Finance Director, Strategic Cost Management & Transformation

Wella Company; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 215,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Life and disability insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid holidays

Paid time off (PTO)

Job summary

Wella Company is seeking a Finance Director for Strategic Cost Management & Transformation. The role is hybrid (3 days in the office) and reports to senior executives, partnering with the CFO/COO to drive profitability, allocate resources, and accelerate enterprise transformation.

The successful candidate will lead productivity initiatives, operating model improvements, and AI-enabled finance modernization while aligning investments with growth priorities.

Qualifications

• Strong financial acumen across business case development and investment analysis.
• Proven ability to influence senior executives and drive enterprise change.
• Experience leading large-scale transformation and cost initiatives.
• Experience in FP&A, corporate finance, and strategic planning.

Responsibilities

• Develop enterprise value creation framework aligning productivity with strategy.
• Lead transformation programs and governance across functions and geographies.
• Own cost productivity, SG&A leverage, and planning across the organization.
• Provide executive-level reporting, insights, and decision support.

Skills

FP&A leadership

Transformational leadership

Executive communication

Cost management

Strategic planning

Stakeholder management

Financial modeling

AI-enabled finance

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or related field

MBA, CPA, CFA, or equivalent advanced qualification

Job description

Finance Director, Strategic Cost Management & Transformation (hybrid 3 days in office)

The Wella Company is the world's largest pure-play hair and nail company, with a 145-year heritage and presence in more than 100 countries. Our portfolio of iconic brands, including Wella Professionals, OPI, ghd, Nioxin, Sebastian Professional, and Clairol, serves beauty professionals and consumers around the globe. With over 6,000 employees worldwide, we combine science, creativity, and innovation to shape the future of beauty and deliver sustainable growth.

At Wella, we are transforming how we operate, invest, and create value. We are building a more agile, data-driven, and digitally enabled organization capable of accelerating growth, expanding margins, and delivering sustainable performance.

The Finance Director, Strategic Cost Management & Transformation will be a key leader in Wella's enterprise-wide value creation agenda, partnering directly with the CFO/COO, Executive Leadership Team, and business leaders across the organization to improve profitability, optimize resource allocation, and accelerate enterprise transformation.

This role sits at the center of the Company's strategic and financial decision-making process. The successful candidate will drive productivity initiatives, operating model improvements, cost transformation programs, and AI-enabled finance modernization while ensuring investments are aligned with the Company's growth priorities.

This position offers exceptional visibility and influence across the organization, providing direct exposure to executive leadership, board-level priorities, and enterprise-wide transformation initiatives.

• Develop and lead Wella’s enterprise value creation framework, aligning productivity, margin expansion, and resource allocation priorities with the company’s strategic objectives and long-term shareholder value creation.
• Identify, prioritize, and execute initiatives that improve SG&A leverage, organizational effectiveness, and cost competitiveness across functions, markets, and business units.
• Use benchmarking, external best practices, and rigorous financial analysis to inform business cases, investment decisions, and value realization tracking.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the CFO/COO and executive leaders on enterprise performance, operating model effectiveness, investment allocation, and transformation priorities.

Transformation Governance & Strategic Programs

• Lead large-scale transformation programs focused on operational excellence, digital enablement, operating model improvement, and sustainable cost reduction.
• Establish and lead the transformation office, ensuring clear governance, accountability, milestone tracking, risk management, and benefits realization across priority initiatives.
• Partner with HR and business leaders on workforce productivity, organizational design, and resource optimization efforts.
• Lead post-investment reviews and transformation benefit tracking to ensure expected outcomes are realized.

Financial Planning, Performance & Investment Discipline

• Own enterprise cost productivity performance across the global cost base, including SG&A, marketing investments, CAPEX, and project costs.
• Lead cost planning processes across the Annual Operating Plan, quarterly forecasts, long-range planning, and transformation roadmap.
• Enhance executive reporting, monthly cost performance reviews, and planning methodologies to improve decision-making, transparency, and accountability.
• Lead monthly enterprise cost performance reviews with the CFO/COO, CHRO and senior finance leadership, providing insights on cost drivers and recommendations on Target delivery

AI-Enabled Finance Modernization

• Lead adoption of AI-enabled planning, predictive analytics, automation, and advanced decision-support capabilities to improve cost management and finance effectiveness.
• Partner with the FP&A Center of Excellence to embed scalable digital finance capabilities that improve planning accuracy, business agility, and productivity.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Build and lead a high-performing team focused on value creation, financial excellence, and transformation delivery.
• Foster strong partnerships across functions, geographies, and leadership levels while creating a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and performance excellence.

QUALIFICATIONS & LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or related field.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in FP&A, corporate finance, strategic planning, business transformation, management consulting, or enterprise performance management.
• Demonstrated success leading large-scale transformation, productivity, restructuring, or value creation programs in global organizations.
• Strong financial acumen across business case development, investment analysis, financial modeling, performance management, and executive decision support.
• Proven ability to influence senior executives, navigate ambiguity, and drive enterprise-wide change across functions and geographies.
• Exceptional communication, storytelling, stakeholder management, executive presentation, and people leadership skills.
• Ability to zoom-in/zoom-out while partnering with senior leaders

Preferred

• MBA, CPA, CFA, or equivalent advanced qualification.
• Experience in consumer products, beauty, manufacturing, or large multinational organizations.
• Experience supporting public company environments, investor-facing processes, or AI-enabled finance transformation.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

• A clear enterprise value creation framework is embedded and actively used to guide productivity, investment, and transformation decisions.
• Measurable productivity improvements, stronger cost transparency, and sustainable margin expansion are delivered across the global cost base.
• Transformation governance, executive reporting, and benefits tracking are operating with discipline and accountability.
• AI-enabled planning and digital finance capabilities improve forecast accuracy, business agility, and finance productivity.

WHY THIS ROLE

• Step into a high-impact enterprise leadership role with direct visibility to senior executives and the opportunity to shape decisions that materially affect Wella’s performance, operating model, and long-term value creation.
• Own a transformation agenda that sits at the intersection of strategy, finance, operations, technology, and organization design — giving the successful candidate broad influence well beyond a traditional FP&A role.
• Work on problems that matter: improving cost productivity, strengthening investment discipline, modernizing planning, and helping build the capabilities required for Wella’s next phase of growth.
• Join a global beauty company with iconic brands, meaningful scale, and a transformation agenda where strong leadership can create visible, measurable, and lasting business impact.
• Build a distinctive career platform for future CFO, transformation, corporate strategy, or senior enterprise leadership opportunities by operating at the center of value creation and executive decision-making.

We disclose the compensation range for positions in compliance with local law. Actual salaries will vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to location, experience, skills and in comparison to internal incumbents currently in similar roles. Pay Range: $215,000-225,000 salary per year. The range listed is just one component of Wella Company's total rewards package for employees. Other rewards may include annual bonus plan or variable pay, depending on the role. In addition, Wella Company provides a rich variety of benefits to employees, including health insurance, life and disability insurance, 401(k) retirement plan, paid holidays and paid time off (PTO).

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other legally protected status.

If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, please email [e-mail]. This email account will not respond to inquiries regarding the status of a candidate’s application.

[For CA located postings ONLY]: Qualified Applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.

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