Director of Finance

Independence Pet Holdings•New York, NY

15h•Hybrid

About The Position

Established in 2021, Independence Pet Holdings is a corporate holding company that manages a diverse and broad portfolio of modern pet health brands and services, including insurance, pet education, lost recovery services, and more throughout North America. We believe pet insurance is more than a financial product and build solutions to simplify the pet parenting journey and help improve the well-being of pets. As a leading authority in the pet category, we operate with a full stack of resources, capital, and services to support pet parents. Our multi-brand and omni-channel approach include our own insurance carrier, insurance brands and partner brands. Pumpkin Pet Insurance was founded in 2020 to offer premium accident & illness coverage and wellness plans for dogs and cats. Our plans help families afford advanced diagnostics and treatments – from routine to critical care – so their pets can live longer, healthier lives. Our nationwide team of 200+ pairs pet health expertise with purpose-built technology to make care without compromise possible. Pumpkin’s deep understanding of the science and finance of veterinary care makes us an asset to our more than 10,000 nationwide veterinary professional partners and is one reason we are trusted by nine out of ten surveyed veterinarians. Our consumers love us, too. We are the #1-rated pet insurance brand on Google, have a 4.9 star rating on TrustPilot and are one of the fastest-growing pet health companies in the US. We have insured over 230,000 pets and paid more than $176 million in claims since launch. Pumpkin also offers PumpkinNow, the only urgent pay service that can pay pet parents for eligible claims before they pay vet bills — making it one of the fastest claims experiences in pet insurance. Beyond accidents and illnesses, Pumpkin Wellness Club provides preventive care plans that help pay for everything from routine vet visits to grooming. At Pumpkin, we believe pet parenthood is parenthood. While life with pets looks different than raising human children, the responsibility, commitment, and love run just as deep. That belief is why we exist: to help parents choose the best care for their loved ones – without compromise. Pumpkin is seeking a Director of Finance that would be responsible for leading the finance function for our growing company. This role is a strategic partner to the President of Pumpkin, leading the financial planning and analysis function including financial planning, oversight, analysis, reporting, stakeholder communication of financial performance, and cross-functional execution of business objectives. This key leadership position is expected to drive value in the organization by ensuring all elements of finance are functioning in accordance with best practices, governance, policies, strategic vision, integrity and transparency. This role will effectively influence and implement process enhancements and ensure a well-managed cadence throughout the fiscal year. The Director of Finance reports to the SVP of Finance of IPH, with dotted line to the President of Pumpkin. This role’s responsibilities spans across finance leadership, steering processes & procedures, enforcing policies, facilitating communication streams both internally and externally, while providing accurate & reliable data and reporting to senior leadership and representing Pumpkin with stakeholders. Strong leadership skills, robust finance knowledge, advanced analytic skills, a strategic mindset, and the drive to deliver timely and effective results in a fast-paced environment are required for this role to be successful.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, accounting, business or related field
8+ years corporate accounting and/or finance experience, with deep experience in performing and leading financial planning & analysis, including financial modeling, budget development, long-range planning, fundamental forecasting experience over multiple cycles, unit economics and LTV/CAC analyses
Technical and operational accounting knowledge, and strong business acumen
Experience in financial reporting, financial statement consolidations, and intercompany allocation processes
Experience with direct-to-consumer/B2C businesses
4+ years of progressive finance leadership experience, with demonstrated history of leading FP&A processes, scaling teams and driving a positive culture
Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage, influence, and inspire senior colleagues, partners and stakeholders to continuously improve collaboration and alignment
High degree of organization, individual initiative, roll-up-your-sleeve mindset and personal accountability

Nice To Haves

Degree in Finance or Accounting
CFA, CPA or MBA
Background in financial services: investment banking, equity/financial research, financial consulting
Experience in insurance and/or animal health
Proven track record of delivering on strategic missions with a business-first mindset
Full-strength skillset using Microsoft Office, with a high degree of competence in Excel and PowerPoint
Passion for pets - you don't have to have one of your own, but you should really like them

Responsibilities

Steers the annual planning process and recurring re-forecasting processes; actively thought partners with various stakeholders across Pumpkin and IPH to ensure the financial plan is accurate and actionable.
Provides effective financial management reporting for monthly/quarterly/annual operating results, business reviews, board presentations, as well as various ad-hoc reporting as needed.
Close collaboration with accounting team and in-depth understanding of Pumpkin’s financial statements, tax and treasury practices, and audit results.
Develops a deep subject matter expertise of the underlying business, our technology, controls and governance supporting accounting, planning and reporting processes.
Enforces sound documentation of various policies, procedures, and workflows.
Drives continuous improvement, by leveraging technology to design and implement solutions that will enable process re-imagination and changes the way they work.
Provides framework to evaluate opportunities for growth, expansion, and new revenue streams, including financial modeling and scenario analysis.
Designs and develops models for purposes of forecasting, allocating data, and steering decision support for partnerships and investments.
Effectively engages in partnerships while working closely with sister portfolio companies as necessary.
Works closely with parent company’s finance and accounting organizations.
Emphasizes development of individuals and challenges others to grow professionally.
Other duties as assigned