Head of Finance, Special Initiatives

Job Summary

This role is critically responsible for leading engagement with Senior Leaders and key business partners across the organization to refine and deliver transformational finance strategies from within the Planning & Performance Management organization.  This group is vital because they enable strategic financial decision making, resource allocation, and tracking which ultimately improves our efficiency in achieving organizational goals.

Essential Job Functions

A successful candidate in the role can expect to be accountable for these key tasks:

• Define overall strategy for FIG related to Finance Operations activities for all business revenue flows.
• Develop partnership relationships with senior stakeholders for Internal and external service providers to drive execution of efficiency and quality improvement strategies, including outsourcing.
• Provides change capabilities to Finance such as automation, lean and project management support. 
• Delivers high quality PMO services to all Finance programs, tracks benefit delivery and drives project prioritization and cost controlling.
• Leverages existing and implements new technology to drive simplification and to develop missing capabilities with our Finance systems landscape.
• Shapes and delivers the Future of Finance program.
• Influences Senior Leadership Team members to adopt new ideas, processes, approaches, and gain commitment on cross-company initiatives.
• Solve unique and complex problems with broad impact on the business.
• Deliver data-driven insights to support actionable strategic direction, corporate prioritization, and strategy communication.
• Gathers leading industry best practices to challenge status quo thinking and actions while promoting innovation.
• Works with counterparts (e.g. finance) to drive analysis and sophisticated financial modelling.

Success Factors

Within the first 12-months, you will have achieved:

• Created new measures with which we can define success in a line of business.
• Established a deep relationship with a line of business and showcase objective value-add to the outcome of special projects/large initiatives.
• Introduced and championed a new, standardized project planning framework that enhances forecasting accuracy and provides greater financial predictability.

Role Requirements

• A recognized accounting qualification (CA, CPA or equivalent).
• Project and change management qualification.
• 10 years of Financial Consultant experience.
• This role should have at least 10 years of experience in Property and Casualty Insurance.
• 5 years with people management experience as a leader.
• Experience in insurance or financial services industry and knowledgeable about US Accounting Principles (STAT and GAAP), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), financial reporting processes, expense management and Finance operations.