Senior Manager, Financial Analysis & Strategy (product Development)

Zendesk Zendesk · Enterprise · Madison, WI +2

This role is a Senior Manager, Financial Analysis & Strategy within Product Development at Zendesk. The primary focus is on financial modeling, forecasting, and providing strategic financial guidance to Product and Engineering leaders to support product roadmap decisions and business outcomes. It involves partnering with business leaders, performing analyses, delivering reports on financial and operational metrics, and improving financial systems and processes. The role requires strong analytical skills, financial modeling expertise, and the ability to influence senior leadership.

What you'd actually do

  1. Serve as the lead partner to Product Development leadership, from day-to-day operational decisions to large-scale strategic shifts, by providing accurate financial and non-financial information and analyses for their business decisions.
  2. Financial modeling for Product launches including opportunity sizing (TAM, SAM, SOM) ARR target alignment, COGS inputs, and operating expenses across key stakeholders.
  3. Perform relevant ongoing and ad hoc analyses and synthesize complex data into actionable insights and strategic recommendations to drive value engineering opportunities and business results. Includes continued work on developing a value based methodology and understanding portfolio investment levels in our products.
  4. Deliver relevant, timely and accurate reporting on existing and new key financial and operational metrics against strategic goals. Maintain, monitor and analyze historical and forecasted KPI reporting with specific focus on identifying emerging trends, revealing opportunities, managing risks, and providing insights about the drivers of performance and return on investment.
  5. Establish processes and drive process improvements in collaboration with cross-functional teams to optimize financial systems, improve forecast accuracy, create tools, and improve operating processes.

Skills

Required

  • 10+ years of technology, banking, private equity, corporate finance, economics or consulting experience in a fast-paced industry.
  • Advanced skills in building scalable financial models (via Excel or Google suite), with ability to understand and translate how their inputs/outputs determine business outcomes.
  • Strong analytical aptitude, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills with commitment to achieving quality results - able to understand strategic impact on the wider business and yet operate at a detailed tactical level, digging into the “why” behind the numbers to uncover emerging trends and hidden risks.
  • Strong oral and written communication skills and the ability to establish collaborative relationships and influence senior leadership as the role leads to becoming a trusted finance business partner to senior leadership.
  • Highly-motivated self-starter comfortable with ambiguity and change. Experience working with tight deadlines and successfully managing multiple priorities simultaneously with minimal direct supervision, having the ability to to translate a vague strategic goal into a structured, scalable financial model.
  • Positive attitude with an analytical mindset and desire to learn new things quickly. Team player eager to further develop and grow with us.
  • Demonstrate intellectual curiosity and problem-solving skills, with a strong work ethic, reliability, and attention to detail - “get it done” attitude, challenging the status quo.
  • Ability to grow and lead finance teams!
  • Proficiency in using, managing, and building-out planning tools & applications.
  • Experience with financial planning systems (Adaptive, Hyperion).

What the JD emphasized

  • high-precision forecasting
  • build complex financial models
  • partner with Product & Engineering leaders
  • build financial and KPI models
  • scale our Product Roadmap
  • opportunity sizing
  • ARR target alignment
  • operating expenses
  • value based methodology
  • portfolio investment levels
  • key financial and operational metrics
  • strategic goals
  • historical and forecasted KPI reporting
  • emerging trends
  • managing risks
  • return on investment
  • optimize financial systems
  • improve forecast accuracy
  • improve operating processes
  • financial monthly / quarterly budgeting
  • internal / external reporting
  • accounting
  • period-end close
  • scalable financial models
  • business outcomes
  • strategic impact on the wider business
  • detailed tactical level
  • uncover emerging trends
  • hidden risks
  • influence senior leadership
  • trusted finance business partner
  • ambiguity and change
  • tight deadlines
  • managing multiple priorities simultaneously
  • vague strategic goal into a structured, scalable financial model
  • intellectual curiosity
  • problem-solving skills
  • work ethic
  • reliability
  • attention to detail
  • challenging the status quo
  • grow and lead finance teams
  • planning tools & applications
  • financial planning systems