Sr Director Financial Planning & Analysis

Northwestern Mutual•Milwaukee, WI

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

This role serves as a finance enablement leader, responsible for designing, implementing, and continuously improving financial processes, tools, and operating rhythms that elevate Business Finance’s ability to consult, advise, and influence business partners. By strengthening planning, forecasting, reporting, and decision support capabilities, this role enables Business Finance teams to deliver clearer insights, more forward-looking guidance, and stronger strategic partnership across the enterprise. The role is highly visible and partners closely with executives, business leaders, and finance leadership. Success requires strong process leadership, deep FP&A expertise, and the ability to influence senior leaders to adopt more standardized, scalable, and insight‑driven ways of working.

Requirements

Bachelors degree in accounting, finance, or other business required
Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in positions with increasing financial management responsibilities
Exceptional people leadership capabilities to create an engaging work environment
Intellectual agility, analytical and problem-solving abilities and well-developed presentation skills.
Ability to develop rapport and maintain effective relationships throughout the Company and influence decision making without authority
Strong business acumen with an ability to understand and synthesize company-wide results.
Demonstrated ability to overcome obstacles and lead through change.
Accountability: Holds self and their direct reports accountable for measurable, high-quality, timely, and cost-effective results, delivery, and execution. Determines objectives, sets priorities, delegates work to direct reports, and accepts responsibility for mistakes.
Attention to Detail: Focuses on specific details to spot and correct errors in advance of them being found and surpass quality expectations. Performs work with thorough proofreading for presentation, content, accuracy, and overall quality.
Business Automation: Applies knowledge and utilizes systems that facilitate or automate one or more business application solutions, including linking rules to workflow management and requirements acquisition.
Consulting: Connects with stakeholders to understand and gain specific information to help resolve customer problems in a given domain. Communicates effectively intent to customers, solicits customer requirements, utilizes domain knowledge and collaborates with the right stakeholders.
Cross Functional Partnering & Planning: Facilitates collaboration, communication, coordination, and planning with individuals and teams from different functions within the organization, and who have different areas of expertise, to achieve common goals.
Financial Forecasting: Predicts and estimates future financial outcomes based on historical data, current trends, and informed assumptions. Utilizes various forecasting methods and techniques to select the most appropriate approach for different scenarios.
Process Mindset: Demonstrates ability to define processes to organize people, activities, and milestones. Understands how to separate and combine tasks into efficient work-flow; creates metrics to measure success. Identifies opportunities for synergy and integration where others can't. Simplifies complex processes and produces more out of fewer resources.

Responsibilities

Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of Business Finance planning, forecasting, and reporting processes to enable more consistent, efficient, and consultative support for business partners.
Champion adoption of new processes and tools, leading change management efforts that ensure Business Finance teams are equipped, trained, and engaged in new ways of working.
Support the standardization and continuous improvement of FP&A processes, including forecasting, close cadence, reporting, and investment prioritization, to improve transparency, efficiency, and comparability across the enterprise.
Establish and scale standardized finance processes, tools, and operating rhythms to improve efficiency, consistency, and insight quality.
Partner closely with internal technology partners and external vendors to translate FP&A requirements into scalable tools, reports, and workflows that enhance planning, analysis, and reporting capabilities.
Participate in cross‑functional initiatives related to financial systems, data, and reporting, providing FP&A subject matter expertise and ensuring alignment with finance and business needs.
Applies a deep understanding of the Department/Function’s strategic initiatives, including participation in business case development and leveraging financial expertise to develop innovative solutions to broad, complex issues.
Leverages expertise in budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting to track performance and influence decisions aligned with company financial and strategic targets.
Applies broad industry and enterprise knowledge to drive financial performance, anticipating and identifying issues that may impact enterprise-wide results.
Drives accountability by setting, monitoring and reporting targets/outcomes related to key performance indicators, which may include revenue, expense, or other metrics aligned with the company’s financial and strategic goals.
Lead strategic modeling, scenario planning, and performs analysis to support data-driven decisions, and brings new approaches or techniques to solve problems that have a broad impact on the business.
Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing finance enablement team, setting clear priorities and expectations, building required capabilities, and driving accountability to deliver enterprise FP&A process, tools, and reporting outcomes.