FP&A Director

Morgan Street•Chicago, IL

11d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of FP&A sits within our Global Agency Finance team. Here at tms we are committed to building and sustaining an enviable finance function. We believe that everyone here has a part to play in building our business into a successful agency, and having a committed and hard-working finance team is vitally important in that. As Director of FP&A you will own Agency financial consolidation around the world, lead business partnering for overhead expenses and agency staffing for the North America Agency and Europe regions, and set the planning and analysis agenda that steers the agency towards sustainable, profitable growth. This is a role for someone who shapes how leaders make financial decisions — not someone who reports the numbers to them after the fact. This position reports to the VP, Finance and leads a team of three (two based in Chicago, one in London). You will own key internal relationships with agency partners at every level, up to and including regional leadership, and will work closely with Finance and Accounting teams across the world. The role is based in our Chicago office on a hybrid schedule. Finally, we guarantee that you will leave changed. Because we help our people achieve their goals. So come here to experience. To experiment. To make mistakes. To challenge your own limits.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Finance or Accounting
10+ years of progressive finance experience, with substantial time in FP&A
3+ years of direct people-management experience, including developing and retaining analysts
Proficiency in US GAAP accounting
Experience owning planning, reporting, and consolidation across more than one region or entity
A track record of influencing senior stakeholders without direct authority, and of presenting to executive audiences
Experience reacting to changing financial conditions and managing through both growth and contraction
Pro-active behaviour, tenacious and willing to drive behaviour change
Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to make complex financial information clear to non-finance audiences
Strong Excel skills and systems literacy, and an eagerness to upskill in new products
Ability to work well under pressure, working accurately with attention to detail, and to hold both yourself and your team to deadlines

Nice To Haves

CPA or MBA
Marketing or creative agency experience
Hyperion and/or NetSuite experience
Experience managing team members in more than one country

Responsibilities

Own the development of financial plans for the North America Agency and Europe regions in collaboration with agency partners and the broader Finance team – including annual budgets, quarterly forecasts, the strategic plan, monthly reporting, KPIs, and ad-hoc reporting requirements.
Own Agency financial consolidation across all regions and multiple systems, ensuring results are complete, accurate, and delivered on a predictable calendar.
Develop, own, and communicate the Finance calendar – deadlines, dependencies, and key reporting dates – across the Agency finance teams.
Own the preparation and analysis of actual regional Agency results for North America and Europe, and provide meaningful explanations for variances against prior year, budget, and forecast.
Direct the monitoring and analysis of overhead expenses – identifying opportunities to improve agency-related costs, overseeing staffing levels, and leading analysis and tracking of technology and office CAPEX investment.
Own the financial performance review materials for senior management meetings and the monthly departmental reporting packages, and present them to department and regional leaders.
Set the standard for how analysis is presented – clear, accurate, decision-ready, and fit for a senior leadership audience – and review your team’s work against that standard.
Partner with agency and Finance/Accounting leaders throughout the business, including senior leadership globally, to ensure agency financial performance is proactively managed to deliver on our financial goals and achieve sustainable, profitable growth.
Build a deep understanding of the work that moves through the agency so you can interpret business results rather than simply report them.
Operate as a peer to senior business leaders — shaping decisions as they are framed rather than responding once they are made with the confidence to challenge and push back, including with leaders more senior than you and influence outcomes where you hold no direct authority.
Explain and demonstrate financial concepts to non-finance audiences with credibility, and lead the agency financial training agenda so the business understands how tms financial processes work and why compliance is critical.
Lead, coach, and develop a team of three across Chicago and London – setting clear objectives, giving regular feedback, and managing performance.
Allocate work and manage capacity across time zones so the team can absorb short-notice business needs without putting the reporting calendar at risk.
Build the bench: identify capability gaps, create development paths, and grow the team’s business-partnering skills alongside its technical ones.
Set the tone for how Finance shows up with the business – responsive, commercially literate, and willing to hold the line.
Lead the advancement of the FP&A function across the Agency, including creation, documentation, and embedding FP&A best practice, alongside the Client Finance Directors and the FP&A team.
Own governance of the planning system (Hyperion) for the team – data integrity, structure, and change control – with day-to-day administration delegated within the team.
Drive effort to develop single source of truth for reporting across three systems.
Collaborate with finance teams across the regions to align on best practice and make the best use of available technology to deliver accurate, concise, and timely data that aids financial awareness and decision-making.
Drive continuous improvement across planning and reporting, including through periods of both growth and contraction.
Own the control environment for Agency planning and reporting within your scope.
Ensure compliance with internal controls and external requirements, identify and escalate financial and compliance risk proactively, and partner with Accounting, audit, and tax on matters affecting the Agency view.