What does a senior director of finance do?
The senior director of finance is responsible for the company's financial wellness. Finance directors are constituents of the senior executive team that incorporate operational and strategic roles, maintain accounting and financial control functions, and set up a financial strategy for the continued profitable growth of the business. Their responsibilities include supervising financial operations, managing and providing ongoing training to accounting personnel, and conducting the weekly and monthly financial evaluation. Also, the director will initiate budgets, allocate funds for capital projects, create annual financial plans and projections, as well as conduct an evaluation of financial risks and benefits on a business enterprise.
Senior director of finance responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior director of finance resumes:
- Project manage the successful implementation of Hyperion Essbase upgrade from Hyperion FM, managing cross functional resources across multiple geographies.
- Maximize returns and limit risks by managing treasury and investment balances daily.
- Establish, manage and monitor accounting and finance duties including the annual operating budget, financial statements and account reconciliations.
- Ensure internal controls, GAAP and SOX compliance, as well as interfaced with internal and external audit reviews.
- Coordinate information for external auditors and CPA firm for quarterly/annual tax/audit.
- Direct the companywide planning process and implement a new Hyperion planning system.
- Work directly with external CPA firm during financial statement audits , 401K audits and tax return preparation.
- Develop and maintain accounting policies and procedure to ensure compliance with U.S. GAAP and internally develop accounting guidelines.
- Develop an organizational and systems strategy for MMI's corporate treasury function.
- Review supporting schedules and reconciliations pertaining to expense allocations, grant receivables and net assets restrictions.
- Improve the Sarbanes-Oxley control environment and documentation at multiple sites through simplify control environment by standardizing key controls across sites.
- Improve cash management for the Americas division.
- Administer company's accounting, financial reporting, budgeting, A/R, A/P, G/L, and benefits.
- Design and implement numerous KPI's that result in reduce staffing and other departmental expenses that aid consistent year-over-year profitability improvement.
Senior director of finance skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Senior Directors Of Finance are proficient in SR, Business Development, and Financial Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Detail oriented, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Directors Of Finance that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- SR, 10%
Promoted to Sr. Finance Director, given additional responsibility for managing pricing, proposal development; supply agreement approval.
- Business Development, 8%
Led acquisition and related business development evaluations and transactions, from preliminary analysis through due diligence, negotiation and ultimately integration.
- Financial Management, 8%
Co-led Hyperion Financial Management (HFM) systems implementation which streamlined financial reporting and substantially reduced reporting errors.
- Strategic Direction, 8%
Partnered with business leaders to set strategic direction for organizational, operational and financial strategies relating to functional spending.
- Executive Management, 7%
Developed and maintained $200 million global capital spending forecast process, resulting in improved visibility of spending for executive management.
- RFP, 7%
Designated Senior Financial Manager Team Lead on RFP federal Contract Price Cost Proposal.
"sr," "business development," and "financial management" are among the most common skills that senior directors of finance use at work. You can find even more senior director of finance responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a senior director of finance to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "to assist executives in making decisions, financial managers need to evaluate data and information that affects their organization." Additionally, a senior director of finance resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "provide strategic financial leadership, support with analytical reporting and kpi analysis. "
Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform senior director of finance duties is detail oriented. Senior directors of finance responsibilities require that "in preparing and analyzing reports, such as balance sheets and income statements, financial managers must be precise and attentive to their work in order to avoid errors." Senior directors of finance also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provided financial analysis and detailed forecasting for all other department heads on an as-needed basis. "
Math skills. This is an important skill for senior directors of finance to perform their duties. For an example of how senior director of finance responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "financial managers need strong skills in certain branches of mathematics, including algebra." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a senior director of finance: "provided similar costs to business partners for quantitative modeling, statistical analyses, tax, and risk management purposes. ".
Organizational skills. A big part of what senior directors of finance do relies on "organizational skills." You can see how essential it is to senior director of finance responsibilities because "because financial managers deal with a range of information and documents, they must have structures in place to be effective in their work." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical senior director of finance tasks: "developed an organizational and systems strategy for mmi's corporate treasury function. "
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in senior director of finance job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what senior directors of finance do. Senior director of finance responsibilities rely on this skill because "financial managers must be able to explain and justify complex financial transactions." You can also see how senior director of finance duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "provided financial consulting services including business interest valuations and due diligence investigations of $750m in telecommunications properties. "
The three companies that hire the most senior director of finances are:
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Compare different senior directors of finance
Senior director of finance vs. Controller, vice president
A Controller, Vice President is focused on controlling and directing financial planning and budget management. They supervise the daily operations of the finance department, such as financial reporting, accounts payable, and payroll.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, senior director of finance responsibilities require skills like "sr," "business development," "strategic direction," and "rfp." Meanwhile a typical controller, vice president has skills in areas such as "cpa," "nyse," "commercial banking," and "regulatory reports." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Controllers, vice president tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $162,621. In contrast, senior directors of finance make the biggest average salary, $143,095, in the pharmaceutical industry.The education levels that controllers, vice president earn slightly differ from senior directors of finance. In particular, controllers, vice president are 8.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a senior director of finance. Additionally, they're 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior director of finance vs. Finance vice president
The vice president of finance is one of the highest-ranking executives in a company. He/She or she works under the chief financial officer, and both have similar duties that are often interchangeable. This executive's primary function is to oversee the company's financial records and project future financial plans and investments. The finance vice president ensures that the company's finances are managed suitably and effectively. This role's responsibilities include leading the team towards achieving the company's financial mission, monitoring the financial performance, preparing and presenting financial reports, and conducting audits on financial expenditures, assets, and liabilities.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, senior director of finance responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "sr," "rfp," "pre sales," and "financial statements." Meanwhile, a finance vice president has duties that require skills in areas such as "cpa," "rehabilitation," "strong analytical," and "business plan." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, finance vice presidents earn a higher salary than senior directors of finance. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, finance vice presidents earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $149,254. Whereas senior directors of finance have higher pay in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $143,095.In general, finance vice presidents achieve lower levels of education than senior directors of finance. They're 7.0% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior director of finance vs. Finance controller
A financial controller is primarily in charge of the daily finance activities and accounting functions of a company. Their responsibilities typically revolve around preparing and organizing financial reports, analyzing data and looking out for any discrepancies or inconsistencies, and overseeing the company's overall revenues and expenditures. A financial controller must also maintain documentation, participate in risk assessment and budgeting activities, and develop strategies for profit growth. Furthermore, one must coordinate with other department staff to ensure accuracy, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a senior director of finance is likely to be skilled in "sr," "business development," "strategic direction," and "executive management," while a typical finance controller is skilled in "cpa," "financial controller," "close process," and "strong analytical."
Finance controllers earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $119,209. Comparatively, senior directors of finance have the highest earning potential in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $143,095.When it comes to education, finance controllers tend to earn lower degree levels compared to senior directors of finance. In fact, they're 6.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior director of finance vs. Finance manager
A finance manager is responsible for monitoring the financial system of a company. Their tasks include handling their organization's financial status, generating cost estimates and budget goals, identifying business opportunities to increase revenues and profitability, improving financial strategies, reducing costs, analyzing account statements, processing invoice as needed, analyzing market trends, searching potential partnerships, and presenting reports. A finance manager must have excellent analytical skills and knowledge of the accounting and financial industry. They are responsible for providing the best recommendations for the organization's growth.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior directors of finance and finance managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior director of finance might have more use for skills like "sr," "strategic direction," "rfp," and "pre sales." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of finance managers require skills like "cpa," "customer service," "strong analytical," and "work ethic. "
The finance industry tends to pay the highest salaries for finance managers, with average annual pay of $118,926. Comparatively, the highest senior director of finance annual salary comes from the pharmaceutical industry.The average resume of finance managers showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to senior directors of finance. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 9.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.4%.Types of senior director of finance
Updated January 8, 2025
