Executive Director, IT Finance Lead

Job Description

The Executive Director, IT Finance Lead is a senior IT leadership role responsible for shaping and delivering the global technology strategy for Finance. This leader will serve as a trusted partner to Finance business stakeholders and provide functional and technical leadership across a portfolio of financial systems and solutions supporting enterprise-wide financial processes. The individual is a proactive technology thought leader, strategist, and delivery orchestrator.

This role will be critical to driving the AI transformation of the Finance function, working collaboratively with Finance functional leaders to identify and prioritize high-value opportunities, reimagine business processes, and responsibly scale AI, data, and automation capabilities. The leader will help translate Finance priorities into an integrated technology roadmap that improves decision-making, productivity, business performance, control, and operational efficiency.

The role oversees a team of IT professionals with expertise in financial applications and solutions. The Executive Director will partner closely with business and IT leaders to define roadmaps, modernize the technology landscape, and deliver integrated, end-to-end solutions.

The scope includes global ownership of financial systems and solutions supporting Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), Tax, Treasury, Account-to-Report and Controller, and Order-to-Cash. The leader will ensure these systems are compliant, secure, modernized, and aligned with enterprise controls and SOX requirements, while advancing innovation through AI, automation, and integrated solutions.

Primary Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership

• Serve as a trusted strategic partner to Finance functional leaders, translating Finance priorities into an integrated technology, data, AI, and automation strategy.
• Lead the AI transformation of the Finance function, partnering with functional leaders to identify high-value opportunities, reimagine end-to-end processes, and responsibly scale AI-enabled capabilities.
• Shape and maintain the global Finance technology roadmap, balancing business transformation, modernization, operational resilience, compliance, and technical sustainability.
• Establish a value-led approach for prioritizing Finance technology and AI investments, with clear business outcomes, adoption measures, and accountability for value realization.
• Influence the future Finance operating model by bringing external insights, emerging technology perspectives, and innovative solutions to Finance leadership.
• Build strong alignment across Finance, IT, Data, AI, Risk, and other enterprise stakeholders to deliver integrated solutions and avoid fragmented technology investments.
• Provide strategic leadership across the Finance technology portfolio, ensuring priorities remain aligned with enterprise strategy, financial controls, security, and regulatory requirements.
• Develop organizational capabilities and talent needed to support the evolving Finance technology landscape, including AI, data, automation, digital products, and modern financial platforms.

Solution Ownership and Delivery

• Serve as the system/product owner for financial applications within the area of responsibility.
• Ensure applications and platforms remain compliant, secure, modernized, and supported through effective lifecycle management.
• Lead the delivery of IT solutions for Finance from concept through implementation and support.
• Translate business requirements into robust digital solutions and ensure technical teams are aligned to desired functional outcomes.
• Partner with other IT leaders to ensure end-to-end, integrated enterprise solutions across business functions.
• Promote strong operational discipline, documentation, and supportability across all delivered solutions.
• Own the Finance products through its entire lifecycle; sets the product vision, roadmaps, and strategy, ensuring value and user experience are measured and achieved.

Finance Domain Scope

• Oversee technology solutions such as SAP FICO, HANA Sidecar, OneSource tax engine, Wall Street Suite for Treasury, SAP BDC Seamless Planning and others supporting:
  • Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A)
  • Tax
  • Treasury
  • Account to Report (including Close & Controls management)
  • Product costing
  • Order-to-Cash

Innovation, AI, and Automation

• Identify and deliver opportunities for AI-enabled capabilities and automation across Finance processes.
• Drive continuous improvement and modernization of the financial application portfolio.
• Champion new technologies and solution patterns that increase efficiency, data quality, and decision making.
• Scans the market for technology solutions that could transform the Finance Digital landscape and experiment with select capabilities that show a lot of promise.

Governance, Controls, and Compliance

• Ensure financial systems and processes align with internal controls, audit expectations, and SOX requirements.
• Partner with compliance, risk, security, and enterprise architecture teams to maintain a strong controls environment.
• Ensure appropriate governance is in place for system changes, access, support, and lifecycle management.

Leadership and Talent Development

• Provide both functional and technical leadership to a team of IT professionals supporting financial solutions and applications.
• Manage, mentor, and develop other senior IT leaders and their teams.
• Build a strong leadership bench and support talent development, succession planning, and organizational capability growth.
• Influence organizational design, resource planning, and capability development to meet current and future business needs.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Lead through change and ensure teams remain aligned, engaged, and effective during transformation initiatives.

Education:

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business, Engineering or related field.

Required Experience and Skills:

• Proven track record of driving enterprise Finance transformation by applying AI, data, and automation to reimagine end-to-end processes and deliver measurable business value.
• 15+ years of progressive IT experience, with substantial IT leadership experience in a global enterprise environment.
• Experience with financial systems supporting treasury, taxes, FP&A and financial reporting.
• Excellent stakeholder management, negotiation and vendor governance skills.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to translate technical strategy into business value and measurable outcomes.
• Experience supporting financial solutions in a regulated industry, preferably pharmaceuticals, life sciences, or similarly complex global environments.
• Proven leadership of senior managers and cross-functional global teams.
• Experience managing internal teams and external implementation partners.
• Extensive experience leading SAP functional and technical solution delivery across Finance.
• Proven experience leading large-scale SAP transformations and upgrades.

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

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Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.

The salary range for the primary location of this role is:

This range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs. The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits. Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days. More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.

Additional location(s): Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below. If the salary range is not listed for the location you are applying to, our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you relevant to your location.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

San Francisco Residents Only: We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

Los Angeles Residents Only: We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance

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