AVP, Finance Data Engineering and Modernization

Job Posting End Date: February 14

When you join the team at Unum, you become part of an organization committed to helping you thrive.

Here, we work to provide the employee benefits and service solutions that enable employees at our client companies to thrive throughout life's moments. And this starts with ensuring that every one of our team members enjoys opportunities to succeed both professionally and personally. To enable this, we provide:

• Award-winning culture
• Inclusion and diversity as a priority
• Performance Based Incentive Plans
• Competitive benefits package that includes: Health, Vision, Dental, Short & Long-Term Disability
• Generous PTO (including paid time to volunteer!)
• Up to 9.5% 401(k) employer contribution
• Mental health support
• Career advancement opportunities
• Student loan repayment options
• Tuition reimbursement
• Flexible work environments

• Strategic Leadership & Roadmap Definition: Develop and execute the Finance data modernization strategy, defining a comprehensive data roadmap that integrates technology, business, and financial objectives. Influence the enterprise's broader data strategy and IT transformation initiatives.
• Finance Data Engineering & Cloud Transformation: Oversee the design and implementation of scalable, secure, and high-performance data solutions for Finance, including data pipelines, data lakes, business intelligence tools, and advanced analytics platforms. Leverage cloud platforms such as Snowflake as Snowflake to enable data transformation and analytics at scale.
• Data Governance & Quality: Champion data governance frameworks to ensure the accuracy, consistency, and accessibility of financial data. Implement robust data management practices, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and alignment with business needs.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Management: Partner with senior IT, Finance, and business leaders to drive data initiatives and ensure alignment with business priorities. Influence stakeholders across departments to deliver outcomes that improve business performance through data-driven insights.
• Advanced Analytics & Visualization: Enable data-driven decision-making by promoting and supporting the use of advanced analytics, machine learning models, and data visualization tools in partnership with Finance Analytics. Drive the adoption of self-service analytics and citizen data development to empower business users.
• Data Portfolio & Change Management: Lead the management of the Finance data portfolio, ensuring that projects are executed on time, within budget, and deliver tangible business value. Actively influence and shape the data portfolio to reflect evolving business priorities and emerging technologies.
• Support and continually improve legacy data assets and processes used in financial, actuarial and operational analysis, regulatory inquiries, and monthly close processes.
• Talent Development & Leadership: Lead and mentor a diverse team of data engineers, analysts, and architects. Foster a culture of innovation, agility, and continuous improvement, while driving the development of a strong talent pipeline to meet the growing demands of the organization.
• Technology Leadership: Stay ahead of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in data engineering and cloud solutions. Guide technical decisions related to data architecture, security, and infrastructure to ensure solutions are future-proof and scalable.
• Business Value & ROI: Ensure that data initiatives align with business goals by demonstrating clear business value, including improved financial reporting, forecasting, and performance management. Develop compelling business cases and ROI models for new data investments.
• Agile & Lean Methodologies: Foster an agile environment by ensuring that cross-functional teams apply best practices in software engineering.

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Data Science, Finance, Engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years in data engineering, technology leadership, or financial data management, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role. Experience in both Finance and IT transformation initiatives is highly desired.
• Technical Expertise:
  -Expertise in cloud platforms (preferably AWS, but also Azure or Google Cloud).
  -Deep knowledge of data architecture, data lakes, big data, data warehousing, and data governance frameworks.
  -Experience with modern data tools and platforms such as Tableau, Power BI, Apache Kafka, Data Bricks, and Snowflake.
  -Strong understanding of financial systems (ERP, Planning tools) and data-driven applications in Finance.
• Financial Knowledge: Strong understanding of financial reporting, planning, performance metrics, and business processes, with the ability to translate business needs into data solutions.
• Leadership & Influence: Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams in complex, fast-paced environments. Strong influencing and communication skills to engage stakeholders at all levels, including senior leadership, and drive alignment across multiple teams.
• Agile & Lean: Experience managing or leading agile and cross-functional teams, with knowledge of agile methodologies (e.g., Scrum, Kanban) and DevOps best practices.
• Change Management: Demonstrated ability to drive change and innovation in large organizations, particularly around the adoption of modern data platforms and tools.
• Experience in financial services, insurance, or other heavily regulated industries preferred
• Familiarity with finance-specific data platforms and tools (e.g., Workday, Anaplan, Prophet) preferred
• Expertise in AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics within the finance domain preferred
• Experience in master data management (MDM) and enterprise data governance preferred