VP, Finance

Stella Rising; New York (NY); On-site; USD 175,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Vision insurance

Dental insurance

Life insurance

401k with company match

Wellness program

Technology reimbursements

Home office setup support

PTO 7+ weeks

Summer Fridays

Job summary

Stella Rising, a leading marketing and media agency in New York, seeks a seasoned VP of Finance to lead budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning. You will partner with executives, oversee accounting, and drive profitability across client services in a dynamic agency setting.

The role emphasizes strategic planning, financial modeling, and collaboration with HR and department leads to optimize staffing, pricing, and performance metrics for sustained growth.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics, or related field.
• MBA, CPA, CFA or FP&A certification preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in accounting, finance, budgeting and financial planning and analysis.
• Experience in advertising/marketing or professional services strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting executive leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Advanced Excel modeling skills.
• Experience with financial planning and reporting software.

Responsibilities

• Lead the annual budgeting process and develop monthly, quarterly, and annual forecasts.
• Collaborate with HR and department leads to plan staffing based on client contracts and bookings.
• Develop and monitor department incentive plans and key operating metrics to improve profitability.
• Analyze variances between actual results, budgets, and forecasts; identify insights.
• Monitor headcount productivity, billable hours and capacity utilization trends.
• Evaluate pricing strategies and client profitability with leads; adjust as needed.
• Track labor costs, compensation, and overhead to improve margins and EBITDA.
• Prepare monthly financial reporting packages for executives, board members and lenders.
• Develop standardized reporting tools and dashboards; ensure data integrity.

Skills

Budgeting

Forecasting

Financial modeling

FP&A

Advanced Excel

Sage Intacct

Cross-functional leadership

Strategic planning

Financial analysis

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in finance or accounting

MBA/CPA/CFA or FP&A certification preferred

Tools

Sage Intacct

Job description

Stella Rising is the leading marketing and media agency for spirited, high-growth consumer brands and service companies.

The VP of Finance is responsible for managing and oversight of accounting team with particular focus on financial reporting, budgeting & analysis and will serve as the agency's financial business partner, providing strategic planning, budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling, and performance analysis across the organization. This position is designed for a hands-on finance leader who can operate effectively in a small to mid-sized agency environment. The role requires both strategic thinking and day-to-day collaboration and support across all Department with responsibility for providing financial reporting, developing financial insights that lead to operating efficiencies and improved profitability. This position will play a primary role in helping to plan, develop and support all aspects of financial planning while providing key insights and analysis to executive decision makers. The ideal candidate must be located in the NY Metro area.

Key Responsibilities including but not limited to:

• Lead the annual budgeting process
• Develop monthly, quarterly, and annual forecasts
• Work with HR and Department Leads to determine and plan proper staffing based on Client contracts and quarterly bookings along with Business Development activity and expected conversions
• Work with HR on developing and monitoring Department incentive plans
• Develop and monitor key operating metric goals to help drive improved profitability across the Agency
• Analyze variances between actual results, budgets, and forecasts providing key insights
• Analyze Direct contribution margins by team
• Monitor headcount productivity, billable hours and capacity utilization trends
• Analyze Client profitability to determine potential contract pricing or servicing revisions
• Evaluate pricing strategies and client profitability with Client Leads
• Track labor costs, compensation, and overhead expenses and develop recommendations to help improve operating margins or EBITDA

Financial Planning and Forecasting

• Lead the annual budgeting process
• Develop monthly, quarterly, and annual forecasts
• Work with HR and Department Leads to determine and plan proper staffing based on Client contracts and quarterly bookings along with Business Development activity and expected conversions
• Work with HR on developing and monitoring Department incentive plans
• Develop and monitor key operating metric goals to help drive improved profitability across the Agency
• Analyze variances between actual results, budgets, and forecasts providing key insights
• Analyze Direct contribution margins by team
• Monitor headcount productivity, billable hours and capacity utilization trends
• Analyze Client profitability to determine potential contract pricing or servicing revisions
• Evaluate pricing strategies and client profitability with Client Leads
• Track labor costs, compensation, and overhead expenses and develop recommendations to help improve operating margins or EBITDA

Reporting and Performance Analytics

• Prepare monthly financial reporting packages for executive leadership, Board Members and Lenders providing analysis and insights on comparisons to budget and prior year
• Work with Executive Leadership to develop and monitor key performance metrics and agency dashboards
• Provide visibility into the next quarter based on the latest Client bookings, new client wins and changes in staffing needs or operating costs
• Analyze Net Client fee revenue, direct service costs, direct contribution margins, operating expenses and EBITDA and EBITDA margins and provide trend analysis

Process Improvement and Systems Management

• Improve budgeting and forecasting processes
• Develop standardized reporting tools and dashboards
• Ensure the integrity of financial data and reporting systems
• Collaborate with accounting on financial data accuracy
• Evaluate and implement FP&A technologies and reporting tools as needed

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics, or a related field
• MBA, CPA, CFA, or FP&A certification preferred
• 10+ years of progressive experience in accounting, finance, budgeting and financial planning and analysis
• Experience within an advertising agency, marketing services firm, consulting firm, or other professional services organization strongly preferred
• Experience supporting executive leadership and cross-functional teams
• Experience in identifying and implementing software, new operating procedures or processes that help to drive efficiencies and improve productivity and profit margins
• Advanced Excel modeling skills
• Experience with financial planning and reporting software
• Experience with Sage Intacct (Current Accounting system) or other similar agency management platforms
• Strong verbal and written communications skills
• Ability to work collaboratively across all levels of the organization
• Critical thinking and analysis
• Ability to provide accurate and timely reporting and key insights to Executive management and Board members

Stella Rising is a women-led company that prizes diversity, creativity, hard work and intelligence, while keeping warmth, balance and human understanding at the core of our values. Named an Ad Age Best Workplace and an Inc. Best Workplace for five consecutive years, the company fosters an energetic and collaborative work environment where employees come first. In addition to surprising and delighting our team, we offer an environment where employee learning and recognition is prioritized. We take care of our team through a highly competitive benefits package that includes health, vision, dental, life insurance, a 401k with company match, wellness and technology reimbursements, home office setup support, over 7 weeks of PTO, plus Summer Fridays.

THIS COMPANY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Salary Range: $175,000 - $200,000

WORK HERE