Position Summary

The Senior Director, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) leads the budgeting, forecasting, long-term planning, and financial analysis of an exciting commercial stage company. The Senior Director supports strategic business decisions by ensuring efficient financial operations, investment insights, and concise financial reporting tools. In addition, the Senior Director establishes and maintains strong relationships with key internal stakeholders, helps troubleshoot finance-related issues, and develops process improvements to increase productivity.

This position is remote with a corporate headquarters in Foster City, CA and Parsippany NJ. The Senior Director will report to the Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis and Strategic Valuations.

Primary Responsibilities

• Develop deep business understanding of financial drivers and levers that impact the P&L
• Define, enhance, standardize, and deliver monthly and quarterly reporting packages for senior management review, including key metrics to assess actual results, cash runway, headcount, program allocations, and projection of future spend; centralize delivery of reports
• Provide senior management with insightful decision support by developing financial models and analyses to support strategic initiatives and report progress toward Company and department-specific financial goals and metrics inclusive of budget versus actuals reports/dashboards
• Lead the optimization of Adaptive Planning sheet cube functionality to provide comprehensive P&L, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement analysis
• Create financial tools inclusive of Power BI dashboards that can drill down actuals to PO details to enable an interactive user-friendly interface to understanding actuals spend versus budget/forecast
• Collaborate closely with key business partners to ensure processes and systems are both effective and efficient to accommodate organizational growth
• Initiate proactive business dialogue and challenge assumptions to ensure sound financial decisions and improve business performance
• Lead the overall process for the bottom-up development of a 5-year strategic plan and annual budget, including resource planning analysis and periodic forecast updates
• Develop presentations and materials for the CFO, Board, investors and other relevant third-parties
• Manage the monthly reconsolidation of actuals into Adaptive Planning with the Accounting team
• Collaborate with HR team on managing the ending monthly headcount and forecasting personnel assumptions in Adaptive Planning
• Establish and maintain strong business controls
• Drive increased visibility into expense risk areas, including development of appropriate budgetary and financial delegation levels with corporate finance
• Review contracts and assess appropriate expense account codes to enable better tracking of actual spend to budget, determine potential exposure to embedded leases, and reconcile active contracts to purchase orders
• Assist with other financial projects as needed

Competencies

• The tactical ability to drive financial planning and analysis individually, coupled with the strategic ability to hold C-suite and Board-level conversations
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic and fast-paced environment
• Ability to build strong working relationships and effectively work in a matrix organization
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and the ability to communicate effectively with all levels of the organization
• An eagerness to collaborate with colleagues to share insights and ensure timely execution of project plans
• Ability to coordinate and lead processes as well as process improvements involving large numbers of people across multiple geographies with customer focus and a high level of integrity
• Good business judgement with an ability to constructively challenge assumptions and take an independent stance when appropriate
• Strong leadership skills with ability to operate with minimal direction and to work independently in setting priorities and achieving objectives
• Superior analytical skills and ability to think creatively and strategically
• Ability to effectively manage multiple projects and competing priorities with high energy and self-motivation
• Strong business acumen and knowledge of the Company's markets, products, and industry trends
• Excellent Excel, Word, and PowerPoint skills
• Strong knowledge of accounting (GAAP) and financial principles

Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or global equivalent in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or related field; Master’s degree a plus
• Minimum of 12 years of financial experience in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry; commercialization experience preferred
• In-depth FP&A experience at a start-up, as well as the foundation of best practices which comes from having worked within a larger organization
• Experience in building financial plans and forecasts with a good track record of accuracy
• Experience with data analytics, business visualization, and systems automations
• Sophisticated financial modeling experience, including the buildout of detailed operating models and dashboards from scratch
• Experience with enterprise planning software including design and on-going efficiency enhancements
• In depth administration experience in FP&A systems like Adaptive Planning (a plus), TM1 Cognos, and reporting Power BI dashboard experience
• A demonstrated track record of leading and collaborating cross-functionally to gain buy-in, support, and assistance from key stakeholders

EEO Statement:

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

Benefit Statement:

All regular-status, full-time employees of Geron are eligible to participate in the Company’s comprehensive benefit program, pursuant to plan terms and conditions. Plan choices include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, disability insurance, supplemental health insurance, a 401(k) retirement savings plan, and an employee stock purchase plan. Geron also provides regular-status, full-time employees with a generous time off program that includes the eligibility to accrue 160 hours of vacation during each full year of employment, 64 hours of sick leave, 9 standard paid holiday days off, and paid leave for certain life events. Geron recognizes that its employees work in many different states and therefore may be affected by different laws. It is Geron’s intention to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws that apply to the Company’s employees.

Salary Statement:

Offered compensation is determined based on market data, internal equity, and an applicant’s relevant skills, experience, and educational background. The salary ranges displayed below are only for those who, if selected for the role, will perform work in the specific locations listed. Please note the employment opportunity is not limited to these locations.

General Salary Range: $240,000 to $260,000