Head of Strategic Finance Business Partners Operations & Transformation

The Opportunity

This role is a thought, change and transformation leader charged with owning the strategy and execution that will modernize, streamline, and deepen the strategic impact of the client-facing corporate finance team (Strategic Finance Business Partners) and improve role clarity of key activities with partners within finance and business areas. Improvements will enable a more efficient and effective process for management reporting and analysis, forecasting, and other continuous improvement efforts to drive executive-level decision support and track and monitor progress to improve financial performance. This role will be responsible for training, change management, and adoption around new capabilities and continuous improvement efforts. This leader will regularly interact with and influence key stakeholders and partners including executives, senior leaders, and cross-corporate finance/business partners.

The Team

This role will be an important member of the Strategic Finance Business Partner ("SFBP") team, as the primary purpose of this role is to drive transformation of the Strategic Finance Business Partners organization's key processes and modernize the engagement model. The SFBP team is comprised of financial and actuarial professionals aligned to our life insurance and annuity business channels, operations, technology, and other organizations. Analyses and information regarding key performance measures and sources and quality in relation to targets and benchmarks at the channel, subchannel, and product levels are used in partnership with the client areas to inform decision-making and support broad enterprise planning. Key regular topics include competitiveness, sales targets, performance against key metrics, and incentive plan targets.

SFBP team members are motivated by the opportunity to apply their knowledge, experience, and communication skills to influence the strategic direction and performance of their client areas and the enterprise as a whole. The team shares best practices, approaches, and information weekly, works closely with all areas of Corporate Finance - including FP&A, Actuarial, Strategy, Corporate Development, and Controllers - to bring holistic CFO support to clients, influence Corporate Finance priorities and communications, and maximize CFO efficiency and operational performance. Current large-scale Corporate Finance initiatives in flight include building out our data management strategy and implementing our new general ledger as part of transforming our financial close process.

The Impact:

This role reports to the Head of the Strategic Finance Business Partners and is a critical leader within the team. Primary accountabilities include the following:

1. Own (develop, lead, drive and execute) the strategy to modernize and improve the analytics and manual reporting used by SFBP leads to inform their key business stakeholders (e.g. ELT, SLT, etc.). This includes:
   
   1. Inventory all manual reporting and dashboards currently in use, with the intent to streamline disparate and integrate disconnected information to drive broader perspective on current performance, trends, and insights on next best action to improve financial performance.
   2. Partner with FP&A and ETX colleagues to enhance existing dashboards and eliminate disparate manual reporting.
   3. Partner to create training agenda and deployment plan.
2. Own (develop, lead, drive and execute) the strategy to drive a more integrated, simplified, and transparent forecast process between SFBP, key business areas, and integration points with corporate finance partners. This includes:
   
   1. Current state / future state assessment and roadmap and identify, communicate, and begin execution of quick wins.
   2. Create process maps to identify key inputs, work within team, and outputs for key forecast activities.
   3. Improve rigor around documentation and basis for key assumptions (revenue, expense, balance sheet) and consistent framework to share results with ELT stakeholders and formalize sign-off process.
   4. Create transparency around role clarity across functions and develop recommendations to streamline, simplify, and enhance process and decision-making.
   5. Develop training and communication agenda and deployment plan to bring on new processes and decommission historical.
3. Own (develop, lead, drive and execute) the strategy to streamline other key continuous improvement efforts. This includes:
   
   1. Current state / future state assessment and roadmap and identify, communicate, and begin execution of quick wins.
   2. Create process maps to identify key inputs, work within team, and outputs for key activities.
   3. Create roadmap and execution partnering across SFBP and Continuous Improvement (CI) team to deploy new processes and/or technologies and redeploy resources to more value-added / strategic work.
   4. Develop training and communication agenda and deployment plan to bring on new processes and decommission historical.
4. Influence key executives and manage the change associated with the transformation and continuous improvement efforts.
5. Streamline core processes within SFBP, and align training and change sequencing accordingly.
6. Establish appropriate SLAs for key processes where appropriate.
7. Collaborate with leaders in SFBP as well as other leaders; drive consistency within the team on workflow, process, tools, and common metrics; ensure coordination on key processes.
8. Manage team of analysts, both directly and indirectly, within SFBP. Drive culture and engagement within SFBP, attracting, developing, and retaining talent to further champion the SFBP agenda.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 10 years of experience working on the financial aspects of large, sophisticated organizations, experience in financial services (including permanent insurance).
• Deep experience driving finance transformation including change, program management, and adoption of new capabilities.
• Proven track record building relationships, influencing, and leading others toward shared goals and objectives.
• Demonstrated experience with creative problem-solving.
• Ability to convey complex information in readily understandable terms.

Preferred Qualifications

• Quick study that is intellectually curious and able to assimilate and focus on what matters most and mobilize teams accordingly.
• High level of emotional intelligence and situational awareness.
• Ability to work well under pressure and manage multiple deliverables.
• Ability to travel between Boston and Springfield as required.
• Knowledge of applicable U.S. GAAP and statutory financial reporting requirements.
• Must be authorized to work in the US without sponsorship now or in the future.

What to Expect as Part of MassMutual and the Team

• Regular meetings with the SFBP team.
• Focused one-on-one meetings with your manager.
• Access to mentorship opportunities.
• Networking opportunities including access to Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, African American, women, LGBTQ, veteran, and disability-focused Business Resource Groups.
• Access to learning content on Degreed and other informational platforms.
• Your ethics and integrity will be valued by a company with a strong and stable ethical business with industry-leading pay and benefits.

#LI-IZ1
MassMutual is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer Minority/Female/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/Individual with Disability/Protected Veteran. We welcome all persons to apply. Note: Veterans are welcome to apply, regardless of their discharge status.

If you need an accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us and share the specifics of the assistance you need.#J-18808-Ljbffr