Planning Assistant Jobs in Raleigh, NC (NOW HIRING)

Primary Function 
The FP&A Director will provide enterprise-wide leadership over all financial planning and analysis functions, including financial analysis, scenario modeling, and forecasting, KPI design and measurement, performance reporting, and insight generation to explain business drivers, while supporting long-range financial strategic planning. 

This role serves as a key advisor to executive leadership, translating financial analysis, trends and operational insights into actionable strategies that drive business performance and long-term value creation.  

The Director will lead cross-functional planning and analytical review processes, influence critical business decisions, and ensure alignment between financial objectives and corporate strategy.  

Additionally, this role is responsible for strengthening financial governance, enhancing reporting capabilities, deepening analytical rigor and insight generation, while ensuring compliance with regulatory and accounting standards and improving the quality, accuracy and usability of financial data across the organization. 

Essential Duties 

Strategic Financial Leadership 

• Lead enterprise-wide financial planning, including forecasts and long-range plans,  
• Oversee financial planning and budgeting processes with equal emphasis on analytical outputs and business insight  
• Provide strategic financial guidance to executive leadership aligned with corporate objectives  
• Drive scenario planning and long-term financial modeling to support strategic decision-making  
• Provide forward-looking financial insights as well as retrospective analysis explaining performance drivers and variances  
• Identify and evaluate risks, opportunities, and key value drivers across the organization  
• Lead cash flow forecasting and reporting to ensure visibility into liquidity and operational cash drivers  
• Assist with income tax planning and coordination in partnership with internal teams and external advisors  
• Support debt management activities, including covenant monitoring, financial modeling, and helping prepare lender communications packages 

Advanced Financial Analysis & Business Insights 

• Lead enterprise-wide financial analysis, including variance analysis, profitability analysis, and trend identification across all business units  
• Develop and standardize driver-based analysis to explain revenue, margin, and cost performance  
• Translate operational data into actionable financial insights to support decision-making at the executive and division level  
• Own development of analytical frameworks to evaluate product/service line profitability, customer segmentation, and capital efficiency  
• Conduct deep-dive analyses on financial and operational performance to identify improvement opportunities  
• Partner with business leaders to diagnose performance gaps and recommend corrective actions  
• Establish consistent methodologies for financial analysis, including variance reporting and root-cause identification  
• Support M&A, capital investments, and strategic initiatives through detailed financial and operational analysis 

Executive Partnership & Decision Influence 

• Act as a key advisor to senior executives and business leaders on high-impact decisions  
• Lead financial evaluation of strategic initiatives, including capital allocation, acquisitions, and expansion opportunities  
• Present financial insights, analytical findings, performance drivers, and forward outlooks, and recommendations to executive leadership  
• Partner with operations to drive profitability, efficiency, and growth  
• Define and document key assumptions tied to financial plans and strategic initiatives   

Performance Management & Reporting 

• Oversee enterprise financial KPI frameworks to ensure alignment with strategic goals and accountability across business units  
• Establish accountability around financial targets and strategic initiatives  
• Enhance corporate financial dashboards and KPI frameworks   
• Lead development of executive dashboards, board-level reporting packages, and analysis driven reporting  
• Establish data-driven performance management practices across the organization  
• Ensure reporting includes clear insights, root-cause analysis, and recommended actions 

Team Leadership & Organizational Development 

• Lead, mentor, and develop the FP&A team to strengthen analytical capabilities, business insight generation, and storytelling with data  
• Establish best practices for financial analysis, insight generation, and planning  
• Foster a high-performance culture focused on accountability and continuous improvement  

Systems, Process Optimization & Governance 

• Own FP&A systems strategy, including evaluation, implementation, and optimization of financial planning tools  
• Drive automation and process improvements to enhance efficiency, scalability, and analytical capabilities and real-time insights  
• Continuously improve analytical tools, data models, and reporting processes to enhance decision-making capability  
• Partner with Accounting, IT, and business system teams to ensure integrity, consistency, and accessibility of financial data 

Minimum Requirements 

Education 

• Bachelor's degree in accounting or business administration with a concentration in accounting; MBA a plus. A current and active Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license. 

Work Experience 

• 10+ years of accounting or auditing experience, preferably in a related industry. 
• 8+ years of management experience. 

Physical 

• The ability to sit for extended periods. 
• The ability to see (with or without corrective lenses) CRT and small print ledger information. 

Other 

• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel. 
• Basic understanding of ERP systems; experience with Microsoft Dynamics AX or 365 is a plus. 
• Excellent presentation and communication skills. 
• Detail-oriented and organized. 
• Ability to meet a constant stream of deadlines. 
• Proven ability to work both independently and collaboratively with different levels of employees. 
• Advanced report writing, research, and analytical skills. 
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills to apply logic and reasoning to identify strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, approaches, and prevention of problems.