Head of Finance Transformation & Data Strategy, Managing Director

State Street•Boston, MA

About The Position

The Managing Director, Head of Finance Transformation leads the strategy, governance and portfolio orchestration advancing the Finance transformation agenda as part of DART. In partnership with Finance and Treasury leaders, other DART pillars and enterprise partners, the role translates strategic priorities into an integrated, prioritized portfolio with clear accountability, disciplined program management and measurable outcomes. Finance Transformation is not a centralized delivery or solution-design organization: business and delivery teams retain accountability for execution and outcomes. The role connects stakeholders, drives prioritization, establishes governance and decision rights, resolves cross-functional conflicts and holds stakeholders accountable. It manages a small global team and uses AI to consolidate facts, accelerate analysis and communicate clearly to executives and teams executing the work. The role develops Finance transformation strategy and a multi-year roadmap; identifies opportunities and builds a fact-based pipeline; owns intake, prioritization, portfolio governance and program management standards; and partners with the CFO organization on transformation budget and total cost of ownership. It helps shape the Finance operating model, ensures controls and regulatory requirements are embedded, tracks benefits and adoption, and provides senior leadership with transparent portfolio reporting. It also leads the change narrative for priority initiatives, advances Finance transformation upskilling, and uses AI responsibly to support analysis and executive-ready storytelling.

Requirements

Significant leadership experience in Finance transformation, strategy, portfolio management or operating-model change within a large, complex organization.
Strong understanding of Finance and Treasury processes, controls and regulatory requirements.
Expertise in process discovery, business analysis and business-case development, using data to baseline performance and measure outcomes.
Proven experience establishing intake, portfolio governance, program management and value-realization disciplines, including budget and partner oversight.
Experience shaping target operating models, including domain, platform or end-to-end process models.
Proven change leadership across large, global Finance teams.
Working knowledge of how data, AI, automation and enterprise platforms enable Finance transformation, with hands-on AI fluency.
Exceptional storytelling, executive presentation, negotiation and facilitation skills.
Proven ability to resolve competing priorities and hold senior stakeholders accountable without direct authority.

Nice To Haves

CPA, CA, MBA or equivalent.
Consulting transformation background.

Responsibilities

Develop the Finance transformation strategy and multi-year roadmap with Finance and Treasury leadership.
Provide thought leadership informed by industry trends and benchmarks on where Finance should simplify, standardize, transform and invest.
Recommend whether initiatives should be accelerated, sequenced, reshaped or stopped based on value and capacity.
Partner with Enterprise Transformation and the enterprise Data & AI team so Finance demand uses existing enterprise capabilities before new solutions are pursued.
Use end-to-end process discovery and data to identify manual activity, fragmentation, control challenges and simplification opportunities, including high-risk spreadsheet-based end-user developed tools (EUDTs).
Help sponsors establish baselines, quantify opportunities, define outcomes and articulate value through business-case development.
Maintain a continuous, fact-based pipeline of opportunities ready for prioritization.
Own intake, prioritization and portfolio governance, evaluating strategic alignment, value, risk, cost, capacity and readiness.
Maintain a transparent view of investments, budget, commitments, benefits, risks and dependencies.
Set program management standards and cadence so initiatives are consistently planned, tracked and escalated.
Partner with the CFO organization to govern the transformation budget and total cost of ownership, while financial ownership remains with the CFO organization.
Lead Finance requirements and fact-based evaluation of software and implementation partners through the Sourcing process, and hold selected partners accountable for outcomes.
Bring stakeholders together to resolve competing priorities, dependencies and conflicts.
Lead the evolution toward a domain/platform operating model with clear end-to-end accountability and reuse of common data, capabilities and strategic platforms.
Translate process, capacity and cost insights into fact-based operating-model and organization-design recommendations, with Finance leadership and HR retaining decision authority.
Ensure controls, auditability, data lineage and regulatory requirements are embedded by design, partnering with Controllers, Risk, Compliance and Audit.
Set standards for tracking benefits, adoption and realized value, and hold sponsors and initiative owners accountable for outcomes.
Lead the change narrative for priority initiatives, with business owners accountable for adoption.
Provide senior leadership concise, fact-based transparency into portfolio health, value, risks and decisions required.
Drive the Finance transformation upskilling agenda with the other DART pillars and enterprise partners.
Use AI to consolidate facts, accelerate analysis and produce executive-ready materials, applying human judgment to every conclusion.
Communicate audience-specific stories about decisions, trade-offs and value to executives, and priorities and next steps to teams executing the work.
Role-model responsible AI use consistent with firm AI policies, data protection and controls.
Manage a small global team.

Benefits

401(k) retirement savings plan with company match.
Basic life, medical, dental, vision, long-term disability and other optional insurance coverages.
Paid time off, including vacation, sick leave, short-term disability and family-care responsibilities.
Employee Assistance Program.
Incentive compensation, including eligibility for annual performance-based awards, with certain sales-role exclusions.
Eligibility for certain tax-advantaged savings plans.
Inclusive development opportunities.
Flexible work-life support.
Paid volunteer days.
Employee networks.