Job description
Director, Finance Systems Strategy & Optimization
College Board- Finance
Location: This is a remote role. Candidates who live near CB offices have theoptionof being fully remote or hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office). All CB employeesare required tooccasionally travel to meet in person for business purposes.
Role Type: This is afull timeposition
About the Team
The Operational Excellence (OX) function at the College Board is a high-performing team, serving asa center of excellencein the Finance Division, led by the Executive Director, Operational Excellence. Situated directly under the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), OX brings deepexpertisein project management, processarchitecture, product strategy, data analytics, and strategic communications. We are committed to driving organizational excellence by designing andoptimizingintegrated systems, enhancing cross- functionalcollaboration, streamlining complex workflows, and fortifying policy and communication frameworks. Our mission is to empower every function within the Finance Division tooperateat peak performance—delivering exceptional value and measurable impact to the College Board.
About the Opportunity
As the Director, Finance Systems Strategy & Optimization, you will serve as the execution leader responsible for translating strategic vision into tangible system improvements across the College Board’s core financial platforms—Workday Financials, Adaptive Planning, and Strategic Sourcing – Workday Financials, Adaptive Planning, and Strategic Sourcing. You will focus on driving end-to-end delivery of technical solutions, coordinating complex projects, and ensuring our financial systemsoperateefficiently, accurately, and in alignment with business needs.
You will partner with Accounting, Procurement, Strategic Finance, Investments, Technology, and Talent toensure these systems are fullyleveragedto deliver maximum value. You will play a critical role in owning thesystemroadmaps—taking full responsibility for executing both immediate and long-term action plans. You will lead the investigation and implementation of new functionality, ensuring alignment withthe needs and priorities of all major stakeholders. You will have a special focus on AI integration, ensuring our systemsutilizethe latest and greatest technologies to automate and innovate soFinance teamscan work faster and most efficiently and produce more critical insights with ease. Teams will rely on you to build custom dashboards in Workday Financials andmaintainfinancial data integrity tohelp todrive business decisions. You willbe responsible fordeveloping enhanced reporting solutions. You will create andmaintaina suite of staff-friendly resources to ensure system processes are clear and known to all users.
Our ideal candidate is passionate about technology, along with prioritizing and simplifying – implementing themost impactful things and finding powerful solutions for complexproblems. The ideal candidate has Workday Financialsexpertise, an excellent ability toanticipateuser needs, an obsession with data, and the ability to manage the technical and people components of projects with attention to detail and speed.
In this role, you will:
Prioritize and implement technical solutions in Workday Financials to meet business needs (40%)
Translate functional needs into solutions, ensuring that our Workday Financials solutions meet business needs and are scalable, repeatable, automated,leverageAI and new and emerging technologies, etc.
Project manage the implementation of new features and enhancements, overseeing configuration, testing, deployment, and change management
Engage and manage external consultants, as needed
Manage the intake and prioritization of product/systems requests, working closely with stakeholders to ensure we prioritize the most impactful work
Maintain andoptimizeWorkday Financials from a technological and usage perspective (25%)
Own business process enhancements of Workday Financials modules to supportoptimaluser experience
Develop andmonitorkey performance metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of Workday Financials solutions andidentifyareas for improvement
Proactively analyze,identify, and correct technical problems and deficiencies
Stay up to date with industry trends and best practices to ensure our Workday Financials and Adaptive instances areoptimized
Facilitate bi-annual Workday releases and liaise with our Workday account manager to understand their roadmap
Work with Technology to support the integrative and administrative needs of Workday Financials and Adaptive
Create andmaintaindetailed documentation and user guides on major system tasks, reports, customBPs, etc.
Execute comprehensive data/dashboard solutions for the Finance functions (20%)
Serve as the “go to” to develop reporting and data solutions within Workday Financials, Adaptive, and Strategic Sourcing (and in supplemental tools—i.e., Tableau orPowerBI—as needed)
Design and implement comprehensive dashboard solutions within Workday Financials to provide actionable insights and support decision-making for Procurement, Accounting, and Investments
Lead roadmap development and drive execution across teams (15%)
Develop andmaintainthe finance product roadmaps in collaboration with functional Finance leadership, related SMEs, and Technology tooptimizesystem use
Provide status reports and updates to Leadership, as needed
About You
You have:
At least five to eight years working in finance operations, with at least three years specifically in Workday Financials
ABachelor'sdegreerequiredin a related fieldrequired,Workday Financials and/or Adaptive
Planning certification is a plus
Proficiencyin Financial Accounting, Procurement, and Expense modules within Workday Financials, as well as with Adaptive Financial Planning and Strategic Sourcing; and you are eager and able to learn continuously and grow in your Workday skills
Ability to pivot quickly, adapt to evolving requirements, and work in an Agile- adjacent environment
Proficiencyin Workday Worksheets and Discovery Boards; and, preferably, experience with Workday Prism and working knowledge of Tableau and/orPowerBI
Exceptional attention to detail and strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage a wide range of tasks effectively and see them through to the end
Enthusiasm for data, passionate about harnessing the power of large data sets to inform business decisions and capable of moving quickly to transform data
Ability to collaborate and work cross-functionally with different areas of an organization, and bring a team-first mentality and “no job is too small” perspective
Confidence in working on both sides of the system - with our users and our engineers - and feel comfortable translating practical needs to technical solutions
Great verbal and written communication skills
Excited about supporting educational opportunities for millions of students
Experience with Jira and Confluence preferred
The ability to travel 2-3 times a year to College Board offices or on behalf of College Board business
Authorization to work for any employer in the United States
All roles at College Board require:
A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work
Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and comfort with learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively.
Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal
A learner's mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receivingtimely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input.
A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking.
A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success
Authorization to work in the United States
About Our Process
Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.
While the hiring process may vary, it generallyincludes:resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise such as live coding, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.
What We Offer
AtCollegeBoard, we offer more than a paycheck: we provide a meaningful career, a supportive team, and a comprehensive package designed to help you thrive.We’rea self-sustaining nonprofit that believes in fair and competitive compensation grounded in your qualifications, experience, impact, and the market.
A Thoughtful Approach to Compensation
The hiring range for this role is $88,000-$160,000. We adjust salaries by location to ensure fairness, no matter where you live. Below,we'veoffered an estimated range for a variety of metro areas throughout the United States.
New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC and Los Angeles: $135,000-$160,000
Austin, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Denver: $120,000-$140,000
Atlanta, Miami, Iowa City and most other locations throughout the Southeast and Midwest: $88,000-$125,000
We aim to make our best offer upfront, rooted in fairness, transparency, and market data. You’ll have open, transparent conversations about compensation, benefits, and what it’s like to work at College Board throughout your hiring process. Check out ourcareers pagefor more.
Originally posted on Himalayas
Who can apply
Eligible countries: United States. Accepted UTC offsets: UTC-10, UTC-9, UTC-8, UTC-7, UTC-6, UTC-5, UTC+14. Review the full description for employer-specific work authorization, residency and schedule requirements.