Director, Financial Planning & Analysis

Director, Financial Planning & Analysis

Department: Finance & Administration

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: British Columbia, Canada

Compensation: The base annual salary range for this full-time role is between $171,400 to $235,700. This range reflects the minimum and maximum target range for new hire base salary across all Canadian locations. Actual compensation may vary outside of this range and is dependent on various factors including but not limited to a candidate's qualifications including relevant education and training, competencies, experience, geographic location, and business needs.

Base pay is only one part of the total compensation package. Full time roles are eligible for equity and benefits. Base pay is subject to change and may be modified in the future.

At Photonic the Director, FP&A is the senior strategic finance leader responsible for owning and building out the company's financial planning and analysis function. Reporting directly to the CFO, this role assumes ownership of an early-stage FP&A foundation — board reporting, budgeting, and reforecast cadences are in place — and is responsible for formalizing, deepening, and scaling that foundation into a function with the rigour the company's growth requires.

The Director defines what that looks like, sets the standard, and builds toward it.

The Director owns the output directly, supported by a dedicated finance resource. The right candidate is a senior FP&A practitioner who has formalized and scaled finance functions before, can step into day-to-day execution immediately, and has the communication skills to work effectively across technical and non-finance stakeholders.

Financial Planning & Forecasting

• Own the annual budgeting process — coordinate cross‑functional submissions, consolidate inputs, challenge assumptions, and deliver a board‑ready financial plan
• Maintain a rolling forecast, update projections monthly, and communicate changes and drivers to the CFO and executive team
• Build and maintain milestone‑based financial models reflecting R&D development gates, capital deployment schedule, and path to commercial revenue
• Lead scenario analysis and sensitivity modelling to support capital allocation and development sequencing decisions

Performance Reporting & Business Partnering

• Produce monthly and quarterly budget‑to‑actual variance analysis with clear driver explanations across R&D spend, headcount, and operating expenditure
• Track and report on pre‑commercial financial metrics: burn rate, cash runway, R&D spend efficiency, headcount‑to‑milestone ratios, and capital deployment pacing
• Build and maintain KPI dashboards and management reporting frameworks for internal leadership and board use
• Partner with department leads on financial context, headcount tracking, and spend analysis

Function Building

• Formalise and extend FP&A templates, cadences, and reporting standards — building on the existing foundation toward a scalable, audit‑ready function
• Evaluate and improve FP&A tooling in coordination with the Finance Systems & Data Lead
• Leverage AI‑enabled tools (e.g., Copilot, AI‑assisted modelling/automation) to improve forecast accuracy, accelerate analysis, and streamline recurring reporting workflows
• Define the FP&A operating model — review cadences, stakeholder touchpoints, and reporting rhythms across the business
• Build and document FP&A processes to a standard that supports scale, audit readiness, and continuity
• Coordinate with Sr. Accountant, Strategic Finance for actuals data, operational inputs, and variance preparation
• Define team structure and hiring roadmap as the function scales

• CPA designation (CPA Canada)
• 7–10+ years of progressive finance experience with direct ownership of budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis, including experience in a senior or lead FP&A capacity
• Demonstrated experience building FP&A infrastructure in an R&D‑intensive or pre‑commercial technology environment
• Demonstrated ability to build and lead a finance team, including defining roles, hiring, and developing talent
• Fluency in pre‑commercial financial metrics: burn rate, cash runway, R&D spend…