plan vs. actual) that identifies outliers, isolates drivers, and translates findings into specific recommendations for corrective action.
Define and track KPIs that measure labor efficiency, scheduling effectiveness, and financial performance; build accountability loops between reporting and execution across field and functional partners.
Cross-Functional Partnership & Thought Leadership Serve as Finance's primary thought partner to HR and Operations on all labor economics, bringing financial rigor and a forward-looking perspective to decisions with material P&L impact.
Collaborate with HR Total Rewards on modeling the financial implications of compensation programs; provide scenario analysis and P&L impact modeling, HR retains compensation design and KPI ownership.
Partner with Operations and Operational Excellence on non-ratio inputs and scheduling execution; engage constructively where field assumptions conflict with financial targets.
Support Finance leadership with corporate-level labor and compensation analytics as needed.
Team Leadership Build and lead a lean, high-performing team; establish strong analytical standards, clear objectives, and a culture of rigor, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Develop team members through active coaching; position the function for growth as the model matures and organizational needs expand.

Benefits

Compensation based on position, education and experience.
Bi-weekly paid.
Base salary range: $160-185k
This position is eligible for our Support Central bonus program which is based on annual achievement of company performance.
Employees are eligible for a variety of health and welfare benefits based on their Full-time or Part-time status on their date of hire, which include medical, dental, vision, healthcare & dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSAs), life insurance, disability, accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, pre-paid legal, pet insurance and identity theft protection.
Employees are eligible to participate in our 401(k) retirement plan after 30 days of employment.
Participating employees are also eligible to receive a company provided match on their elective deferrals once they reach 1 year of employment with the company.
Education assistance including tuition reimbursement
Childcare discount available to all employees
Corporate partner Discounts
This position is eligible for paid time off.
All Corporate employees are enrolled in our Flexible Paid Time Off (PTO) plan.
This plan allows for flexibility and discretion between employees and managers in taking time off - with no set accrual for vacation or sick time.
Employees can use Flexible PTO for any reason and is compliant with the Colorado Healthy Families Work Act.
Applications accepted through 4/27/2026.