Director, Technology Asset & Financial Governance

CDS Global•New York, NY

5d•$170,000 - $190,000

About The Position

The Director, Technology Asset & Financial Governance brings order, rigor, and financial discipline to Hearst Technology Services' (HTS) enterprise IT and software asset landscape. Reporting to the VP of Finance & Business Operations, this role owns the governance and data integrity of HTS's assets and is the steward of asset data quality feeding cost, budget, and compliance reporting enterprise wide. This is fundamentally a finance-and-governance role for someone who loves technology: the right candidate has built a career at the intersection of IT and Finance — in IT financial management, technology business management, FP&A, or digital finance. Success requires the ability to align infrastructure, security, automation and business unit stakeholders around shared priorities and data standards; the judgment to evaluate and potentially replatform the current asset management toolset; and a genuine enthusiasm for using AI and automation to replace manual, error-prone process with something better.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
7+ years of experience in IT financial management, technology business management, FP&A, or digital finance
At least 3 years of experience in a leadership or strategic capacity
A background rooted in IT finance, technology business management, or digital finance — rather than traditional IT asset administration — with a genuine, demonstrated interest in technology and how it's financed, sourced, and governed
Demonstrated experience with procurement processes, contract structuring/negotiation, and enterprise software licensing (e.g., Microsoft, Adobe, or similar large-scale agreements)
Strong financial acumen: comfortable analyzing spend and utilization data, building total-cost-of-ownership models, and translating findings into clear recommendations for technical and executive audiences alike
Demonstrated experience driving data quality or data governance improvement across a financial, technology, or reporting system
Highly diplomatic, with excellent stakeholder management and negotiation skills, and a proven ability to build consensus across operational groups without direct authority over them
Genuine enthusiasm for AI and automation as tools to modernize manual process, with examples of having championed or implemented automation in a prior role
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with experience presenting to senior executives

Nice To Haves

Working knowledge of digital or technology operations
Experience responding to internal and/or external audits (e.g., financial, compliance, or licensing audits)
Experience leading a platform evaluation, RFP, or replatforming initiative
FinOps, TBM Council (TBMA/CTBMP), or similar professional certification
Experience managing a Microsoft enterprise agreement renewal, including familiarity with Microsoft's consumption/pricing constructs (e.g., CPS)
Extensive career experience within publicly traded, public, or Fortune 500-type organizations

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end governance of the enterprise asset system of record, improve data standards, ownership, and audit trails across the hardware and software asset lifecycle
Drive a step-change improvement in asset data quality and integrity — closing gaps between source systems (procurement, billing, CMDB, and the TBM/ITFM platform) and eliminating manual reconciliation
Chair the Configuration Control Board and related governance forums, converting operational input into enforced standards and holding stakeholders accountable to them
Hold asset owners accountable for data quality and improvement in a way that fosters collaboration
Serve as the point of contact for internal and external audit requests tied to IT/software asset compliance, ensuring documentation and licensing position stand up to scrutiny
Own software license true-up and optimization for major enterprise vendors (e.g., Microsoft, Adobe, ServiceNow), partnering with Technology Sourcing and Procurement on contract terms and FP&A on cost/GL alignment
Analyze software and hardware utilization data to identify, quantify, and act on cost-recovery, deprovisioning, and right-sizing opportunities
Bring total-cost-of-ownership thinking and financial rigor to every major licensing renewal, vendor negotiation, and platform decision
Contribute to strategic contract negotiations and renewals alongside Technology Sourcing and Procurement
Own the strategic direction of the enterprise IT/software asset management platform: assess current-state limitations, lead proof-of-concept evaluations of alternative or complementary platforms, and build the business case for replatforming where warranted
Ensure the asset platform strategy integrates cleanly with upstream and downstream systems — procurement, billing, CMDB, and the TBM/ITFM reporting environment
Lead platform implementation and upgrade initiatives end-to-end, including requirements, stakeholder alignment, and vendor management
Serve as the connective tissue between infrastructure, security, application, and business unit stakeholders on internal priorities — using diplomacy and influence, without direct authority, to drive consensus on competing priorities
Run recurring governance and reporting cadences with business units to validate license usage, forecast costs, and surface risk
Bring structure to historically fragmented or inconsistent processes, establishing clear ownership, cadence, and accountability across operational groups
Champion the use of AI and automation to eliminate manual, error-prone asset and licensing workflows — from automated deprovisioning to AI-assisted reconciliation and reporting
Partner with the TBM function and broader IT organization to extend enterprise AI initiatives into asset management, identifying and piloting new use cases
Stay current on emerging AI/automation capabilities in the ITAM/SAM space and bring recommendations back to leadership
Manage software/hardware asset managers and contractors, evolving the team's remit from transactional provisioning toward data-driven, business-intelligence-style asset governance
Guide team development, role evolution, and succession planning
Partner closely with the VP of Finance & Business Operations and peer functional leads (Technology Sourcing and Procurement, TBM, FP&A) as part of the HTS Finance & Business Operations leadership team