Strategic Finance & Analytics Lead

Job Summary

At Farmers, we are committed to making smart, data-driven decisions that deliver value to our customers, agents, and business partners.

We are seeking a Strategic Finance & Analytics Lead to play a critical role in shaping business strategy through advanced financial analysis, forecasting, business case development, and analytics-driven insights.

This role combines strategic finance, business analytics, and cross-functional partnership to help leaders evaluate opportunities, prioritize investments, optimize performance, and achieve enterprise objectives. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable building complex financial models, analyzing large datasets, influencing senior leaders, and translating insights into actionable business recommendations.

This position operates with a high degree of independence and serves as a trusted advisor on critical business initiatives.

Essential Task & Leadership Philosophy

Strategic Business Partnership

• Evaluate business opportunities, investments, and strategic initiatives through financial and operational analysis.
• Partner with leaders to assess risks, prioritize initiatives, and support enterprise planning efforts.
• Deliver recommendations that drive growth, efficiency, and informed decision-making.

Financial Analysis & Modeling

• Develop financial models, forecasts, and scenario analyses to support business decisions.
• Analyze performance trends, business drivers, risks, and opportunities.
• Create executive-ready reports, presentations, and actionable insights.

Analytics & Insights

• Leverage advanced analytics to solve complex business challenges and identify opportunities.
• Transform large data sets into meaningful insights and recommendations.
• Build and maintain dashboards, scorecards, KPIs, and performance tracking tools.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner across Finance, Operations, Claims, Distribution, Technology, Marketing, and Product teams.
• Lead or support strategic initiatives with measurable business impact.
• Align analytical solutions to organizational priorities and stakeholder needs.

Leadership & Continuous Improvement

• Promote data-driven decision-making and analytical best practices.
• Mentor business partners on financial and analytical concepts.
• Drive process improvements, innovation, and adoption of emerging tools, technologies, and methodologies.

First Year Success Factors

Within the first 12 months, a successful candidate can expect to have achieved the following:

• Own strategic projects end-to-end by defining the business problem, identifying relevant data, conducting analysis, and delivering actionable recommendations with measurable impact.
• Lead a high-impact Distribution-focused initiative, developing financial models and delivering concise, executive-ready insights that support business decisions.
• Serve as a trusted analytics partner by responding to ad hoc insight requests, objectively gathering and synthesizing data across teams, and translating findings into clear business narratives.
• Demonstrate strong critical thinking and business acumen, moving beyond reporting to identify root causes, risks, opportunities, and recommended actions.
• Build credibility through cross-functional collaboration, partnering effectively with Finance, Analytics, Distribution, and business leaders to drive data-informed decision-making.

Education & Career Experience Requirements

Candidates would ideally reflect the following professional qualifications and experiences:

• High School Diploma or equivalent required; Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Statistics, Analytics, Business Administration, Data Science, or a related field preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in Finance, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Data Analytics, Business Analytics, or a related field, with a demonstrated track record of supporting business decision-making.
• Experience developing and utilizing financial models for forecasting, planning, scenario analysis, and business performance management.
• Experience applying advanced analytics techniques, including predictive and prescriptive analytics, to identify trends, opportunities, and business insights.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and financial modeling, with the ability to synthesize complex data into clear and actionable recommendations.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, critical-thinking, and communication skills, with the ability to translate data into executive-level insights.
• Proven ability to influence stakeholders, build cross-functional partnerships, and drive business outcomes in a matrixed environment.
• Experience supporting a Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance organization, particularly within Distribution, Sales, Agency Operations, or related business functions, strongly preferred.
• Professional certifications such as CPA, CFA, CMA, FLMI, FSA, CLU, or similar designations preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead projects from problem identification through analysis, recommendation, and implementation.