Strategic Finance Business Partner – Product & Engineering

JOB SUMMARY:

The Strategic Finance Business Partner is a highly visible role that serves as the primary financial partner to the Product and Engineering organizations. This role requires frequent collaboration with senior management, broad decision support across R&D, and leveraging financial data to influence how we invest, build, and grow. 

You will be a key business partner in the annual integrated planning process, including translation of product roadmap strategy into operational plans and prioritization of existing and potential R&D investments. You will also be a key participant in evaluating the financial viability and modeling of strategic initiatives including new products, product partnerships, and M&A. 

This role is for someone who sees finance as a creative and strategic craft, not just a control function. We're building an FP&A practice that goes beyond traditional budgeting to deliver forward-looking insights that drive business performance and growth decisions – deeply understanding what levers we pull, in what order, and with what expected return. 

HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT:

Financial Planning, Analysis and Reporting  

• Act as the primary Finance Business Partner to the Product and Engineering organizations, directly supporting annual planning, quarterly forecasts, and decision support 
• Drive the R&D and cloud hosting (COGS) annual budget process, partnering cross-functionally to integrate bottom-up departmental inputs into an integrated financial plan 
• Conduct monthly analysis of cost variances and expenditure trends to uncover root causes, translating findings into recommendations that optimize business performance – moving beyond “here is what happened last quarter” to “here is the outlook, why, and what we should do about it” 
• Proactively manage the achievement of business unit results, including identification and mitigation of risks and driving opportunities 
• Build and systematize disaggregated P&L reporting at the product level – surfacing visibility into unit economics, gross margin, and investment efficiency 
• Own the financial framework for Product Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs), translating product-level performance into roadmap and resource planning decisions 
• Implement modern planning system dashboards (Pigment) to surface forward-looking insights across the Product and Engineering organizations 
• Bring a builder's mindset to applying AI in finance – identifying tools and workflows that improve decision velocity, streamline the forecast process, and redirect time toward deeper business partnership 

Integrated Business Planning 

• Build a deep understanding of our markets, customers, and product roadmap; partner cross-functionally with leadership to identify opportunities to expand D2L’s participation in the value chain 
• Serve as the lead finance partner in the annual R&D integrated planning process, including evaluation of internal operating performance, product unit economics, and P&L results 
• Partner with cross-functional leaders in the semi-annual product roadmap cycle, applying a financial lens which includes investment sizing, expected ROI, and targeted business outcomes 

Strategic Initiatives 

• Lead the financial modelling and analysis for product-centric M&A opportunities, in partnership with the Corporate Development team – including evaluation, due diligence, and integration 
• Collaborate with key internal stakeholders on the Partners team, including support to inform the commercial terms for new strategic partnerships 
• Own the financial analysis of new product lines and pricing/packaging initiatives – translating customer needs into commercially sound recommendations

WHAT YOU'LL BRING TO THE ROLE: 

Experience: 

• 7+ years of well-rounded finance experience, including FP&A or finance/operations roles 
• Proven analytical and problem-solving skills, superior attention to detail and quick learner 
• Forward-thinking mindset, curiosity, and the ability to simplify complexity into easily understood financial models and narratives 
• Experience within a SaaS business model and global company is considered a strong asset  
• Superior communication, including in verbal presentations and written business memos 
• Strong relationship, collaboration, and influence capabilities, including at the senior leadership stakeholder level  
• Process-oriented, with experience building scalable processes and leveraging automation 
• Strong systems aptitude and technical proficiency in advanced planning systems (Pigment, Adaptive); experience with AI/ML applications considered a strong plus 

Education:  

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, preferably with emphasis in Finance / Accounting / Economics 
• CPA, CFA, or CBV designation considered an asset