Planning Systems Director

Viasat, Inc. • Carlsbad, CA

2d

About The Position

The Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) team specializes in facilitating the production of financial data and insights, budgeting analysis, forecasting analysis, variance analysis, variance commentary, reporting and reviews, and presentation and project preparation. The planning system is a key enabler to the success of FP&A and Finance at Viasat. The Planning Systems team is embedded within Finance, reporting to the VP-Finance Corporate FP&A. This team specializes in enabling business success through transforming the planning requirements of finance into robust and reliable technical solutions while also educating teams in planning workflows & processes, latest developments & tools, and reporting metrics. It also owns the planning system application and configuration including metadata, rules and calculations, models, logic & scripts, etc. Global IT retains ownership of the platform, security standards, integrations, environments, disaster recovery, and technical operations, however all changes are approved via the Planning Systems team. The primary purpose of this position is to lead the Planning Systems team - through initial transformation, ultimately embedding standard work procedures across the team and in support of wider Finance requirements. This role is accountable for delivering a trusted, governed, readily available, and auditable Planning System that supports fit for purpose forecasting, close, consolidation enablement, and reporting / scenario analysis. This role will also focus on expanding the use of digital tools and workflows (such as AI) and transforming Viasat into a data enabled organisation. You will partner with Finance and key leaders to execute Finance strategic plans and objectives. You will lead and mentor a team of professionals within the function, shaping strategic direction and successful execution. You will also support efficiency, quality, and performance improvements across Corporate FP&A and wider finance, delivering a culture of Continuous Improvement which is founded on the principles of a Lean Business System. You will support the existing FP&A Lean Roadmap.

Requirements

• 12+ years of related progressive experience.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in a related field.
• Must be US Citizen
• Strong project & program management experience gained on data centric programs.
• Deep experience with Hyperion (planning/forecasting cycles, model governance, performance, scripts & calculations, user experience / training, implementation).
• Demonstrable experience working with and understanding finance concepts.
• Experience with integrations with third party cloud applications such as EDMCS / EPBCS.
• Familiarity with Financial Data Management Enterprise Edition (FDMEE), Essbase Calcs, Data Forms, etc.
• Experience with dimensional governance (cost centres/profit centres, product/customer hierarchies / Divisions) and finance master data concepts.
• Strong architecture-level understanding of finance system integrations, including data orchestration patterns, environment strategy, release discipline, and upstream/downstream dependency management.
• Hands-on experience supporting finance, planning, and close enablement during major ERP transformations, including SAP / Oracle migrations.
• Experience building and leading global finance system support teams in complex or public-company environments with rigorous reporting cadence, executive scrutiny, and audit expectations.
• Familiarity with regulated environments and U.S. government programs.

Nice To Haves

• Expert technical analysis, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Demonstrable executive communication skills with the ability to translate platform, data, or control issues into business risk, trade-offs, and decision-ready recommendations.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing automated controls, including SOX, access controls, change management, and evidence automation across finance platforms.
• Proven track record delivering measurable outcomes such as reduced close cycle time, improved forecast accuracy, eliminated manual reconciliations, etc.
• Experience with Lean methodologies (or equivalent) is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Own the strategic roadmap for planning systems and support wider data strategy, AI rollout, and future ERP initiatives across Accounting and Finance.
• Develop and lead an effective team of professionals in support of your objectives. Oversee, train and mentor staff including those within wider Finance.
• Own standard work initiatives including preparing and maintaining up to date documentation of technical specifications, configurations & rules, processes, and solutions.
• Develop and own effective process governance, including a fit for purpose intake and prioritization process (e.g. through a Jira ticket management system).
• Partner with Finance and Global IT to define and implement future state requirements, including integration, dimensions, standards, data governance, etc.
• Define and manage KPIs / SLAs (e.g. availability, data refresh timeliness, feed success rates, reconciliation breaks, close-cycle readiness, defect escape rates, user satisfaction).
• Lead modernization initiatives that reduce complexity and risk (e.g. simplify scripts and calculations, improve performance, automate controls, rationalize custom logic, etc).
• Support Global IT with the overall control environment, ensuring audit readiness, access governance, change control, evidence discipline, maintenance, segregation of duties, access controls, and recurring control performance. Proactively assess and remediate control risks.
• Own day to day production support to the Finance community - Collaborate with end users to understand requirements and manage changes needed in the Planning Application.
• Develop and embed training, ensuring users have the right knowledge and tools to succeed.
• Ensure timely, scalable, and predictable system reliability and performance, ensuring rapid issue resolution, particularly over close to forecast periods.
• Deliver integrity to finance data including mapping logic governance, dimensional alignment, stability guardrails, exception handling, monitoring, and escalation protocols.
• Translate finance priorities into application capabilities: planning/forecasting cycles, scenario modelling, close readiness, reconciliations enablement, and management reporting.
• Support Global IT with planning system financial and vendor management.
• Build and mature a super-user network to strengthen adoption, reduce support burden, and improve governed self-service.

Benefits

• range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position offered
• comprehensive benefit offerings that are focused on your holistic health and wellness

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager