Director, Financial Strategy
About The Position
As a leader in advancing New York’s energy transition, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is a credible, objective and trusted partner in energy planning and in deploying new innovative technologies to build an affordable, abundant, reliable, and clean energy system. NYSERDA works with stakeholders statewide, including residents, business owners, developers, community leaders, local government officials, universities, utilities, investors, entrepreneurs, and more, to develop, invest, and foster conditions that: Attract the private sector capital investment needed to expand New York’s clean energy economy. Advance solutions for using clean energy at a large-scale in New York. Enable New York’s communities and residents to benefit equitably in the clean energy transition. JOB OVERVIEW The Director of Financial Strategy will lead special corporate projects under the CFO's purview, such as system implementations or cross-cutting initiatives. This role will also provide strategic leadership for the organization’s financial operations by driving continuous improvement, operational efficiency, process standardization, and financial governance. This role partners closely with the entire office of the Chief Financial Officer, Contracts Management, Information Technology, Information Security, Internal Controls and Internal Audit, Legal, Operational Excellence and business leaders to optimize financial processes, strengthen internal controls, leverage technology, and support organizational growth through data-driven decision-making. The Director of Financial Strategy reports directly to the Chief Financial Officer and leads initiatives that improve financial performance, enhance compliance, reduce operational risk, and ensure efficient delivery of finance services across the organization.
Requirements
- A Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field required with 10 years of progressively responsible experience in finance, accounting, financial operation or operational excellence including 5 years in a supervisory role managing direct reports
- Experience leading enterprise-wide process improvement and organizational change.
- Strong knowledge of financial systems, ERP platforms, budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting.
- Experience implementing automation and process optimization initiatives.
- Intellectual curiosity and an interest in improving business processes to better serve the authority mission.
- Ability to build relationships and collaborate across departments to effectively implement transformational changes.
Nice To Haves
- A Master’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field required with 8 years of progressively responsible experience in finance, accounting, financial operation or operational excellence including 5 years in a supervisory role managing direct reports.
- Experience leading finance transformation initiatives.
- Knowledge of shared services and finance operating models.
- Experience with ERP implementations or major system upgrades.
- Public sector, nonprofit, or highly regulated industry experience is a plus.
- Experience using data analytics and visualization tools such as Power BI or Tableau.
Responsibilities
- Develop and execute a financial operational excellence strategy aligned with organizational objectives.
- Lead transformation initiatives that improve efficiency, scalability, and service delivery across finance functions.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on financial operational improvements and emerging best practices.
- Draft high-level financial presentations, board decks, and briefing memos for the CFO.
- Identify opportunities to streamline workflows through Lean, Six Sigma, automation, and process redesign.
- Lead cross-functional improvement projects from planning through implementation.
- Eliminate inefficiencies and reduce manual processes through technology and automation.
- Standardize and automate project tracking frameworks across the finance organization.
- Oversee continuous improvement of core financial processes.
- Partner with IT to build/optimize ERP and financial systems.
- Evaluate and implement automation tools, workflow technologies, dashboards, and reporting solutions.
- Ensure data integrity and effective financial reporting capabilities.
- Parter with Information Security to ensure risk mitigation in financial workflows and compliance with best practices.
- Partner with internal controls and financial governance.
- Ensure compliance with applicable accounting standards, regulatory requirements, and organizational policies.
- Support internal and external audits and implement corrective actions as needed.
- Establish standardized operating procedures to mitigate risks and improve efficiency.
- Work with business units to improve reporting, monitoring, and capture of financial data, allowing for data-driven decision making and improved program execution.
- Monitor the progress of company-wide financial goals and ensure appropriate accountability with departments.
- Develop and monitor operational KPIs and financial performance metrics.
- Collaborate with the Business Performance Management team to gather meaningful insights into financial performance metrics
- Drive accountability through performance measurement and continuous improvement.
- Develop a high performing team focused on continuous improvement
- Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, customer service, and continuous learning.
- Build organizational capability in process improvement methodologies.
- Perform all managerial and supervisory responsibilities with respect, fairness, consistency, and inclusion across the workforce.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
