Director, Strategic Finance

Bisnow•New York City, NY

17h

About The Position

The Director, Strategic Finance leads financial planning and strategy for Bisnow, serves as a direct partner to the CEO and directly reports into finance. This role owns the forecast, the analytical case behind where the company puts its next dollar and its next hire, and the substance of the financial story Bisnow tells its investors. Bisnow reports into Axel Springer. The Director will build the monthly financial review the company presents and draft the weekly investor updates, detailing what happened, what's moving the business, what's at risk, and why it matters. The writing standard is external: polished, brief, and defensible, with minimal editing before a global investor reads it. The role also involves building alignment with the CEO and managing the FP&A Manager, adding senior review and capacity to a function that one person has carried to date. This is an opportunity to build the finance function of a fast-moving media business inside a global platform, with the CEO's ear and real influence over the company's direction.

Requirements

8–12 years in FP&A, strategic finance, or corporate finance, with clear progression in scope and ownership.
Experience owning a company-level or major-segment forecast, not just a workstream within a larger model.
Experience forecasting a lumpy, project-based revenue business (e.g., events, media, marketplace) where revenue starts near zero each year.
Ability to explain how a financial number was reached when data was not fully supportive, and why it held up.
Exceptional written communication skills: concise, structured, free of finance jargon, and suitable for a board, PE sponsor, or corporate parent.
Ability to present directly to senior stakeholders.
Ability to quickly become fluent in an unfamiliar, complicated business and maintain curiosity beyond the numbers.
Expectation to understand the economics of every Bisnow revenue line within 60 days.
Expert financial modeling and advanced Excel skills.
Ability to build financial models from scratch and quickly assess the trustworthiness of others' models.
Track record of replacing manual reporting with scalable and documented processes.
Experience managing or formally developing finance talent.
Low ego, high accountability, and steady performance in a fast-paced business environment.

Nice To Haves

Multi-business-line or multi-entity experience preferred.
NetSuite or comparable ERP, Salesforce, and BI fluency are welcome.
FP&A platform selection or implementation experience (Cube, Adaptive, Pigment, Anaplan) is a plus.
Working practice around AI in finance and a clear view on when tooling is the answer and when it's a distraction.
Experience presenting to one directly is a plus.

Responsibilities

Own the forecast and the process that produces it, including leading indicators, historical benchmarks, and sales-input rhythm.
Get forecast inputs directly from sales leadership.
Make the analytical case for where the next dollar and the next hire go.
Explain the 'why' behind financial performance, new event categories, digital investments, and multi-year paths.
Validate assumptions under the multi-year plan and build the bridge from the current year to future numbers.
Pressure-test optimism and pessimism rigorously.
Assess target achievability within available timeframes.
Surface initiatives that are not scaling or assumptions that are no longer true, and provide recommendations on what the company should stop doing.
Own planning for business units outside the core events budget, with a focus on digital and new initiatives.
Partner with department leaders on staffing plans and business cases for headcount.
Own the quality of numbers and their production process, ensuring consistency and reconciliation with Accounting.
Rebuild recurring manual reporting processes and lead the evaluation of dedicated FP&A tooling.
Create analytical capacity and improve efficiency within the finance team.
Set the standard for the finance function.
Prioritize work with the FP&A Manager, review output, and elevate the team's analytical and writing capabilities.
Manage or formally develop finance talent, with a direct report from day one.
Formulate views and provide recommendations rather than waiting to be asked for analysis.
Be comfortable stating when a financial projection is not feasible.