Director, Financial Planning & Analysis

Hearst•New York, NY

About The Position

The Director, IT Finance owns financial planning and analysis for Hearst Technology Services, including forecasting, the annual budget cycle, monthly close, management reporting, and analysis supporting investment decisions across the technology division. This leadership role manages the Manager, FP&A and the analyst team through that position, and partners with technology department heads, Sourcing, Technology Business Management, and corporate accounting. The role translates technology costs into decisions about investment and run-rate reduction. Success is measured by forecast accuracy, a clean and on-time close, and the quality of insight delivered to senior management. The Director leads planning, forecasting, and budgeting; produces monthly reporting and forward-looking analysis; serves as finance partner to technology departments; and owns financial operations and the monthly close. The role also develops the FP&A team, sets standards for analytical rigor and documentation, and improves recurring processes through standardization, automation, and reduced low-value manual effort. The posted New York City compensation estimate is $190,000–$220,000. Compensation for roles hired outside New York City is aligned to the applicable location. Hearst offers a competitive benefits package.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a closely related business discipline.
CPA, CFA, or CMA.
Seven or more years of progressive FP&A experience, with demonstrated depth in budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, and management reporting.
Experience owning a full planning cycle end to end, including assumptions, consolidation, review, and presentation to senior management.
Strong financial statement analysis, projection, and financial modeling skills.
Experience managing people, including a manager or team lead.
Hands-on experience owning or supporting a monthly close, including accruals and reconciliation with an accounting team.
Working knowledge of business operations, cost structures, and cost drivers, and a fundamental understanding of accounting principles.
Proven success as a business partner in a client-service environment spanning multiple business units and stakeholder levels.
Excel proficiency.
Excellent listening and communication skills, including the ability to deliver clear, well-organized presentations and written correspondence to executive audiences.
Strong personal time management and the ability to run several projects simultaneously against fixed close and planning deadlines.

Nice To Haves

Technology Business Management experience, or familiarity with a technology chargeback, showback, or cost allocation model.
Working knowledge of Oracle ERP.
Practical experience applying AI tools such as Claude or ChatGPT to financial analysis, reporting, and workflow automation.
Familiarity with cloud cost management or FinOps practices.
IT finance or shared-services finance experience.
Strong interest in working within technology.

Responsibilities

Own the monthly forecast for operating expense, project expense, and capital, consolidating inputs from technology department heads.
Lead the annual budget cycle for assigned technology towers, including the calendar, assumptions, submission review, and delivery of a board-ready plan.
Drive capital planning by validating business cases, building financial models, quantifying ROI and payback, and making funding recommendations to senior management.
Model the financial impact of organizational, vendor, and architecture changes, including multi-year run-rate savings and one-time transition costs.
Deliver monthly P&L, G&A, and budgetary status reporting to IT senior management, with variance analysis, root-cause explanations, and recommended remediation.
Build and maintain the recurring management reporting package, reducing manual preparation through automation and standardization.
Promptly surface budgetary inconsistencies, control gaps, or improprieties to senior management with supporting analysis.
Develop analytics to answer forward-looking leadership questions about expected spending and needed changes.
Partner with assigned technology department heads, align forecasts with delivery plans, and flag risks early.
Work with Technology Sourcing & Vendor Management on financial analysis for contract negotiations, renewals, and consolidation decisions.
Support Technology Business Management intercompany assessments by reconciling differences against the general ledger and supplying financial inputs for the cost model.
Anticipate risks, adjust plans, and keep leadership informed early.
Own the technology division's monthly close, including accruals, journal entries, and reclasses, working with the corporate accountant to close accurately and on schedule.
Manage the IT invoice process by reviewing and approving invoices, confirming general ledger coding and cost center assignments, and resolving exceptions before close.
Oversee purchase requisitions and purchase orders, validate budget availability and coding, and keep open commitments and aged POs current.
Maintain the close calendar and drive down post-close adjustments over time.
Manage the Manager, FP&A by setting priorities, reviewing output, and developing the role; oversee the analyst team through that position.
Set standards for analytical rigor, documentation, and turnaround across the FP&A function.
Standardize recurring deliverables, eliminate low-value manual effort, and improve the quality of financial output.
Represent IT Finance in cross-functional initiatives and senior management forums.