Director of Finance & Strategic Planning

SANDY PINE SYSTEMS INC; Ainsworth (NE); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Autonomy and leadership exposure

Job summary

Sandy Pine Systems Inc. seeks a Director of Finance & Strategic Planning to partner with ownership and leadership on financial strategy, capital allocation, and long-range planning. You will drive budgeting, forecasting, and capital management while building forward-looking models and clear recommendations.

The role requires strong analytical judgment, corporate finance experience, and the ability to communicate complex insights to executives with impact.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in finance or related field required.
• CPA/CMA/MBA credentials valued but not required.
• Experience in corporate finance, planning, and investment analysis.

Responsibilities

• Partner with ownership and executives on financial strategy and long-range planning.
• Lead budgeting, forecasting, cash-flow planning, and liquidity management.
• Evaluate debt structures, financing options, and capital allocation decisions.
• Develop scenario models to inform major investments and strategic choices.
• Translate financial data into actionable insights for leadership.

Skills

Strategic finance

Capital allocation

Financial planning

Financial modeling

Executive communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in finance or related field

Tools

Oracle NetSuite

Coupa

PigFlow

PigKNOWS

Easy Automation

Job description

Job DetailsJob Location: Sandy Pine - Ainsworth, NE - Ainsworth, NE 69210Education Level: Bachelors Degree (4-Year College)Travel Percentage: Up to 25%Job Shift: Day (1st Shift)Job Category: Finance

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & STRATEGIC PLANNING

Position Location: Ainsworth, Nebraska or Valentine, Nebraska

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Director of Finance & Strategic Planning will serve as a trusted financial advisor to ownership and executive leadership, providing the analysis, perspective, and financial discipline necessary to support significant business decisions.

• How should we allocate capital to generate the greatest long-term value?
• When does it make sense to reduce debt-and when is capital better deployed elsewhere?
• Which expansion opportunities, acquisitions, investments, or new ventures warrant further consideration?
• Where are our strongest opportunities to improve profitability and return on invested capital?
• What financial or operational trends deserve leadership’s attention?
• How should changing interest rates, market conditions, industry dynamics, and business risks influence our strategy?
• What opportunities or risks might we be overlooking?

The expectation is not simply to provide analysis. We want someone capable of developing a point of view, making a recommendation, and clearly explaining the reasoning behind it.

KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Strategic Financial Leadership

• Partner with ownership and executive leadership on financial strategy, long-range planning, capital allocation, growth opportunities, and major investment decisions.
• Evaluate potential acquisitions, expansions, new business ventures, real estate, capital projects, financing alternatives, and other investment opportunities through rigorous financial and risk analysis.
• Develop scenario models and forward-looking analysis to help leadership understand potential outcomes before significant capital is committed.

Business & Performance Analysis

• Develop a deep understanding of the organization and the operational factors that drive financial performance.
• Translate financial and operational information into meaningful insights regarding profitability, cost structure, cash flow, return on capital, and business performance.
• Identify trends, risks, and opportunities and bring recommendations to leadership proactively rather than waiting to be asked.
• Partner with operational leaders to understand not simplywhatchanged, butwhyit changed and what actions should follow.

Financial Planning & Capital Management

• Lead budgeting, forecasting, cash-flow planning, liquidity management, and long-range financial planning.
• Evaluate debt structure, financing alternatives, interest-rate exposure, and the appropriate balance between debt reduction, liquidity, reinvestment, and other uses of capital.
• Maintain productive relationships with banks, lenders, investment professionals, CPAs, tax and estate-planning advisors, attorneys, and other external partners.

Financial Infrastructure & Information

• Maintain strong oversight of the organization’s financial reporting and accounting function while ensuring leadership receives accurate, timely, and decision-useful information.
• Continue developing the organization’s financial infrastructure, reporting capabilities, and use of technology.
• Our organization has invested in Oracle NetSuite, Coupa, Easy Automation, PigFlow, PigKNOWS, and other specialized systems. The successful candidate will help us evaluate how effectively we are utilizing these resources and identify opportunities to better integrate, automate, and translate information into actionable insight.
• Specific system experience is not required. We are interested in someone who understands how technology and data can strengthen financial management and business decision‑making.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Success in this position extends well beyond accurate financial reporting.Over time, we expect this individual to become a trusted financial voice within the organization- someone ownership and leadership rely upon when evaluating important decisions.

• Understand how the organization creates value and where that value is being gained or lost.
• Bring forward opportunities and concerns before they become obvious.
• Provide clear, objective analysis of major investments and strategic decisions.
• Establish a disciplined framework for evaluating competing uses of capital.
• Strengthen forecasting and give leadership greater visibility into future financial performance and liquidity.
• Connect operational performance with financial outcomes.
• Continually improve the quality, accessibility, and usefulness of financial information.
• Develop an independent point of view and have the confidence to respectfully challenge assumptions—including those of ownership.
• Help leadership distinguish between opportunities that are simply interesting and those that truly create long-term value.

Most importantly, this person will help us move from asking: "What happened?" to "Why did it happen, what does it mean, and what should we do next?"

Qualifications

THE INDIVIDUAL WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• Thinks strategically and understands the relationship between risk, return, liquidity, leverage, and growth.
• Is naturally curious and asks thoughtful questions.
• Is comfortable forming an independent opinion and defending it with sound analysis.
• Has the confidence to respectfully disagree with ownership or executive leadership when the facts support a different conclusion.
• Balances financial discipline with an entrepreneurial perspective.
• Understands that the lowest-risk decision is not necessarily the best business decision.
• Can distill complex financial information into clear, concise recommendations.
• Looks beyond financial statements to understand the underlying operation.
• Is proactive, highly accountable, and comfortable operating with a high degree of autonomy.
• Demonstrates exceptional integrity, discretion, professionalism, and judgment.

EXPERIENCE

We are open to candidates from a variety of industries and backgrounds.

Experience within agriculture, livestock production, manufacturing, food production, multi-location operations, family-owned enterprises, or other capital-intensive businesses would be particularly valuable.

• Corporate finance and financial planning
• Capital allocation and investment analysis
• Forecasting and financial modeling
• Cash-flow and liquidity management
• Debt and banking relationships
• Business-case development
• Operational and profitability analysis
• ERP and financial reporting environments
• Executive-level financial communication

CPA, CMA, and/or MBA credentials are valued, but business judgment, analytical capability, and demonstrated financial leadership are more important to us than credentials alone. Competitive executive-level compensation with performance-based incentive.

For the right individual, this is an opportunity to have a meaningful voice in the financial direction of an established organization and to work directly with ownership on decisions that will shape its future.

If this opportunity aligns with your experience-or brings to mind an exceptional financial leader in your network we welcome a confidential conversation.