Senior Director - Enterprise Expense Reporting

About the Job:

Responsible for independently and objectively analyzing and reporting enterprise expense results for Northwestern Mutual and subsidiaries to Senior Leaders and the Board of Trustees. Requires developing strong partnerships and collaborating with cross-departmental teams to deliver meaningful insights and analysis.

What You'll Do:

• Manage the expense reporting and insights processes for senior leadership and the Board of Trustee meetings and updates (e.g., QBRs, SLT and Board Presentations).
• Drive the development of a more robust expense reporting process for executive leadership.
• Develop and manage monthly performance analytics that improve the quality and effectiveness of the reporting and forecasting processes.
• Collaborate cross-departmentally to identify, synthesize, and communicate key insights for an executive-level audience.
• Play a critical role in the preparation of the enterprise expense strategy, including spend trajectory for the strategic portfolio and operating budgets, and providing monthly workforce insights, including headcount analysis and efficiency targets.
• Review the expense results communications across the organization to ensure consistency in messaging (e.g., enterprise dashboards, committee meetings, employee town hall presentations, Board presentations, external surveys).
• Research and prepare responses to survey inquiries as well as ad hoc analyses and presentations to support finance leadership.

What You'll Bring to the Role:

• Bachelors degree in accounting, finance, or other business required.
• Masters of Business Administration (MBA) or Certified Public Accountant (CPA) preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in positions with increasing financial management responsibilities.
• Strong analytical and financial writing/visualization skills to interpret results and identify drivers and trends.
• Demonstrated ability to be a strategic thinker to incorporate risks & opportunities, financial performance, operational drivers, external trends into analysis and insights.
• Strong business acumen with an ability to understand and synthesize company-wide expense results into a few key messages.
• Exceptional people leadership capabilities to create an engaging work environment.
• Demonstrated ability to overcome obstacles and lead through change.

Skills You'll Have:

• Analytical Thinking: Organizes and compares various aspects of a situation to comprehend and identify key or underlying complex issues through the use of quantitative data and analysis; leverages strong business acumen, problem solving, and interpersonal skills to think critically about situations from multiple perspectives and consistently seeks ways to improve processes.

  Analytical Thinking: Organizes and compares various aspects of a situation to comprehend and identify key or underlying complex issues through the use of quantitative data and analysis;
  
  leverages strong business acumen, problem solving, and interpersonal skills to think critically about situations from multiple perspectives and consistently seeks ways to improve processes.

• Attention to Detail:
  Focuses on specific details to spot and correct errors in advance of them being found and surpass quality expectations. Performs work with thorough proofreading for presentation, content, accuracy, and overall quality.

  Attention to Detail:
  Focuses on specific details to spot and correct errors in advance of them being found and surpass quality expectations. Performs work with thorough proofreading for presentation, content, accuracy, and overall quality.

• Cross Functional Partnering & Planning: Facilitates collaboration, communication, coordination, and planning with individuals and teams from different functions within the organization, and who have different areas of expertise, to achieve common goals.

  Cross Functional Partnering & Planning: Facilitates collaboration, communication, coordination, and planning with individuals and teams from different functions within the organization, and who have different areas of expertise, to achieve common goals.

• Expense Reporting Management: Tracks and documents the operational and other related costs by recording and…