Director of Finance - Budget and Cost Management

The Role We’re looking for a sharp, operationally‑minded finance leader to own the company’s budgeting and cost management function. Sitting within a lean, high‑impact finance team at a fast‑growing global AI and Agentic Tools company, this Director will serve as the key finance leader driving operating rigor, resource allocation, and scalable planning processes across the company. Your team will manage, track, and improve our cost structure – partnering deeply with functional leaders to drive accountability and strategic resource allocation. Reports to VP of FPA (or CFO). Leads a team of 4-6 globally located Associates. Location: San Francisco Bay Area (with 60% time in Mountain View office). What You’ll Do Budgeting & Planning Lead the annual operating budget process across all cost centers globally, coordinating with functional heads (R&D, GTM, Core, and Operations). Own the budget calendar, templates, tooling, and consolidated outputs under the CFO area. Own company‑wide headcount planning processes including hiring tracking, capacity planning, and workforce investment analysis. Own cloud cost analysis and forecasting including customer contribution margin, cloud capacity planning, and LLM/token investment analysis. Update the consolidated rolling forecast in close partnership with the Forecasting & Revenue Planning side of our team. Cost Center Management & Business Partnering Serve as the primary finance business partner to cost‑center owners across the organization. Drive monthly BVA process for each operational stakeholder to provide visibility and drive accountability to investment plans and operating targets. Build and maintain cost center reporting frameworks that give functional leaders real‑time visibility into spend vs. budget. Challenge and advise department heads on headcount, vendor spend, and project investments. Financial Analysis & Reporting Produce monthly analysis (actuals vs. budget/forecast) with clear narratives and business insights. Run scenario modeling and re‑forecast analysis to show outcomes under different scenarios. Identify and drive operational efficiency and investment optimization opportunities across the business. Support board reporting in partnership with the CFO. Process & Systems Own and continuously improve budgeting systems and processes (Abacum, ThoughtSpot Reporting). Establish scalable cost management practices to support global growth across offices. What You Bring 8 years of progressive finance experience; 2+ years in a Director or Senior Manager FP&A role or deep, multi‑department finance business partner experience. Planning background honed in a technology company, a recurring revenue B2B business, and in headcount‑driven cost centers. Deep expertise in budgeting, cost management, and opex analysis. Practical experience working with global teams and managing staff across time‑zones. Strong business partnering instincts with the ability to influence operating leaders, drive accountability, and improve business processes. Comfortable with Finance tool stack: Abacum, Adaptive, NetSuite, Coupa, Salesforce and some analytics or dashboard tooling. Demonstrated ability to apply AI and Agents to improve business processes in most recent role. Bachelor’s in Finance, Accounting, Economics or STEM areas; MBA a plus. Comfortable operating in a lean, fast‑moving environment. AI Skills and Mindset Comfortably and confidently integrate artificial intelligence into daily workflow to increase productivity and quality. Hands‑on experience leveraging AI tools (industry‑leading LLMs) to increase productivity, automate routine tasks, and improve work quality. Speak to the experience of using AI for research, content creation, and document summarization while maintaining ownership of judgment and final decisions. Write effective prompts to get the most accurate and creative results from AI tools. Compensation & Benefits In California, the estimated annual salary range for this role is $200k - $230k per year. Actual compensation may vary and will be determined based on permissible, non‑discriminatory factors such as skills, qualifications, experience, and location of the selected candidate. Additional benefits may include: equity, company bonus or sales commissions/bonuses; 401(k) plan; medical, dental, and vision benefits. Hybrid Work This office‑assigned role is available as a hybrid position, reporting to the office in US – Mountain View. Spotters assigned to an office are encouraged to experience the energy of their local office with an in‑office expectation of 2‑3 days per week. This approach balances the benefits of in‑person collaboration and peer learning with the flexibility needed by individuals and teams. #J-18808-Ljbffr