Finance Director

Your opportunity

An opportunity exists for a Finance Director who brings strong strategic and business operational acumen, exceptional communication skills, and the ability to influence through their collaborative leadership style. As a key partner to the North America Business Operating Unit (BOU) leadership team, this role will provide end-to-end financial leadership, shaping the performance and long-term success of a complex organization spanning thousands of projects and employees.

The ideal candidate will be an operationally and commercially minded finance & accounting professional with extensive experience in a professional services (ideally engineering consulting) environment. 

We are seeking an individual who is capable of high-level strategic thinking whilst also being able to roll up their sleeves when required to ensure smooth operation of key business processes across a diverse business portfolio.

Your key responsibilities 

• Partner with the North America Business Operating Unit leadership team to drive operational excellence. 
• Lead the development and delivery of strategic reporting, advanced analytics, and actionable insights to senior leadership, identifying performance issues and driving cross-functional mitigation plans and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Successfully lead, manage, and mentor a team of finance managers and financial analysts; coach and inspire the team to be extraordinary business partners to operations.
• Responsible for the overall talent management lifecycle of finance managers and analysts, including career development, employee engagement, succession planning, coaching and mentoring, diversity and inclusion and leadership development.
• Lead various ad hoc analysis, such as: develop business cases, in partnership with BOU leadership, for strategic initiatives; assess indirect labor spending and provide action plan recommendations to optimize performance; develop price and costing models and strategies to support operations on large and complex project bids, including those with KPI bonuses and joint ventures/arrangements.
• Facilitate, drive and coordinate BOU quarterly rolling forecasting, and annual budgeting processes.
• Establish financial services best practices specific to the needs of the BOU and appropriately coordinate the roll out and change management aspects to the implementation of these best practices.
• Develop and deliver financial literacy training for various audiences throughout Finance and the BOU based on identified needs.
• Champion DSO improvement within the BOU and coordinate with Finance Managers, Project Accounting and operations leadership as appropriate.
• Develop and deliver financial acumen training for BCOLs, BLs and other BOU leaders as required
• Coordinate FS involvement in acquisition operational due diligence and integration planning, support, and financial training for individuals joining from the acquired company.
• Provide financial expertise and oversight on governance calls on major projects
• Drive BOU activities related to external and internal (SOX) audit processes.
• Ensure a reliable system of internal controls are in place to adequately safeguard the company assets and provide with integrity accurate reporting on financial results.
• Foster, a proficient project management culture to improve company results and ensure strong project accounting and revenue (PAR) internal controls.

Capabilities and Credentials

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated maturity and an ability to develop relationships with senior levels of management. Credibility, professional integrity and gravitas to challenge at the highest level will be taken as a given.
• Ability to clearly present quantitative information to all levels of management and effectively interact and communicate, both verbally and in writing, with a diverse workforce.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and tasks simultaneously ensuring timely completion.
• Knowledge of all Company policies and practices including practice & risk management, insurance, marketing, IT and HR.
• Strong client-focused approach with a track record of translating business needs and financial requirements into actionable plans.
• Fosters conversations between groups that would benefit from discussion; and collaborates well with other Finance Directors and corporate peers.
• Natural demonstration of high emotional intelligence, excellent listening skills, and ability to establish and maintain a highly professional team culture and environment. 
• Demonstrated understanding and keen interest in the types of client projects that the BOU works on.
• Understands the importance of systems and processes and how they can best be applied to solve problems and streamline practices.
• A results-orientated senior finance leader with strength of personality and conviction in one’s own decision making to drive high performance and deliver results.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Business or Commerce or a related field; CPA a plus.
• Minimum 15 years previous experience in a financial leadership role, in the engineering consulting or similar professional services industry.
• Prior experience with leading change and demonstrating consistent progression of increasing job responsibilities and scope.

The ideal candidate will be strategic, change orientated, innovative, always seeking to improve. They will be someone that will thrive in a dynamic and fast paced environment, working with high energy and resilience.  The candidate will have a unique opportunity to play a key leadership role in driving change and delivering continued profitable growth of the company. 

At Stantec, we have some of the world’s leading professionals passionate about enabling our business to be its best. Our business teams include finance, procurement, human resources, information technology, marketing, corporate development, HSSE, real estate, legal, and practice services. We bring diverse backgrounds, skills, and expertise and create a caring culture where everyone can thrive. Through teamwork and collaboration, we’re building a stronger, more resilient Stantec every day.