Director, Decision Support

Summary:
As the Director of Decision Support, you will report to the VP of Finance and be responsible for leading a team of financial planning and analysis professionals. This role will transform financial planning and decision making into a source of advantage for the enterprise by enabling the business to better anticipate opportunities, spot risks and drive faster resource reallocation. To accomplish this, you will accelerate FP&A’s adoption of AI-driven predictive planning and scale up technology-driven delivery of decision support. In addition to leading the financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting team, you will be the go-to resource for strategic decision support to senior organizational decision makers including the CFO, VP Finance, Chief Actuary, C-Suite, and board. You will foster innovation and digital skills development in FP&A. The ideal candidate will possess financial planning and analysis expertise, the ability to develop and manage technology- and business-savvy decision support teams, and a track record of driving digital innovation in key FP&A activities.  Additionally, the candidate will be experienced in complex modeling scenarios for different business structures such as captives, carriers, MGAs, and non-insurance products. 

Why Jewelers Mutual:
Since 1913 we’ve been committed to supporting the Jewelry industry and putting customers at the center of everything we do. With over a century of trusted expertise, we’re financially strong, forward-thinking, and driven by curiosity. Guided by our core values of Agility, Accountability, and Relevancy, we lead through innovation.

As a technology focused organization, we embrace cutting-edge tools and data-driven insights to continuously improve our products, services, and customer experience. Our mission is to be the industry’s most trusted advisor by investing in our people, adopting new technologies, and striving for excellence.

We’re dedicated to fostering growth through collaboration, powered by bold thinking, teamwork, and the passion of our people.

Here, you’ll:

• Move fast and embrace change
• Always look for better ways
• Grow, thrive, and help shape what’s next

Join us and be part of a culture where you can make an impact while building your future.

What You’ll Do:

Lead an effective financial planning, budgeting and forecasting cycle:  

• Lead an FP&A team that manages the execution -- and continuous improvement -- of long-range financial planning, annual budgeting, and forecasting processes.  
• Use planning, budgeting and forecasting to anticipate in-year decisions, mitigate risks, model and assess a range of scenarios, and reprioritize initiatives.  
• Establish an integrated planning process that synchronizes strategic, financial and operational plans to achieve alignment with business strategy. 
• Support accounting to create pro-forma financial statements 

Organize FP&A to provide world-class decision support at scale:  

• Create high-performing teams that produce insightful strategic decision support for the enterprise including: 
  • Profitability and cash flow improvement
  • Strategic planning, investment evaluation, and prioritization 
  • M&A support 
• Design & implementation of management and key performance indicators are aligned to the operating model. 
• Broaden FP&A's scale of support for operational decisions by leading efforts to embed FP&A's acumen into well-designed decision support tools 
• Catalyze organizational-wide relationships to identify analytics partnership opportunities, promote a holistic view of business performance, and improve planning assumptions and data quality. 

Lead a proactive and predictive analytics capability:  

• Champion the use of predictive analytics, including AI/ML, in forecasting, profitability improvement, cost analytics, and scenario planning. 
• Continuously optimize the organizational model for Data and Analytics to drive efficiency and standardization. 
• Steward and maintain trust in analytics by instituting governance mechanisms for the insights in routine or ad hoc business support, management reports, algorithms used for analysis, and automation for analytic inputs. 
• Coach the FP&A team to go beyond identifying variances to isolate core issue drivers and recommend value-creating or corrective actions that improve performance improvement. 
• Help FP&A manager prioritize their team's queue of ad hoc support requests to ensure the appropriate balance between ad hoc and proactive analysis.  

Oversee the evolution of FP&A’s technology portfolio:  

• Lead the evolution of, and effectively manage, the FP&A technology roadmap and ensure alignment with both the finance and enterprise roadmaps.  
• Manage relationships and negotiate with technology providers while ensuring compliance with procurement policies. 
• Manage, co-lead and resource decision support tool creation and the portfolio of FP&A’s digital products from decision dashboards and simulators to scenario modeling tools.  

Improve performance-monitoring capabilities for faster sensing and responding: 

• Demonstrate expert-level knowledge of the organization's business drivers to establish a capability for reporting and monitoring business performance and KPIs. 
• Keep the organization aligned on enterprise performance goals. 
• Identify emerging risks and opportunities. 
• Monitor leading indicators to identify initiative delivery and operational performance gaps, drive action or alternative approaches to close. 
• Support effective business performance reviews with the business on a routine basis.  

Display inspirational and visionary FP&A team leadership:  

• Ensure FP&A is a top choice for high-performing digital talent by encouraging innovation, skills development, and mentoring. 
• Foster a culture of innovation, openness to change, and technology acceptance by developing talent and maturing the capability of the organization.  
• Support FP&A analysts and finance business partners in the transition to a primarily technology-centric decision support delivery model while simultaneously improving the skills necessary to improve in-person decision support. 

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Leadership Responsibilities
Carries out leadership responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

What You’ll Bring:
Education:

• Bachelor’s degree required; Finance, Economics, or Business concentration with quant experience strongly preferred 
• Experience with process improvement and digital project management frameworks (e.g., lean, agile) preferred 
• 10-15 years of experience within the finance or FP&A function with experience leading and managing teams 

Skills:

• Deep expertise in budgeting, forecasting, financial planning, and continuous process improvement.
• Strong understanding of P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, KPI drivers, and reporting methodologies.
• Ability to interpret business drivers, optimize revenue and margins, and provide strategic, performance-enhancing insights to senior leaders.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build partnerships and influence senior stakeholders.
• Proven ability to drive cross-functional collaboration and align teams around shared goals.
• Inspirational leader who fosters innovation, promotes adoption of modern technologies, and develops team capabilities.
• Experience mentoring and growing talent.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and storytelling skills to convey insights, analyses, and recommendations to executives and Boards.
• Strong understanding of advanced digital technologies and their application within finance.
• Ability to translate analytics, algorithms, and system capabilities into business and financial implications.

Experience:

• Proven track record delivering strategic decision support to the CFO, C-suite, and Board, including long-term strategic planning, profitability improvement, capital planning, M&A support, and investment evaluation—preferably with global exposure.
• Experience developing and implementing dynamic forecasting models with scenario planning, predictive analytics, and data-driven insights.
• Demonstrated success driving process improvements, automation, and operational efficiencies within FP&A.
• Significant experience partnering with and presenting to senior leadership.
• Strong background working with financial systems such as ERP, BI, and advanced planning tools leveraging AI/ML.
• Experience leading teams using advanced analytics and technology to generate actionable insights, detect anomalies, and produce predictive forecasting.
• Proven ability to manage vendor relationships, including contract negotiation and compliance.
• Experience leading complex, multidisciplinary teams and delivering enterprise-wide solutions.
• Expertise in establishing performance monitoring capabilities, aligning goals, identifying risks/opportunities, and conducting business performance reviews.
• Experience integrating FP&A data and analytics with other internal analytics functions and interpreting data science outputs.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations

• CFA certification strongly preferred
  
  
• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Occasionally required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle, or touch objects or controls; and talk or hear.

What We Offer You:

• Competitive Compensation & Benefits: Includes performance bonuses, generous paid time off, and a top-tier retirement program with 401(k) matching and additional company contributions.
• Collaborative Culture: Work alongside talented, passionate peers who value ownership and continuous learning.
• Community & Giving: Benefit from 50% charitable gift matching and paid volunteer time to support nonprofit causes
• Great Place to Work® Certified: Join a team recognized for an environment of innovation and growth.

Accessibility and Accommodations
We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require accommodation at any stage of the application or interview process, please let us know by contacting jmrecruiting@jminsure.com.