Manager, Production Finance

Sinclair Broadcast Group•Santa Monica, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Tennis Channel’s Production Finance Manager manages day-to-day production accounting and financial analysis for domestic and international production activities. Reporting to the Director of Production Finance, the role supports live events, studio productions, original content, and digital initiatives through accurate close, event cost reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and financial controls. The manager works closely with Production, FP&A, and Accounting, coordinating broader accounting requirements with the Director of Accounting. This role is onsite in Santa Monica, California. The manager oversees production-related monthly close, cost schedules, event-level estimates, budgets, forecasts, and reporting. The position reviews production labor costs, payables, purchasing card activity, reimbursements, per diem payments, agreements, and vendor commitments for accuracy, coding, documentation, approvals, compliance, and budget impact. It serves as a day-to-day finance contact for Production while coordinating with Finance, Accounting, HR, payroll providers, Corporate AP, and Corporate Tax. The role also supports audits, production-related tax requests, corporate initiatives, parent-company integration, and system upgrades. It maintains process documentation, reporting calendars, cost benchmarks, savings trackers, and operational metrics, and improves accounting, forecasting, and reporting workflows through standardized templates, reconciliations, and approved automation and AI-enabled tools.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
Five to seven years of progressive accounting or finance experience, including hands-on budgeting, forecasting, production or project job costing, monthly close, and reconciliations.
Ability to build and maintain event cost forecasts, analyze actuals and commitments, and explain financial results clearly to production managers and Finance leadership.
Strong understanding of accrual accounting, financial controls, and production labor and vendor cost review.
Advanced Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookup functions, and financial modeling.
Strong communication, organization, and judgment; ability to manage competing deadlines, work independently, collaborate across teams, and deliver accurate work with appropriate review.
Equal opportunity employer and drug-free workplace; employment practices are not influenced by protected characteristics.

Nice To Haves

CPA or a relevant master’s degree.
Experience in live sports, production finance, entertainment, or media; familiarity with domestic and international production costs is valuable.
Experience with Oracle or a comparable ERP/project accounting system.
Experience documenting processes and improving reporting workflows; familiarity with BI tools and approved automation.

Responsibilities

Manage production-related monthly close in accordance with corporate deadlines, including production and program costs by line of business, prepaid assets, accrued liabilities, amortization entries, and account reconciliations.
Maintain job-cost schedules and supporting calculations; reconcile production records to the general ledger and investigate discrepancies.
Support preparation of annual budgets, quarterly forecasts, long-range planning schedules, variance analyses, and monthly reporting packages for Finance and Production leadership.
Maintain event-level estimates of expected costs using actual spending, outstanding commitments, and remaining costs; review assumptions with Production and promptly escalate overruns, forecast changes, cost drivers, and financial risks.
Track production costs, vendor obligations, talent commitments, and open purchase orders.
Prepare recurring event cost reports and post-event analyses, including budget-to-actual comparisons and recommendations for future planning.
Review crew payroll, timecards, overtime, labor coding, and related production labor costs for accuracy, budget impact, documentation, and approvals; coordinate exceptions with Production, HR, and payroll providers.
Review production payables, purchasing card activity, employee expense reimbursements, and per diem payments for coding, documentation, approvals, and policy compliance; approve transactions within delegated authority and coordinate with Corporate AP and expense systems, including Concur.
Support financial review of production agreements and vendor commitments for cost tracking, accounting treatment, payment timing, and budget impact; escalate exceptions and coordinate technical accounting questions with the Director of Accounting.
Serve as a day-to-day finance contact for Production on project setup, chart of accounts, transactional workflows, policies, and procedures; coordinate financial requirements while Production retains responsibility for talent, hotel, and crew booking and operational logistics.
Prepare production-related audit schedules and supporting documentation, coordinating submissions and requests through the Director of Accounting.
Support Corporate tax requests related to production, including international costs and tax/VAT documentation, as directed by Accounting and Corporate Tax.
Coordinate production accounting priorities, close deadlines, and supporting work with Finance and Accounting team members; maintain process documentation and reporting calendars and follow up on unresolved items.
Improve production accounting, forecasting, and reporting processes through standardized templates, reconciliations, and approved automation and AI-enabled tools.
Maintain cost benchmarks, savings trackers, and operational metrics across vendors, staffing, travel, and other production spending.
Support production-related corporate initiatives, parent-company integration, and system upgrades under the Director of Production Finance, coordinating with the Director of Accounting and VP Finance/Controller as appropriate.