REWS Budget Operations Director

The Experience

The Director, REWS Budget Operations will establish and lead the finance function within REWS, supporting our global real estate and workplace services portfolio. Reporting to the Senior Director, Finance Operations and Compliance, this leader will own annual planning, forecasting, financial governance, and performance insights, translating complex data into clear recommendations and investment tradeoffs. Partnering closely with REWS leadership, Corporate Finance, Spend Management, business budget owners and RE Strategy & Planning, this role will strengthen financial accountability, improve visibility into spend, and drive adoption of scalable processes and technology. The position offers the opportunity to shape a new function and influence financial decisions across a global portfolio.

What You’ll Actually Be Doing

• Establish the function: Define priorities, operating rhythms, roles, and processes for REWS Finance Operations, working independently and bringing structure to evolving business needs.
• Lead annual planning: Own bottom-up REWS budgeting in partnership with budget owners, RE Strategy & Planning, and leadership, validating assumptions, prioritizing needs, and consolidating requirements into an integrated financial plan.
• Manage spend and forecasts: Establish regular forecasting and performance reviews with budget owners to assess actual and anticipated spend, identify changes from plan, and evaluate incremental requests. Consolidate insights and forecasts for REWS leadership to inform financial decisions and priorities.
• Support financial reviews: Support REWS leadership and Finance reviews, assessing performance against plan, emerging risks and opportunities, and investment tradeoffs. Translate findings into clear recommendations and accountable actions.
• Advise leadership: Serve as a strategic financial partner to the REWS Leadership Team, providing scenario analysis and portfolio insights to guide cost management, resource allocation, and long-term planning.
• Manage favorability and reinvestment: Identify available funding, maintain a prioritized reinvestment pipeline, and develop recommendations for leadership decisions on reallocation and investment.
• Own reporting and dashboards: Lead development and continuous improvement of the REWS financial dashboard, KPIs, and monthly executive reporting, providing clear visibility into budgets, commitments, actuals, forecasts, and trends.
• Strengthen financial accuracy: Partner with FP&A, Accounting, and Spend Management on accruals, variance analysis, spend closeout, and data quality, ensuring reporting reflects financial performance and timing differences accurately.
• Advance governance: Develop financial policies, controls, playbooks, and monitoring practices that support consistent execution, compliance, and audit readiness.
• Drive operational improvement: Simplify workflows, identify system enhancements, improve data integrity, and leverage AI, and automation to strengthen reporting, transparency, operational efficiency, and decision-making.
• Lead adoption and build capability: Engage stakeholders, communicate changes clearly, and provide practical training that strengthens financial fluency, planning discipline, and accountability across REWS.

You’re Our Person If...

• Demonstrated experience in finance operations, FP&A, strategic finance, or a related function, including ownership of complex budgets and planning processes.
• Strong expertise in budgeting, forecasting, accruals, variance analysis, and financial controls, with the ability to distinguish committed spend (PO’s) from actual expenses (invoices).
• Experience partnering with senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders to influence decisions and drive financial accountability.
• Ability to translate complex financial and operational data into concise executive insights, actionable recommendations, and clear investment tradeoffs.
• Experience developing financial dashboards, KPIs, and reporting using enterprise financial data, analytics, and AI-powered tools.
• Proven ability to establish processes, lead change, and deliver results independently in a fast-paced, evolving or ambiguous environment.
• Strong analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build trust, guide stakeholders through change, drive financial accountability, and foster adoption of new processes and ways of working.

Even Better If...

• Experience supporting global corporate real estate, workplace services, facilities, or capital project portfolios.
• Experience establishing or scaling a finance operations function within a large, global organization.
• Familiarity with procurement, purchase orders, project accounting, and the end-to-end spend lifecycle.
• Experience with enterprise planning, procurement, accounting, or reporting platforms such as Coupa, Workday, Tableau, and Hyperion/Essbase.
• Hands-on experience leveraging AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Slackbot) and automation to improve financial reporting, forecasting, and operational workflows.
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or a related discipline; MBA, CPA, or equivalent advanced qualification.