Finance Business Partner Sr Mgr

American Electric Power•Columbus, OH

About The Position

The Finance Business Partner Senior Manager leads finance business partnering for a major enterprise function or complex portfolio and serves as a trusted financial advisor to operational and functional leaders. The role develops a detailed understanding of the supported business—including its products, platforms, operating processes, cost drivers, priorities, and risks—and uses that knowledge to connect business decisions with enterprise financial objectives. It translates planning assumptions into actionable guidance, challenges assumptions when appropriate, and brings operational insights into forecasting and performance management. The role also provides governance over significant plans, investments, and performance commitments to strengthen Finance Business Partnering capability. AEP is hiring two Senior Managers: one primarily supporting IT & Security and one primarily supporting Generation Services.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, Economics, Engineering, or a related field.
Nine years of relevant experience in FP&A, accounting, corporate finance, regulatory finance, business operations, or utility finance, including leadership of complex portfolios, major initiatives, processes, or cross-functional workstreams.
Demonstrated experience advising senior leaders and leading financial planning, forecasting, scenario analysis, performance management, and investment evaluation.
Significant experience in, or strong familiarity with, the regulated utility industry, including capital planning, cost-recovery mechanisms, regulatory environments, and operating-company financial performance.
Advanced proficiency with Microsoft products and deep familiarity with enterprise financial systems, planning tools, reporting platforms, and data architectures; ability to assess control, governance, and data-quality implications.
Strong strategic and business acumen and ability to connect operational decisions, financial outcomes, enterprise priorities, and stakeholder impacts.
Proactive, analytically rigorous approach, willingness to work through complex operational and financial details, constructively challenge assumptions, and translate insights into clear recommendations.
Ability to evaluate complex issues, balance competing objectives, and make sound recommendations under uncertainty.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including executive-level communication, narrative development, and presentation of recommendations and tradeoffs.
Strong leadership presence and demonstrated ability to influence, align, and challenge constructively across organizational boundaries.
Ability to manage multiple high-impact priorities, deadlines, and stakeholder expectations in a fast-paced, high-accountability environment.
Demonstrated ability to lead organizational or process change, establish standards, transfer knowledge, and influence stakeholders across organizational boundaries.
Highest standards of ethical behavior, professional judgment, accountability, and stewardship of financial information.

Nice To Haves

MBA, CPA, CMA, or other relevant professional certification.

Responsibilities

Lead finance business partnering for a major enterprise function or complex portfolio, establishing priorities, service expectations, and stakeholder routines.
Advise business leaders on budgets, forecasts, cost drivers, resource tradeoffs, investment alternatives, and corrective actions; translate complex financial information into clear recommendations.
Develop and maintain detailed knowledge of the supported business, including products, platforms, operations, cost structure, performance drivers, strategic priorities, and risks, and apply it to financial analysis and decision support.
Lead development and review of operating plans, forecasts, scenario analyses, and business cases, including capital and O&M impacts, cash flow implications, and key assumptions.
Monitor financial and operational performance; investigate business and cost drivers; explain monthly, quarterly, year-to-date, and year-over-year variances; identify emerging risks and opportunities; and coordinate responses with accountable leaders.
Coordinate finance deliverables across Corporate FP&A, Accounting, Tax, Regulatory, Treasury, Data/Reporting/Systems, and other subject-matter experts to ensure consistent assumptions and reliable outputs.
Serve as a senior subject-matter expert and liaison to operating companies on complex financial matters.
Advise on financial implications of regulatory and operating-company needs, including forecasted test-year scenarios and rate-case analyses as assigned.
Maintain effective controls, documentation, and data-quality practices for planning, analysis, and reporting; escalate significant issues and recommend process improvements.
Represent Finance in cross-functional forums and communicate recommendations, decisions, and financial implications to management.
Build Finance Business Partnering capability by establishing portfolio standards, sharing leading practices, facilitating knowledge transfer, and improving consistency across processes and workstreams.