M5 Senior Finance Manager

Applied Materials • Santa Clara, CA

11d • $158,500 - $218,000 • Onsite

About The Position

This Senior Finance Manager leads a Corporate FP&A team with end-to-end ownership of short-term forecasting cycles (QBR, QRAM, CMT), Board of Directors materials, targeting processes, and corporate scorecards. The role drives enterprise OPEX, headcount, and productivity analytics with a data-driven, forward-thinking approach, and operates with direct visibility to executive leadership including the CFO and VP of Global FP&A, and most Finance VPs. The ideal candidate combines deep analytical capability with strong business judgment and executive communication skills. They are a self-starter who thinks ahead, anticipates risks before they surface, and translates complex data into clear, actionable insights. Success in this role requires the ability to move fluidly between detailed analysis and executive storytelling while maintaining rigorous financial discipline in a fast-paced, matrixed environment. This position manages 1-2 analysts and drives continuous improvement across FP&A processes, outputs, and analytical frameworks.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred
• Typically 12+ years of progressive experience in Finance, FP&A, or related fields
• Demonstrated experience owning and coordinating quarterly forecast cycles (e.g., QRAM, QBR, or equivalent) end-to-end in a large, matrixed organization
• Experience owning corporate scorecards, KPI frameworks, or performance management reporting in a complex organization
• Strong experience in OPEX budgeting, headcount planning, forecasting, and financial analysis
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain analytical models and frameworks that drive business decisions — not just report history
• Experience with productivity or efficiency analytics (e.g., cost per unit, headcount ratios, investment ROI)
• Experience partnering with business leaders and working across multiple stakeholders at the executive level
• Proven people management experience, including coaching and developing junior talent
• Strong analytical skills with high attention to detail, balanced by the ability to synthesize, prioritize, and communicate clearly
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including executive-level presentation skills
• Ability to operate effectively under pressure, with comfort navigating ambiguity and shifting priorities

Nice To Haves

• Experience with financial systems such as SAP, Anaplan, or BPC
• Familiarity with statistical analysis concepts; experience with Python, SQL, or AI and automation tools is a plus
• Experience driving process automation and continuous improvement in FP&A workflows
• Self-starter who takes initiative, drives work forward without being told, and thrives in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
• Forward-thinking mindset — naturally anticipates what is coming next, surfaces risks and opportunities before they become obvious, and proactively prepares leadership for what is around the corner
• Intellectual curiosity — asks why behind the numbers, digs deeper than the ask, and connects dots across data sets and business trends
• Strong collaborator who builds trusted relationships across segment and functional teams while maintaining independence of analysis and financial discipline
• Critical thinker who balances curiosity and business partnership with appropriate challenge and sound financial judgment
• Comfortable operating in a player-coach capacity — hands-on with analysis while also elevating the team around them
• Confidence presenting to senior executives (CFO, VP-level) and responding effectively in high-visibility settings
• Ability to influence across segments and functions without losing clarity or firmness
• Collaborative, team-oriented approach with willingness to contribute beyond individual scope

Responsibilities

• Own and coordinate company-wide short-term forecast cycles — QRAM, CMT, and QBR — end-to-end, including timeline management, cross-functional coordination with segment and functional FP&A teams, data consolidation, and executive-ready output delivery
• Serve as the primary point of contact for all segment and functional finance teams during forecast cycles, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and adherence to deadlines
• Synthesize forecast submissions into clear variance analysis, bridge walks, and forward-looking insights for executive leadership
• Own and drive the corporate benchmarking and targeting process, partnering with segments and functional FP&A teams to establish financially sound, strategically aligned targets
• Own corporate scorecard reporting, ensuring KPIs and metrics are accurate, consistent, and linked to forecast and plan assumptions across all planning cycles
• Own enterprise OPEX and headcount planning, forecasting, bridges, analytics, and target-setting across all segments and functional groups
• Own productivity analytics, including unit cost trends, efficiency metrics, headcount ratios, and investment ROI, to support data-driven resource allocation and decision-making
• Provide actionable variance analysis on spending trends, forecast changes, headcount movements, and key business drivers
• Partner closely with segment and functional FP&A leaders to understand cost drivers, risks, opportunities, and evolving business priorities
• Challenge assumptions, pressure-test inputs, and ensure plans are grounded in sound financial analysis and business rationale
• Develop and maintain scalable and structured analytical frameworks to support forecast cycles, variance analysis, and executive storytelling
• Translate large, complex data sets into clear, actionable insights with a strong point of view — going beyond the numbers to anticipate questions and surface risks proactively
• Build forward-looking models and scenario analyses that help leadership think around the corner on cost structure, headcount trends, and business performance
• Establish data quality standards and governance practices to ensure reliability and consistency of outputs across all planning cycles
• Identify patterns, anomalies, and emerging trends across segments and functions, and bring data-backed perspectives to key planning decisions
• Own the preparation of Board of Directors (BOD) materials related to OPEX, headcount, and financial performance, ensuring accuracy and narrative clarity
• Key Support for quarterly Earnings Release process
• Translate complex financial results into concise narratives, recommendations, and executive-level materials for finance and business leadership
• Create high-quality executive decks and present confidently in high-visibility forums, often on short notice
• Partner closely with the Annual and Long-Term Planning domain to ensure seamless integration of short-term (QRAM, CMT, QBR) and long-term forecasts (SR, EPR, AOP)
• Align on key assumptions, financial frameworks, and data structures to enable consistent narratives across short-range outlooks and multi-year plans
• Drive consistency in analytics, reporting outputs, and strategic insights across segments and functional groups
• Actively explore, pilot, and scale AI-powered solutions to automate routine FP&A tasks including QA checks, data tie-outs, cross-deck consistency reviews, and system reconciliations
• Identify and implement process automation and efficiency improvements across short-term cycle workflows, OPEX reporting, and headcount analytics
• Stay current on emerging AI capabilities and proactively recommend new use cases to elevate the team's speed, accuracy, and analytical depth
• Set the standard for responsible AI use within FP&A, including validation protocols and governance guardrails
• Directly manage, coach, and develop finance analysts, setting analytical standards, prioritizing work, reviewing outputs, and mentoring for growth
• Operate as a player-coach — hands-on with analysis and cycle execution while elevating the capabilities and output of the team
• Contribute as a senior team player across the broader FP&A organization

Benefits

• Supportive work culture that encourages you to learn, develop, and grow your career
• Comprehensive benefits package
• Participation in a bonus and a stock award program, as applicable

What This Job Offers

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