Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis

About the position

The Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis will be responsible for developing, implementing and overseeing the management accounting, planning and analysis, valuation and risk processes, related activities and reporting for Lithium America Corp, working closely with both the executives and broader work force of the Company. The VP, FP&A will be a key member of the Company's finance leadership team and a key member of the CFO's team. The VP, FP&A will be a key contributor to related organization structure design, responsible managing existing FP&A resources as well as for hiring over the period of Thacker Pass' development, eventually managing a team of to direct and indirect reports. This position will be based in our Vancouver Corporate Office or our Reno Business Office.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement and operate detailed management accounting, budgeting and forecasting processes, which generate detailed outputs for a variety of monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting purposes.
• Maintain and improve the Company's valuation model, acting as commercial and financial advisory to the CFO and Executive team, providing outputs and analysis that support business decision making, including in relation to potential financing and/or business development activities.
• Maintain and improve the Company's risk evaluation processes and related mitigation monitoring efforts, providing related reporting to the CFO, Executive team and board.
• Coordination with the business and broader finance team, including investor relations, to ensure appropriate alignment and timely submission of deliverables that meet business needs as well as support any requirements of external stakeholders.
• Assist the CFO and management by engaging with lenders, analysts, holders, potential holders and other stakeholders, as required, responding to periodic queries and developing relationships.
• Contribute to and understand corporate strategy and growth initiative.
• Drive the annual planning process and timeline as well as related outputs and on-going reporting requirements, including to the Lithium America's board as well as the Thacker Pass Joint Venture board.
• Under the direction of the Senior Vice President, Finance & Administration and others, provide assistance in meeting the Company's statutory reporting obligations, including supporting certain aspects of the preparation and audit of consolidated financial statements (e.g. any required impairment testing), management's discussion and analysis, etc.
• Lead specific high value cost and commercial transformation opportunities.
• Coordinate complex and moving data between operations, commercial and finance as plans develop and key production, commercial and financial data is absorbed into accounting and reporting systems, including the financial planning model as well as the Company's valuation model.
• Drive continuous improvement within the management reporting, financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, valuation and risk processes.
• Develop and interpret financial data/analysis in conjunction with operations management to make recommendations for business and cost improvement.
• Assist in preparing other presentation materials for boards, investors and other stakeholders, assisting the CFO to develop messaging.
• Analyze and develop recommendations regarding the Company's growth opportunities.
• Supervise a high-performing team of direct and indirect reports.
• Ensure team members remain motivated, challenged through learning opportunities and guided in their professional development with an effective coaching relationship.
• Continue to evolve and develop a planning and reporting structure that will support the needs of the business and effectively scale with increased complexity.
• Provide leadership and support in solving key business issues, allowing team members space to create their own solutions and providing guidance and insight when needed.
• Build strong relationships with cross-functional and operational partners, engage and offer valuable insight and serve as a positive representation of the broader accounting team.
• Establish key operating metrics to track progress against business goals and objectives.
• Continuously improve processes across the FP&A team to enable effectiveness and efficiency, including assessing and implementing new technology solutions when needed.
• Lead ad hoc projects as needed, including cost transformations as well as opportunities to improve analysis to inform decision making.
• Remain engaged in the mining and exploration and accounting communities to build awareness to industry best practices and lessons learned.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field is required.
• MBA or other equivalent degree is highly desirable.
• CPA license is preferred.
• Minimum of ten years' experience in mining or natural resources, with proven skills in financial planning and analysis, including management reporting, budgeting and forecasting, is necessary.
• Experience developing and maintaining risk processes, registers and reporting (or significant participation in such processes) as well as developing and maintaining financial models, in particular for mining or natural resource companies, is highly desirable.
• Experience leading a team of professionals, in particular financial planning and analysis teams, is essential.

Nice-to-haves

• Excellent communication skills, and ability to express complex issues and recommendations to executives and communicate effectively with senior leadership and all levels of the organization's management and staff.
• Excellent conflict management skills at all levels in the organization as well as an effective and resilient stress manager.
• Must be highly organized, results-driven, and detail-oriented.
• Demonstrated organizational skills with strong ability to multi-task.
• Perform work with a high degree of discretion and customer service.
• A demonstrated ability to combine finance and business skills.
• Strong technical accounting abilities and business acumen.
• The ability to think strategically and focus on the 'big picture' of overall corporate goals.
• Must be self-directed and highly motivated with the ability to organize projects, outline priorities, and arrange workflow in a results-oriented fashion.
• Proven leadership ability with a track record of building and managing high-performing teams.