Senior Principal, Finance Strategy

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in New Jersey.

📋 Description

• Spearhead a comprehensive finance transformation across Pearson, shaping the strategy, operating model, and digital advancements to cultivate a more agile, insight-driven, and AI-enhanced finance function.

• Collaborate with the Group Finance Officer to articulate, refine, and implement the finance strategy in alignment with overarching corporate and business unit objectives.

• Convert strategic vision into a precise, actionable finance operating model, defining responsibilities across global, business unit, and functional finance teams.

• Foster alignment between financial planning, performance management, and value creation priorities throughout the organization.

• Define the role of finance as both a performance owner and enabler, embedding best-in-class accountability and decision support principles.

• Oversee a suite of enterprise finance transformation initiatives that encompass global processes, systems, data governance, and business assurance.

• Establish and maintain a structured program governance model, featuring clear milestones, delivery plans, and value realization tracking.

• Identify and eliminate obstacles to execution, ensuring transformation initiatives are delivered swiftly and with measurable impact.

• Serve as the integrator across initiatives, ensuring a cohesive, end-to-end transformation rather than a fragmented approach.

• Promote the adoption of automation, advanced analytics, and AI within finance to enhance efficiency, forecasting, and decision support.

• Collaborate with Technology and Data teams to prioritize finance system investments that align with strategic outcomes.

• Advocate for the transition towards real-time, data-informed finance capabilities, minimizing manual processes and bolstering predictive insights.

• Ensure digital initiatives are integrated into daily operations, rather than merely implemented as standalone tools.

• Act as a vital link between finance leadership, business unit leaders, and central functions to align priorities and facilitate trade-offs.

• Persuade executive-level stakeholders to prioritize transformation initiatives and allocate necessary resources.

• Provide strategic insights and challenges, positioning finance as a proactive partner in enhancing enterprise performance.

• Cultivate strong cross-functional relationships to enable quicker and more effective decision-making.

• Narrate the overarching change story for finance transformation, translating strategy into a clear and compelling narrative for the organization.

• Design and implement structured change management strategies to ensure the adoption of new processes, tools, and behaviors.

• Engage and mobilize the finance community, generating momentum and commitment towards transformation objectives.

• Ensure communications are consistent, outcome-oriented, and reinforce accountability and progress.

• Build and enhance capabilities across the finance organization in program delivery, digital finance, and strategic collaboration.

• Foster a culture of innovation, ownership, and continuous improvement within teams.

⛳️ Requirements

• Proven experience in transformation, strategy, or operating model design within a large and complex organization.

• Demonstrated success in delivering enterprise-wide transformation programs with measurable business impact.

• Strong strategic leadership skills, capable of linking finance strategy to enterprise value creation.

• Experience managing complex, multi-year programs that span systems, processes, and organizational structures.

• In-depth understanding of financial performance, profitability drivers, and capital allocation principles.

• Expertise in operating model design, including governance, processes, and accountability frameworks.

• Exceptional ability to influence and align executive stakeholders across various functions.

• Strong change leadership skills, with experience in driving both behavioral and structural change.

• Experience with enterprise systems, data transformation, and digital finance capabilities.

• Excellent communication and storytelling abilities, with the capacity to translate complex strategies into clear, actionable narratives.

🏝️ Benefits

• This position is eligible to participate in an annual incentive program.

• Information on benefits offered is here.