Topline & Sales Finance Strategy Manager

Proofpoint•Sunnyvale, CA

3d•$124,100 - $244,200•Hybrid

About The Position

Proofpoint’s FP&A | Finance Strategy Topline & Sales team is the central Topline and Sales finance team for the consolidated company. It plans and runs the business across routes to market in a fast-changing, competitive industry. The Manager provides added capacity and serves as a force multiplier for the team, working under the direction of the Sr. Director of FP&A, Topline & Sales. The role complements the Tier 1 FP&A Team, which continues to own the forecast and reporting, by leading cross-component and non-traditional work streams connecting Topline, Sales cost, and routes to market. The role supports planning and run-the-business collaboration, quarterly forecast insights, the annual operating plan and long-range plan, sales cost and compensation strategy, M&A diligence and integration, and channel economics. It develops scenario models, resolves data and definition issues, aligns assumptions across teams, and translates complex data into executive-ready recommendations and materials for senior leaders and stakeholders. The position is based in Sunnyvale, California, with in-office work Monday through Thursday, occasional Fridays, and remote flexibility when work demands it. It includes regular early-morning and late-evening coverage across the Americas, EMEA, and APJ; peak intensity around planning cycles, quarter-end, and board meetings; and occasional evening and weekend sprints. No travel is required.

Requirements

At least 8 years of progressive experience in FP&A, sales finance, corporate development, investment banking, or transaction advisory, including meaningful Topline experience in B2B SaaS or enterprise software.
Experience presenting to C-suite executives and partnering with GMs or business-unit leaders across concurrent work streams, influencing decisions without formal authority.
Strong professional presence and credibility with stakeholders from teammates through C-suite executives.
High energy, optimism, and a forward-looking approach; ability to bring momentum to collaborative work.
Flexible and effective through fast pivots; comfortable defining questions before answering them and driving alignment while plans are still forming.
Ability to document methods, build reusable models and shared definitions, and coach teammates informally.
Ability to handle highly sensitive, need-to-know information, including deal and board work, with complete discretion.
Ability to build advanced models and work with large data sets in Excel and enterprise planning tools.
Early adoption of AI tools such as Claude and similar tools to turn large data sets into insights, with the judgment to validate outputs and identify risks.
Hands-on depth in SaaS Topline, sales compensation plans (including at least one full commissions planning cycle), headcount and capacity modeling for a large sales organization, and channel economics across routes to market.
M&A experience, such as deal models, synergy cases, diligence, or post-close integration, and ability to reconcile an operating plan to a deal model.
Strong command of GAAP, including ASC 606 revenue recognition and ASC 340-40 treatment of commissions, as well as cash-basis reporting and reconciliation between the two.

Nice To Haves

MBA.
CPA.
Background in cybersecurity or private equity-backed software.

Responsibilities

Lead large-scale planning and run-the-business collaboration at the Sr. Director’s direction, driving priority work to executive-ready answers.
Partner with the Sr. Director’s direct-report leads and the Topline and Sales FP&A team to align Topline, Sales cost, and routes to market while providing added capacity across work streams.
Own non-traditional work streams end to end, connecting big-picture assumptions with detailed business drivers and ensuring assumptions, handoffs, and numbers remain aligned across routes to market and the FP&A team.
Build scenario models and what-if tools tied to the system of record, and surface issues clearly.
Diagnose data and definition issues arising from system changes and migrations, trace metric changes, and establish defensible fixes with owners.
Support quarterly forecast insights against the established annual operating plan, complementing the Tier 1 FP&A Team’s forecast with historical comparisons and driver analyses.
Partner with Product and Product FP&A to align Topline and Sales assumptions with the product plan, including ARR and NARR by product.
Support the long-range plan, connecting it to the latest narrative and translating changes between planning cycles into clear drivers that promote cross-team collaboration.
Support strategy for the annual Sales cost envelope, including headcount and capacity, fully loaded cost, productivity, and growth limits.
Model on-target earnings and incentives, including pay mix and quota capacity, and support the commissions cycle from plan design and cost modeling through attainment and payout.
Analyze acquisition targets’ P&Ls on GAAP and cash bases, normalize them, and translate findings into Topline, cost, and synergy implications.
Support sales-organization diligence and integration planning, including leadership overlap, capacity, compensation harmonization, and retention and pipeline risks and opportunities.
Bring acquired businesses’ baselines and forecasting methods onto Proofpoint standards after close.
Assess economics across direct, distribution, reseller, MSP, and marketplace routes to market.
Analyze rebate structures and tiers, partner margin, and contra revenue, including their gross-to-net effects on Topline.
Present clear, defensible recommendations to the CRO, CEO, and CFO.
Help prepare board, Operating Partner, and QBR materials through the AOP cycle to fixed timelines and investor-grade standards.
Partner with GMs, Sales Operations, and FP&A | Finance Strategy leadership to align work streams and resolve conflicting priorities and assumptions.
Communicate at both board-level and line-item detail, adapting to the needs of the audience.
Provide crisp executive-ready communication across Teams, Outlook, and similar tools, clearly stating answers, drivers, risks, and commitments.

Benefits

Competitive compensation; the role may also be eligible for variable compensation and/or equity.
Comprehensive benefits package.
Flexible time off.
Comprehensive well-being program, including two paid Wellbeing Days per year.
Two paid Volunteer Days per year.
Three-week Work from Anywhere option.
Flexible work environment.
Annual wellness and community outreach days.
Always-on recognition for contributions.
Career success on your terms.
Global collaboration and networking opportunities.