Associate Director- Finance

Overview

• Lead the Finance Planning & Analysis function within the India Capability Center (ICC), delivering high-quality planning, forecasting, performance reporting, and decision support to global and regional stakeholders.
• Position the ICC as a strategic finance partner by moving beyond transactional reporting toward forward-looking insights, scalable analytics, and actionable recommendations.
• Build a high-performing FP&A team with strong business acumen, financial discipline, digital capability, and a continuous-improvement mindset.

Responsibilities

• Own and coordinate annual operating plans, budgets, rolling forecasts, and monthly outlooks for the assigned global businesses or functions.
• Lead monthly and quarterly performance reviews, explaining actuals versus plan and forecast, identifying root causes, and recommending corrective actions.
• Develop driver-based models, scenarios, and sensitivity analyses to assess business risks, opportunities, investments, and strategic choices.
• Translate complex financial and operational data into concise executive-level insights, narratives, and decision recommendations.
• Partner with global functions including finance, commercial, operations, supply chain, HR, and other functional leaders to improve decisions, resource allocation, and performance.
• Partner with ICC Controls team to ensure accurate billing communication and tracking to the Regions.
• Clear tracking to Compensation & Benefits and other costs vs AOP/Forecast with clear COC for drivers for variances along with Risks and Opportunities analysis
• Establish consistent KPIs, definitions, reporting standards, calendars, and governance across the ICC planning process.
• Strengthen forecast accuracy through disciplined assumptions, business-driver analysis, challenge processes, and regular risk-and-opportunity reviews.
• Ensure management reporting is accurate, timely, reconciled to source systems and the general ledger, and supported by clear controls and documentation.
• Lead the transition, stabilization, and expansion of FP&A activities into the ICC while maintaining service continuity and stakeholder confidence.
• Standardize and simplify processes, eliminate non-value-added work, and build scalable service-delivery models with clear service levels and ownership.
• Champion automation, self-service reporting, advanced analytics, and effective use of data-visualization tools including Cockpit.
• Lead and develop one direct report through clear objectives, coaching, quality reviews, career development, succession planning, and targeted capability building.
• Manage team capacity, priorities, and delivery across time zones, balancing recurring cycles, transformation initiatives, and urgent business requests.
• Promote strong governance, financial integrity, confidentiality, compliance with corporate policies, and adherence to internal-control requirements.
• Influence senior stakeholders in a matrix environment, constructively challenge assumptions, resolve delivery issues, and communicate decisions and trade-offs clearly.

Measures of Success

• Improved forecast accuracy and quality of financial insights.
• On-time, accurate, and well-controlled planning and reporting cycles.
• Clear business impact from identified risks, opportunities, and recommendations.
• Higher stakeholder satisfaction and expanded strategic scope for the ICC.
• Measurable productivity gains from standardization, automation, and self-service reporting.
• Strong team engagement, capability growth, retention, and succession readiness.
• Successful transition and stabilization of new FP&A activities without disruption to business delivery.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Chartered Accountant, CMA, MBA in Finance, or equivalent postgraduate finance qualification.
• Typically 8-10 years of progressive experience in FP&A, commercial finance, business finance, or performance management, including significant leadership responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience leading FP&A delivery in a Global Capability Center, shared-services organization, or complex multinational environment.
• Strong command of budgeting, forecasting, management reporting, variance analysis, financial modelling, scenario planning, and performance management.
• Proven ability to partner with senior global stakeholders and influence decisions across functions, geographies, and organizational levels.
• Experience leading process transitions, standardization, finance transformation, or operating-model change with measurable outcomes.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint, working knowledge of SAP and Mosaic/TM1 is an add on
• Excellent written and verbal English communication, executive presentation, problem-solving, project-management, and change-leadership skills.
• Willingness to collaborate across global time zones as business needs require.

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic and commercial mindset: Connects business strategy and operational drivers to financial outcomes.
• Insight-led decision support: Converts analysis into clear choices, recommendations, and action.
• Global stakeholder leadership: Builds trust, challenges constructively, and aligns diverse partners.
• People leadership: Develops talent, creates accountability, and delivers results through others.
• Transformation orientation: Simplifies, standardizes, automates, and scales finance capabilities.
• Execution excellence: Maintains high standards of accuracy, timeliness, controls, and follow-through.
• Learning agility: Operates effectively in ambiguity and adapts quickly to changing priorities.