Sr. Director, Finance

Adtran Networks•Atlanta, GA

About The Position

ADTRAN is seeking a strategic, collaborative Senior Director of Finance to lead Financial Planning & Analysis, business performance management, financial systems and analytics, and finance transformation. The role partners with the VP of Finance, CFO, and senior business leaders to connect financial performance, operational drivers, strategic priorities, and resource allocation in support of better decisions and long-term financial performance. The Senior Director leads and develops finance leaders and professionals responsible for planning, forecasting, management reporting, business partnership, and financial analytics. The position combines strategic leadership with building scalable processes, clear accountability, and modern use of data, systems, automation, and artificial intelligence. It requires executive-level business partnership, constructive challenge of financial assumptions, talent development, and the ability to resolve complex planning, reporting, data, and process issues. The role provides executive decision support; governs enterprise planning, forecasting, and performance management; leads finance partnerships across business functions; and defines a technology-enabled FP&A transformation roadmap. It also oversees FP&A reporting controls and governance, establishes workforce-planning frameworks, and develops a high-performing team across disciplines and geographies. The position is located in Huntsville, Alabama, or Atlanta, Georgia, and reports to the VP of Finance.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration, Mathematics, or a related discipline.
10+ years of progressive experience in FP&A, corporate finance, operational finance, or related disciplines, with significant leadership responsibility.
Demonstrated experience leading managers and developing high-performing finance teams.
Strong expertise in financial planning, forecasting, financial modeling, scenario analysis, performance management, and executive decision support.
Ability to operate in a complex, global organization and influence senior leaders across multiple functions.
Experience building, transforming, or significantly improving FP&A processes, systems, reporting, or operating models.
Strong understanding of how financial results relate to operational drivers, including revenue, margin, operating expenses, workforce, capital expenditures, and cash.
Ability to translate complex financial and operational information into clear recommendations for senior executives.
Advanced experience with enterprise ERP, financial planning, reporting, business intelligence, and analytical technologies.
Strong leadership, executive communication, stakeholder-management, organizational, and problem-solving capabilities.
Ability to work effectively in an evolving environment, bring structure to ambiguity, set priorities, and drive execution across teams.

Nice To Haves

MBA, CPA, CMA, or another relevant advanced degree or professional certification.
Experience within a publicly traded global company.
Experience in telecommunications, networking, technology, hardware, software, manufacturing, or another complex product-based business.
Experience supporting global operations across the U.S. and Europe.
Strong knowledge of SAP and SAP Analytics Cloud, including planning, analytics, reporting, financial data structures, and integration.
Practical application of generative AI, agentic AI, machine learning, or intelligent automation within Finance.
Experience leading finance transformation, systems implementation, reporting modernization, or FP&A operating-model redesign.
Experience supporting Board and executive-level financial presentations and decision processes.

Responsibilities

Serve as a trusted financial advisor to the VP of Finance, CFO, and senior leadership, providing insights and recommendations for strategic and operational decisions.
Translate financial and operational performance into executive-level narratives that identify drivers, risks, opportunities, and actions.
Support strategic planning, resource allocation, investment decisions, and enterprise financial priorities.
Develop financial frameworks and scenario analyses to evaluate strategies and business decisions; challenge assumptions using fact-based analysis.
Prepare financial analysis and materials for executive leadership, Board, and senior management reviews.
Govern annual operating plans, long-range plans, rolling forecasts, scenario planning, and recurring performance-management processes.
Establish consistent planning methodologies, assumptions, calendars, governance, and accountability across the organization.
Advance driver-based planning linking operating expenses, workforce, capital expenditures, cash, and other operational drivers.
Improve forecast effectiveness through disciplined assumptions, risk and opportunity management, scenario analysis, validation, and post-forecast reviews.
Lead monthly and quarterly performance management, explain variances and performance changes, and identify follow-up actions.
Develop consistent KPIs and performance-management frameworks connecting financial outcomes with business drivers.
Lead Finance partnerships with Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering, Product Management, Human Resources, Corporate Accounting, and other functions.
Support business leaders in evaluating investments, cost initiatives, workforce decisions, and resource trade-offs.
Establish ownership and accountability for assumptions, commitments, risks, opportunities, and corrective actions; connect operational metrics with financial results to identify root causes and improvement opportunities.
Define and execute a roadmap for a modern, scalable, technology-enabled FP&A organization.
Standardize and automate forecasting, budgeting, management reporting, variance analysis, financial modeling, and recurring analytical processes.
Lead financial planning and reporting platforms, including SAP and SAP Analytics Cloud, and partner with Information Technology on systems and data.
Establish governance for financial data, reporting hierarchies, financial models, master data, system changes, and reporting definitions.
Expand appropriate use of business intelligence, workflow automation, advanced analytics, generative AI, agentic AI, and other emerging technologies.
Develop scalable reporting, analytics, and planning solutions that reduce manual spreadsheets and repetitive data preparation.
Measure transformation outcomes, including forecast accuracy, planning and reporting cycle times, data quality, automation, adoption, and reduced manual work.
Ensure FP&A reporting and analysis are accurate, consistent, timely, and supported by suitable controls and governance.
Partner with Corporate Accounting to align management reporting, planning, accounting results, and company policies.
Support public-company financial requirements, quarterly and annual reporting cycles, internal controls, and audit-related activities as appropriate.
Set standards and processes for changes to financial reporting, planning methodologies, models, and systems.
Lead the enterprise workforce-planning financial framework with Human Resources and business leadership.
Integrate workforce plans with financial forecasts, organizational priorities, productivity expectations, and longer-term strategic objectives.
Establish consistent approaches to headcount, compensation, hiring, attrition, vacancies, organizational changes, and workforce scenario modeling.
Improve leadership visibility into workforce cost drivers and related financial risks and opportunities.
Lead, coach, and develop Finance managers and professionals across disciplines and geographies.
Build team capabilities in financial analysis, systems, analytics, automation, business partnership, executive communication, and strategic decision support.
Identify talent and capability gaps and develop hiring, development, succession, and knowledge-transfer plans.
Foster curiosity, constructive challenge, continuous improvement, collaboration, accountability, and collaboration across U.S. and international Finance teams in a global, matrixed organization.