American Greetings
Director - Financial Planning and Analysis
Join American Greetings as Director – Financial Planning & Analysis. This hybrid role operates from our Creative Studios in Westlake, Ohio, and is targeted at candidates currently residing in Northeast Ohio.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
- Lead the financial planning, analysis, and reporting functions for all business units—including Product, Merchandising, Sales & Marketing, Supply Chain, and our International team—owning the annual budgeting process, monthly rolling forecasts, and long‑term strategic planning.
- Manage cash‑flow forecasting in close collaboration with the VP Treasurer to optimize cash management.
- Design, develop, and maintain comprehensive three‑statement financial models (Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow) for scenario analysis, decision support, and forecasting.
- Act as a financial partner to senior leadership across business units, providing insights, analysis, and recommendations while collaborating with Accounting, Sales, Supply Chain, Business Intelligence, and International units.
- Analyze financial and operational performance across all departments, identify key drivers, monitor variances, and deliver actionable insights to enhance performance.
- Monitor industry trends, channel evolution, and key competitor strategies; build commercially viable strategies to grow new or existing profit pools.
- Provide strategic financial analysis for business decisions, including pricing strategies, cost optimization, capital allocation, and new product development to align with corporate objectives.
- Support business transformation and M&A initiatives, including due diligence, financial modeling, and acquisition pipeline management.
- Challenge budget holders with corrective actions required to meet performance targets and budgets.
- Oversee preparation of periodic financial reports (monthly forecasts, annual budget) and develop executive presentations highlighting key insights and risks.
- Lead and mentor a high‑performance FP&A team, fostering collaboration and expertise in modeling, forecasting, and analysis.
- Continuously improve financial planning and reporting processes, leveraging best practices, tools, and systems to drive efficiency and accuracy.
Experience Required
- 8+ years in an FP&A role with proven leadership experience.
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
- Significant experience in strategic planning and multi‑entity forecasting.
- Global consumer goods or manufacturing experience.
- M&A experience.
- Strong team leadership capabilities and communications skills.
- Dynamic, proactive, and enthusiastic leader with credibility across the business.
- Strong financial acumen, broad business skill set, and strategic thinking.
- Excellent verbal and written communication with senior leaders.
- Ability to work independently and as a team member under deadline pressures; set priorities, multitask, and drive change.
- Ability to structure problems and lead complex quantitative analysis.
- Proficiency in financial modeling, advanced Excel, and financial planning software (e.g., SAP‑BPC, Anaplan, SAP).
- Robust analytical, quantitative, and problem‑solving skills.
Education Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Statistics, Business Administration, or a related field.
- Preferred: MBA, CMA, or CFA.