Strategic Finance & Planning Lead

Lead, Strategic Planning & Finance Operations, Apple Services Engineering

Cupertino, California, United States Software and Services

At Apple, the places where people work are as intentional as the products we make. As a Lead in the Strategic Planning & Finance Operations organization, you will own the financial planning and operational governance for a large‑scale engineering organization of over 7,000 employees, responsible for managing and operationalizing more than $500M in annual spend across Professional services, Data Licenses, Software Licenses & Program spend.

This is a highly strategic and hands‑on role at the center of how the organization plans, prioritizes, allocates, and operationalizes spend. You will lead complex planning discussions across multiple business units, navigate ambiguous funding and allocation challenges, and build the operational frameworks that enable the organization to scale effectively. You are equally comfortable diving deep into accruals and reconciliations as you are driving executive‑level planning conversations and operational decision‑making.

You will own the most complex planning challenges, difficult reconciliations, and high‑judgment financial tradeoffs end‑to‑end. You will serve as a trusted partner to both Finance and Engineering leadership — translating operational realities into financial plans, driving alignment across stakeholders, and bringing structure to highly complex and fast‑moving environments.

• This role requires someone who thrives in ambiguity, drives execution with urgency, identifies operational gaps before they become problems, and continuously improves the systems and processes that support the business.
• While this role partners closely with program managers and contractors supporting execution work streams, this is a senior individual contributor role with broad organizational influence and a strong path toward future people leadership.
• Own financial planning and operational governance across professional services, vendor spend, software licenses, and program‑related budgets.
• Lead annual and quarterly planning cycles, forecasting, accrual reviews, variance analysis, budget allocation, and spend prioritization across multiple business units.
• Partner closely with Finance to manage complex funding models, allocation methodologies, reconciliations, and movement of funds across the organization.
• Act as the primary operational liaison between Finance and Engineering teams, aligning business priorities with financial realities and planning constraints.
• Build and scale operational processes, governance models, reporting frameworks, and planning mechanisms that improve visibility, consistency, and execution.
• Drive executive‑level reporting, operational insights, and decision‑support frameworks for leadership reviews and planning discussions.
• Identify operational inefficiencies, process gaps, and scaling challenges — proactively driving simplification, automation, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Coordinate execution across program managers, contractors, Finance, and business stakeholders to ensure planning accuracy and operational alignment.
• Balance long‑term strategic planning with near‑term operational execution in a fast‑moving and highly dynamic environment.
• Bring structure, clarity, and accountability to ambiguous operational and financial problems.

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or related field — or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of experience in financial planning, business operations, operational finance, strategic planning, or related functions within a large and complex organization.
• Strong financial and operational acumen with hands‑on experience in budget ownership, accruals, reconciliations, vendor spend management, and cost center governance.
• Experience supporting large‑scale organizations with complex allocation methodologies and multi‑business‑unit planning environments.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills with the ability to navigate ambiguity, connect disparate information, and drive decisions with incomplete data.
• Excellent communication…