FP&A Senior Manager (Contract to Hire)
Role structure: 3–4 month contract, with possibility to convert to permanent based on mutual fit. Ideal start period: first half of July 2026.
Location: Remote / Bay Area.
Job Description
As FP&A Senior Manager, you will support the buildout of the FP&A function as a strategic finance partner to the firm. You will own a meaningful portion of our planning, forecasting, and business-partnering scope, with particular focus on infrastructure and engineering partnership, annual budgeting, and the Adaptive Insights implementation underway this year. You will work directly with finance leadership and business leaders across the firm. Your ability to operate independently in ambiguous environments and to translate complex financial questions into decision-ready output will make immediate and lasting contributions to how the firm plans, forecasts, and partners with its operating businesses.
Responsibilities
- Support the annual budgeting cycle end-to-end, partnering with cost-center owners to consolidate budgets and support final executive approval
- Build and own the 3-year infrastructure model tied to research demand signals, including compute, storage, software, on-prem and cloud capacity needs, as well as on-prem versus public cloud analytics and decision support
- Develop defendable forecasting of GenAI token spend and execute frameworks to measure organizational productivity lift
- Partner with Infrastructure and Engineering leadership on a recurring cadence to surface capacity risks ahead of bottlenecks
- Support the Adaptive Insights implementation including system design, budgeting templates, reporting views, and ongoing maintenance
- Establish the quarterly forecasting rhythm including process design, templates, and stakeholder cadence
- Support reporting and re-forecasting for new business areas as they mature
- Lead strategic projects assigned by finance leadership, including insourcing analysis for high-cost external services and workforce analytics in partnership with HR
- Mentor junior team members and shape team practices as the function grows
- Help define and execute the GenAI vision for FP&A by building shared workflows, identifying processes for automation, and scaling the team's capacity to support the business without proportional headcount growth
Requirements
- 6+ years of FP&A, strategic finance, or finance-adjacent strategy experience at a financial services firm or a complex, multi-entity company
- Strong proficiency in financial modeling and analysis, including expertise with Excel, planning software (Adaptive Insights preferred but not required), and BI tools. Experience with planning system implementation (Adaptive ideal, but Anaplan, Pigment, Vena, OneStream, or similar) preferred
- Demonstrated ability to run independent cycles (annual budgets, quarterly forecasts, or comparable end-to-end financial processes) without close oversight
- Track record of structuring ambiguous problems and producing decision-ready output for senior stakeholders
- Experience working with technical organizations (engineering, infrastructure, R&D) and the ability to translate between technical and financial languages
- Hands-on experience with GenAI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini) in real work, with informed judgment on where they help and where they don't
- Bachelor's and/or advanced degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, Engineering, or a quantitative field. An MBA degree is advantageous but not required
- Ability to communicate effectively, including presenting ideas in written form and to small groups of senior leaders
- Ability to interact with senior management, peers, and professional staff with credibility
- Able to prioritize in a fast-moving, high-pressure, constantly changing environment with a strong sense of urgency
- Experience supporting an early-stage business inside a larger firm (incubator, new venture, internal startup) preferred
Additional Context
The Opportunity
The firm's FP&A function was recently established with a clear mandate to build out the essential infrastructure for delivering financial insights, forecasting, and budgeting in the age of GenAI adoption. We need a Senior Manager who can come in, take ownership across a meaningful portion of our scope, and grow with the function as it expands.
This role is structured as a 3–4 month contract with the possibility of conversion. We are using the contract period as a runway for both sides to validate fit: for the individual to understand the scope and culture, deliver on near-term priorities, and for us to observe how they operate. For the right person, this is a long-term seat at a firm investing seriously in finance as a strategic capability while experiencing significant growth.
What You'll Own
Within 30 Days of Starting
- Annual budgeting cycle support. Partner with finance leadership through the planning cycle. Work closely with cost-center owners to consolidate headcount and non-headcount budgets and support review and approval by executive leadership.
- Business partnering with Infrastructure and Engineering. Establish a quantifiable view of infrastructure capacity needs (compute, storage, software, on-prem and cloud) tied to research demand signals. Build and own the 3-year infrastructure model. Engage Infrastructure leadership on a recurring cadence. Incorporate defendable forecasting of exponentially scaling GenAI token spend and execute frameworks to measure organizational productivity lift.
- Adaptive planning system support. Partner on the Adaptive implementation underway this year, including system design, budgeting templates, reporting views, and ongoing maintenance.
- Potentially support reporting, re-forecasting, and budgeting for new business areas.
Within 6 Months, Expand to Include
- Establish quarterly forecasting rhythm
- Strategic projects led by finance leadership or business leaders. Examples include insourcing analysis for high-cost external services, next-generation GenAI productivity analytics tied to workforce planning, and workforce analytics in partnership with HR.
- Mentoring a junior team member and shaping team practices as the function grows
- Helping define and execute the GenAI vision for FP&A by building shared skills, identifying workflows for automation, and pushing the boundaries of how a finance organization can leverage GenAI to scale support for the business with limited headcount growth
What We're Looking For
Must-Haves
- 6+ years of FP&A, strategic finance, or finance-adjacent strategy experience, with significant time spent in roles requiring direct business partnering with non-finance stakeholders
- Demonstrated ability to run independent cycles including annual budgets, quarterly forecasts, or comparable end-to-end financial processes without close oversight
- Strong analytical and modeling foundation. You can build a model from scratch, review someone else's model critically, and explain a complex model to a non-finance audience
- Track record of structuring ambiguous problems and producing decision-ready output
- High agency. You identify what needs to be done and take initiative while keeping finance leadership informed
- Strong written and verbal communication. You can draft commentary for senior stakeholders that requires minimal revision
- Tech-forward orientation toward AI. You have used GenAI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini) in real work, are thoughtful about where they help and where they don't, and are interested in expanding what's possible in FP&A
Bonus
- Experience with planning system implementation (Adaptive ideal, but Anaplan, Pigment, Vena, OneStream, or similar all qualify)
- Experience working with technical organizations (engineering, infrastructure, R&D) and the ability to translate between technical and financial languages
- Experience supporting an early-stage business inside a larger firm (incubator, new venture, internal startup)
What Success Looks Like at the End of the Contract
By the end of October 2026:
- The annual budget is consolidated and ready, ideally loaded into Adaptive
- Adaptive Phase 1 is successfully rolled out for annual budgeting, monthly variance reporting, quarterly forecasting, and scenario analysis
- You have established a working relationship with Infrastructure leadership and produced a first version of the 3-year infrastructure model
- You are a trusted partner to finance leadership and have already started shaping how the team operates