This position will act as the trusted Finance advisor to Global Wealth Asset Management and General Account Operations leaders and their teams. Manage a team that supports the Operations finance activities and partner with peer Expense Directors to provide clear and actionable analysis for the monthly expense results, outlook, and budgets across the function and provide overall financial support to GWAM & GA Segment operations. The Director is responsible for keeping functional and business entity management well informed of issues and status. These updates will come in the shape of formal reviews with the GWAM & GA Operations leadership team, Segment finance and business reviews as well as with the Global Operations leadership on a recurring basis. Linking the various drivers of Operations expenses (initiatives, volumes, etc.) across the numerous products, markets, value chains and business divisions (Contact Center, Retirement, etc.) is key to succeeding in this role.

In addition to supporting ongoing business activities, this position will play an integral role in supporting transformation activities within both Operations and the internal Expense Shared Service (ESS) team. For Operations transformation, the position will be the primary finance representative for activities like Ops Strategy and projects, Strategic Cost Management, and any other strategic initiatives. For ESS transformation, this role will partner with the VP, Global IT, Operations & Marketing Finance and other peers to enable more automation, streamlined reporting and processes so the team can focus on value-add analysis with the business. This position will support the VP, Global IT, Operations & Marketing Finance as well as be a key financial advisor to the teams reporting directly into the GWAM and GA COO.

• Provide expense advisory services to the business through recurring monthly reviews, business case reviews, and other ad hoc analysis.
• Support the Strategic Cost Management (SCM) program through consolidated reporting of results by segment, by leader, and by savings type. Question and challenge when results are not reasonable or are at risk.
• Act as the key expense representative for global initiatives and partner with the initiative owners to ensure financial transparency of benefits and costs into the program. Leverage subject matter experts across the Expense Shared Service team where able.
• Lead all aspects of the development of reporting which meets the needs of our customers. Provide valuable analysis along with clear and concise commentary on results for our customers.
• Demonstrate a strong technical understanding of the accounting for expenses including company policies and sufficient business knowledge to be able to verify and analyze information under review.
• Expand personal network and relationships within the business area supported and the finance teams and demonstrate you have brought to bear these expanded partnerships in delivering business results.
• Drive continuous improvement in engagement throughout the organization. Drive finance participation and leadership in KPI reporting and analysis including unit cost analysis through partnership with Operations Strategy and the segment Expense Directors. Look for opportunities to centralize, automate, and streamline where possible.
• Educate, both internally and externally, our colleagues on transforming results into the closed-loop business story rather than just a simple account variance analysis.
• Partner with segment expense teams to find opportunities to transform reporting and analysis processes that enable more value-add work and better engagement across the team. Look for opportunities to Stop, Modify, or Keep processes along the way.
• Use appropriate judgment in dealing with unexpected issues and requests, demonstrating an ability to prioritize work, and balance resource requirements to achieve solutions. When in question raise and make sure something is required before time is spent on it.
• Play a key role as part of the Expense Management leadership team in the achievement of projects, the goals of process improvement and best practices in expense reporting.
• Identify expense risk and opportunities and recommend and influence actions for functional business partners.
• Cultivate an innovative environment by supporting creativity and high-performance teamwork.
• Lead opportunities to collaborate across teams to innovate and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Model and encourage collaborative team behaviours (Get it done together, Share your humanity)
• Drive continuous improvement in engagement throughout the organization.

• Accounting designation (MBA, CPA) with 10+ years of relevant experience in progressive accounting roles.
• University degree in business, finance or equivalent.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to collaborate, negotiate and influence effectively.
• Self-starter with the ability to work independently, particularly in the area of using sound, independent judgment, problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Results oriented, able to manage expectations, work under tight deadlines and manage competing priorities.
• Excellent customer focus and commitment to quality.
• Strong business acumen with ability to communicate complex concepts and results in a clear, concise, easy to understand manner (written and verbal).
• Solid analytical and technical capability – ability to assimilate/summarize a large amount of information from multiple sources and present in a valuable form for senior management.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 tools and ability to learn new applications quickly.
• Smartview, Lawson, Anaplan knowledge (or other complex GL package) would be an asset.