AI-Driven Strategic Finance & Ops Senior Manager

Chicago

Spaulding Ridge is an advisory and IT implementation firm. We help global organizations get financial clarity into the complex, daily sales, and operational decisions that impact profitable revenue generations, efficient operational performance, and reliable financial management.

At Spaulding Ridge, we believe all business is personal. Core to our values is our relationships with our clients, our business partners, our team, and the global community. Our employees dedicate their time to helping our clients transform their business, from strategy through implementation and business transformation.

Spaulding Ridge is looking for a high-caliber, hungry, and intellectually curious

Senior Manager,Strategic Finance & Operational Excellencetooperateas a true athlete across finance, strategy, and operations. This is not a traditional FP&A role. You will be a core thought partner to leadership,owning critical initiatives across financial and operational planning, financing, M&Aand global business performance. You will help build and scale a modern, AI-enabled finance function, partneringwithteams in the U.S., Canada, and India. The ideal candidate thrives in ambiguity, builds trusting relationships with senior leaders, and is energized by solving complex problems that directlyimpactcompany trajectory.

This leader will work day-to-day with several P&L leaders to drive operational efficiency,financial performance, and strategic execution, while also partnering closely with theCOO & CFOon broader company objectives. This individual will act as a delegate and representative for the practice in financial and operational discussions across the firm and with corporate functions.

Success in this role requires strong financial acumen, executive-level communication skills, exceptional stakeholder management, and the ability to lead complex initiatives in a fast-growing, consulting-driven environment.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

Finance

• Own planning cycles leading business planning & analysis for quarterly forecasts and annual financial plan for several business areas totaling $50M revenue
• Drive operational rigor across forecasting, backlog management, utilization , pipeline conversion and delivery performance through standardized KPI governance & operating cadences
• Build scalable management reporting and executive operating rhythms that connect financials, GTM, delivery and people metrics into actionable decision-making
• Support capital allocation , cash flow & covenant forecasting
• Align incentive design with profitability & growth by supporting workforce planning, sales performance and compensation plan economics
• Driv e finance transformation initiatives spanning process redesign, systems integration, AI enablement and organizational scalability
• Support advisory board & investor reporting

Performance & Business Impact

• Influence senior leaders to build & execute financial plans that drive growth & profitability
• Build and own scalable operating mechanisms that improve forecasting accuracy, decision velocity and accountability across the organization
• Improve visibility into pipeline, backlog and profitability
• Proactively identify risks, opportunities, and performance gaps holding leaders accountable
• I n fluence decisions on pricing, hiring, and investments
• Partner with cross functional groups to support onboarding, training, project close out, system and process enhancement and other routine operations

AI & Next-Gen Finance

• Continuously challenge how finance work gets done- simplify, automate, and scale
• Partner with business intelligence & operations teams to elevate data quality and accessibility
• Embed AI and automation into forecasting, reporting, and decision-making processes
• Act as a champion for a modern, tech-enabled finance organization

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• You are viewed as a go-to thought partner by leadership
• You elevate finance from reporting to a driver of strategy
• You help the business consistently hit (or exceed) its plans
• You build scalable, AI-enabled processes that improve speed and insight
• You raise the bar for talent, thinking, and execution across the team

WHO YOU ARE

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, business or related; MBA or CPA preferred
• 8–12+ years in FP&A, strategic finance, or corporate finance with increasing scope
• High horsepower: exceptional problem solver with strong business intuition
• Ex perience managing or supporting consulting / service based business models with strong…