Director – Finance Tools, Process & Systems London, England, United Kingdom Finance

As our Director – Finance Tools, Process & Systems, you will join the Corporate FP&A team as a strategic leader driving the transformation of IFS's Finance tools, processes, data architecture and AI capability. This is a rare, high-impact role at the intersection of Finance, Technology, Data and AI created to act as the Finance technical expert on the enterprise-wide rollout of a next-generation, AI-enabled EPM platform, provide senior Finance input to the redesign of the Group's ERP and Finance data structures, champion the embedding of AI across planning and analysis, and over time assume ownership of the global FP&A processes.

You will work as an individual contributor with a clear mandate to assemble teams to deliver core projects and deliverables, and will operate as the bridge between Finance, Technology, Data and executive stakeholders, translating complex business requirements into scalable, system-enabled and AI-augmented operating models.

• Act as Finance technical expert and delivery partner for the enterprise EPM platform, working alongside IT (as platform owner) to shape how the platform is designed, configured and deployed.
• Lead vendor evaluation, selection, contracting and implementation partner management, including RFI, PoC, scoring, business case and Steering Committee governance.
• Own the Finance requirements and future-state EPM solution design covering SaaS revenue (ARR/ACV/TCV), workforce and project cost planning, allocations, product/industry visibility, consolidation and AI-enabled scenario modelling.
• Define the target planning operating model, integration architecture (ERP, GL, HCM, CRM, BI) and data model to ensure a single, governed version of the truth.
• Drive user adoption, change management, training and continuous optimisation post go-live.
• Establish and enforce Finance-side EPM governance, controls and release management standards in partnership with IT.

Key Responsibilities – AI Enablement & Finance Innovation

• Act as the AI champion within Corporate FP&A, defining and executing the AI roadmap for planning, forecasting, reporting and process automation.
• Embed AI-enabled forecasting, anomaly detection, driver-based scenario modelling and natural language query capabilities into the EPM and reporting stack.
• Partner with the CIO, Data & AI teams and Finance leadership to identify, prioritise and deliver high-value AI use cases in Finance without duplicating AI Business Unit product work.
• Establish AI governance, model risk management, data quality and ethical use standards for Finance-owned AI applications.
• Evaluate emerging AI and GenAI capabilities copilots, agentic AI, LLM-based analytics and intelligent automation and lead pilots to accelerate adoption where value is proven.
• Build AI literacy across the FP&A team through training, playbooks and hands‑on enablement, creating an AI‑fluent Finance organisation.

Key Responsibilities – ERP & Finance Data Structure Redesign

• Act as a senior Finance leader within the Group's ERP and Finance data architecture redesign programme, partnering with Group Reporting, Accounting, Technology and BI to redesign end-to-end data structures from GL through management, statutory and investor reporting.
• Interface with Accounting on the governance of the Chart of Accounts, cost centre hierarchies, business unit, product, function, project and legal entity dimensions to enable clean GAAP‑first reporting that reconciles to management views.
• Partner with ERP and Data/BI platform owners to define a coherent data lineage from voucher row through GL cube, consolidation and reporting layer that is AI‑ready and scalable.
• Champion transaction‑level data transparency and reduce reliance on downstream reporting workarounds.
• Support governance for master data ownership, chart‑of‑accounts change control and attribute mapping across systems.

Key Responsibilities – Budget & Forecast Process

• Over time, assume end‑to‑end ownership of the global Budget and Forecast operating model process & governance.
• Drive continuous improvement in forecast accuracy, planning efficiency and stakeholder accountability, leveraging the new EPM platform, AI‑enabled forecasting and redesigned data architecture.
• Lead long‑range planning, scenario modelling and AI‑driven, driver‑based planning enhancements as the platform matures.

Key Responsibilities – Leadership, Delivery & Team Build‑Out

• Provide senior delivery leadership across concurrent transformation workstreams balancing strategic design authority with hands‑on programme execution.
• Represent Finance on the EPM Steering Committee and Finance data architecture steering forum.
• Lead the interface with external consulting and implementation partners across the EPM and Finance data programmes, ensuring scope discipline, quality delivery and knowledge transfer.