Job Description
Title: FP&A Manager - R&D
Location: Hybrid 3 days per week in Lakewood, CO 80215
EMAIL RESUMES TO DAVID KELLOGG - dkellogg@judge.com
Job Summary:
The FP&A Manager - R&D is responsible for financial planning, forecasting, and performance management for the global Research and Development organization. This role serves as the primary finance partner to R&D leadership and ensures financial discipline, transparency, and decision support across new product development, sustaining engineering, and innovation investments. The position reports to the Director of Corporate FP&A and leads R&D FP&A activities, manages analyst resources, and supports enterprise planning cycles, investment governance, and long-range planning within a global, regulated medical device environment.
About the Role This is a hands-on finance leadership position that combines FP&A expertise, accounting knowledge, and people management. The FP&A Manager will own key planning and forecasting responsibilities while managing a Senior Financial Analyst. This role requires direct work in systems, Excel, and data. It is not a strategy-only or review-only position.
Key Responsibilities
Sales Leadership
- Own forecasting, budgeting, and variance analysis.
- Partner with Accounting to ensure financial accuracy and alignment.
- Support R&D-driven financial planning and understand how design activity impacts financial results.
- Manage and develop one direct report (Senior Financial Analyst).
- Work directly in FP&A systems and Excel.
- Navigate complexity related to financial systems and processes.
R&D Financial Leadership and Accountability
- Lead FP&A responsibilities for the global R&D function, including operating expense planning, headcount planning, capital tracking, and project investment visibility.
- Serve as a finance advisor to R&D leadership to support decision-making across innovation and development priorities.
- Partner with R&D leaders to balance investment, risk, speed-to-market, and cost discipline.
Planning, Forecasting, and Long-Range Strategy
- Lead R&D components of monthly and quarterly forecasts, the annual operating plan, and long-range planning.
- Guide R&D leaders through planning assumptions, trade-offs, and scenario analysis.
- Ensure alignment between R&D plans and enterprise financial objectives.
- Review and approve R&D financial submissions before corporate consolidation.
Portfolio and Investment Analysis
- Provide financial leadership across new product development, sustaining engineering, and technology investments.
- Support portfolio governance, investment committee inputs, and post-investment performance tracking.
- Develop and maintain models to assess financial impact, capacity utilization, and risk across the R&D pipeline.
Team Leadership and Development
- Lead and develop Financial Analysts supporting R&D.
- Set expectations for analytical rigor and high-quality business partnership.
- Review and elevate team analyses for accuracy and clarity.
- Allocate workload and priorities in alignment with corporate FP&A direction.
Reporting, Analytics, and Process Excellence
- Deliver clear and actionable R&D financial reporting to FP&A leadership and executives.
- Drive continuous improvement in R&D FP&A processes, tools, and reporting.
- Partner with Corporate FP&A on standardization, transformation, and system enhancements.
- Ensure effective use of ERP, planning, and BI tools.
Required Experience (Non-Negotiable)
- Prior people management experience.
- Strong FP&A background with accounting exposure.
- Hands-on experience with FP&A systems such as Adaptive Insights, Anaplan, or comparable tools.
- Advanced Excel proficiency.
- Experience partnering across finance, accounting, and technical teams.
- Candidates without prior management experience are not an ideal fit.
Preferred Background
- Experience in manufacturing, R&D-heavy, or regulated industries such as medical device, aerospace, or pharmaceuticals.
- Experience supporting environments with design controls or product development lifecycles.
Working Model
- Strong preference for onsite or local candidates.
- Regular in-person interaction with R&D partners is important.
Minimum Qualifications Education
- Bachelor's degree in Finance or Accounting required.
- MBA or advanced degree preferred.
Experience
- Minimum 8 years of progressive FP&A or corporate finance experience.
- Minimum 2 years in a people leadership or process-ownership role preferred.
- Experience partnering with R&D or engineering organizations strongly preferred.
- Experience in medical device, life sciences, healthcare, or regulated manufacturing preferred.
- Experience in a global, matrixed organization.
Skills
- Expert financial planning, forecasting, and analytical skills.
- Strong understanding of R&D cost structures, capitalization, and portfolio economics.
- Ability to influence senior stakeholders and lead through complexity.
- Advanced financial modeling and Excel skills.
- Strong executive communication skills.
- Experience with SAP or similar ERP systems preferred.
- Experience with planning systems such as Workday Adaptive, Anaplan, or OneStream.
- Experience with BI tools such as Power BI or Tableau.
- Demonstrated leadership, judgment, and accountability.
- Competency with public AI tools.
Job Tags
Local area, 3 days per week