SaaS Strategic Finance, Director

SaaS Strategic Finance, Director

Chicago; Dallas; New York

Company Overview

We are the better way to work in finance. As private equity's value creation partner, we sit at the heart of PE—where sponsors and CFOs meet. Through financial consulting rooted in data, technology, and AI, we help clients drive value—supporting the office of the CFO to drive end-to-end value creation.

If you crave challenging work and are looking to grow, come solve complex issues alongside 1,600+ finance & technology experts in a supportive, collaborative environment.

Backed by premier private equity firms and headquartered in New York with 11 offices around the globe, we are a high-growth, entrepreneurial firm looking for people who want to be part of building something great. Come make your mark.

Practice Overview

Accordion's Strategic Finance Practice helps Finance teams build capabilities to enhance performance visibility, planning activities, data analytics, and business partnering to enable and accelerate value creation.

By combining extensive operational FP&A experience, data and technology skills, and a proprietary engagement model, we develop and implement tools and processes and deliver solutions that meet the rigor and pace required in a Private Equity-backed environment.

This position can be based in our New York City, Dallas, or Chicago offices and is a hybrid role with the flexibility to work remotely 2 days a week. Ideal candidates should be local to the desired location.

This position is not eligible for immigration sponsorship.

What You'll Do:

As a Director on a lean, cross-functional team, you will work collaboratively with a diverse set of colleagues with backgrounds in private equity, investment banking, FP&A, Big 4, and financial controllership, to identify and rectify issues across a broad range of scenarios.

The following representative engagements are emblematic of the type of work you will do as a Director at Accordion.

• A SaaS company undergoing an ownership transition needs additional visibility into company-wide financial and operational performance. You are brought in to:
  • Determine data availability and reliability across CRM, billing, and ERP systems, and design a structured process to aggregate relevant data sets that will serve as the foundation for ongoing SaaS reporting
  • Work with the CFO, PE sponsor, and operating team to understand SaaS business drivers, verify KPI definitions (ARR, churn, retention), and establish a single source of truth via monthly reporting packages
  • Develop a reporting cadence and repeatable processes that combine sound data flows and actionable SaaS KPIs to support monthly Board and management reporting packages
  • Train the existing FP&A team to run and own reporting, ARR analysis, and forecast tools
• A software company that scaled through acquisitions requires a planning process, improved forecasting tools, and more insightful analytics to guide decision making. You are brought in to:
  • Complete a deep dive assessment to identify gaps in the existing budgeting and forecasting processes
  • Lead a comprehensive budgeting in partnership with Finance, FP&A, sales, operations, and senior leadership teams
  • Build a cash flow forecasts, coordinating with relevant teams to reflect cash from new bookings, renewal, and other drivers of liquidity
  • Leverage PowerPivot to structure and analyze data within Excel, delivering user-friendly reporting for the CFO and FP&A team, while identifying opportunities to transition manual processes into scalable systems and tools (e.g., BI, CPM)

You will:

• Provide project leadership and execute on client engagements, including directing and overseeing teams of consultants, managing work streams to agreed timelines, performing quality control of client deliverables, and leading the presentation of deliverables
• Lead the build out and execution project deliverables for Software and SaaS companies, including the development of bottoms up annual budgets and forecasts driven by core operating levers and metrics such as ARR, bookings, retention, and headcount
• Design and deliver management reporting for Software and SaaS businesses, providing clear visibility into ARR, bookings, and headcount, and comparing current and YTD performance against prior year results, forecasts, and budget targets
• Build and refining models, metrics, tools, and methodologies, including ARR roll-forward and "snowball" analyses that explain movements
• Actively participate in business development efforts focused on SaaS and software companies, positioning the firm's full range of capabilities and leveraging existing relationships to originate and expand opportunities with CFOs, finance leaders, and PE sponsors
• Partner with Accordion leadership team to develop industry specific marketing and thought leadership materials for Software & SaaS, collaborating with internal teams to articulate Accordion's solutions, differentiated value proposition, and relevant use cases for CFOs
• Act as relationship manager, responsible for addressing client and financial sponsor needs and associated communications throughout the course of engagements
• Drive Accordion know-how and best practices in the execution of all client engagements
• Work with the business development team to cultivate client relationships and drive marketing efforts for potential new engagements
• Assess project needs and lead the development of proposals and work plans for potential client engagements
• Help lead Practice development initiatives, including development of execution toolkits and resources for key service areas, as well as the build-out and ongoing maintenance of Accordion's consulting knowledge hub
• Mentor junior consultants and actively participate in career development
• Travel to client site as needed

You Have:

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, or Economics; MBA is a plus
• Minimum 10 years of experience at a top tier private equity firm, investment bank, and/or consulting firm working within Software or SaaS companies
• Experience in the FP&A department of an operating company and/or a track record of interacting with private equity funds and private equity-owned businesses is a plus
• Strong analytical and modeling skills with significant experience building complex financial models for analysis and forecasting, with ability to summarize key data into executive dashboards
• High attention to detail and advanced quantitative skills, especially as it relates to financial modeling and corporate valuation
• Proven ability to leverage Excel and other tools (e.g. PowerBI) to manage, simplify, analyze, and present large and complex datasets
• Prior experience preparing reports, and presentations; ability to present data-driven insights in a clear, succinct, and comprehensive manner
• Strong drive and motivation, adhering to the highest professional standards in working with clients and colleagues
• Excellent interpersonal, leadership, and team management skills

You Are:

• Excited to be part of a growing team, with a focus on driving future growth
• Passionate about delivering exceptional client service
• Knowledgeable about the relationship between private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies, particularly within the office of the CFO
• Willing to get your hands dirty in the details of a project while simultaneously seeing the whole picture
• Comfortable managing projects with multiple complex workstreams while also focused on your single workstream (you are managing and doing)
• A self-starter with a strong work ethic
• Full of entrepreneurial spirit and comfortable in a fluid, flat organization
• Able to effectively communicate complex issues and solutions, and raise issues to senior team members when necessary

The annual salary for this role ranges from: $178,500 to $250,000 USD + benefits + bonus. Actual compensation packages are determined by evaluating a wide array of factors unique to each candidate, including but not limited to geographic location, skill set, years and depth of experience, education, certifications, cost of labor and internal equity.

Accordion is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.

Please note that as per Accordion policy, we do not accept unsolicited resumes from third-party recruiters unless such recruiters are engaged to provide candidates for a specified opening and in alignment with our inclusive diversity values. Any employment agency, person or entity that submits an unsolicited resume does so with the understanding that Accordion will have the right to hire that applicant at its discretion without any fee owed to the submitting employment agency, person or entity