FirstLight

Director, FP&A-Budgeting & Forecasting

FirstLight$130K — $160K *
Finance & Insurance
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field; MBA, CPA, or CFA preferred.
  • 7+ years of finance experience, with at least 3 years in FP&A leadership.
  • Experience managing budget and forecast processes in a complex business.
  • Proven track record of supporting Finance leadership and engaging with executive teams or boards.
  • Expert in Excel modeling and experience with FP&A tools like Anaplan or Hyperion.
  • Knowledge of ERP systems (SAP, Oracle) and BI tools (Power BI, Tableau) required.
  • Understanding of telecom financial metrics such as ARPU and EBITDA.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the annual budget process, delivering a board-ready financial plan.
  • Build and maintain budget models for revenue, capital expenses, and headcount.
  • Establish budget calendar and governance for executive reviews.
  • Manage the rolling forecast to provide visibility into financial performance and risk.
  • Lead long-range planning, incorporating market growth and competitive factors.
  • Develop scenario analyses to aid capital allocation and decision-making.
  • Prepare comprehensive management reporting for the CFO, CEO, and board.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to lead a critical financial function in a growing telecom company.
  • Role offers strategic partnership with executive leadership and cross-functional teams.
  • Chance to mentor and develop a team of finance professionals.
  • Involvement in key business decisions, including capital investments and M&A opportunities.
  • Access to advanced FP&A technology and analytics capabilities.
Full Job Description
We are seeking a Director, FP&A - Budgeting & Forecasting to lead financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning for FirstLight Fiber. This role will own the annual planning cycle, rolling forecast process, and management reporting while serving as a strategic financial partner to the SVP, Finance and executive leadership team.

Summary:

The Director, FP&A - Budgeting & Forecasting is a senior finance leadership role responsible for driving the company's planning and forecasting processes end to end. Reporting directly to the SVP, Finance, this leader will deliver actionable financial insight, lead a team of FP&A professionals, and partner cross-functionally across Network, Operations, Sales, Marketing, and Technology.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Lead the end-to-end annual budget process across delivering a consolidated, board-ready financial plan.
  • Build and maintain integrated budget models covering revenue by product, capital expenditures, operating costs, and headcount.
  • Establish the budget calendar, governance framework, and executive review cadence to ensure on-time delivery and senior leadership alignment.
  • Own the rolling 12-to-18-month forecast process, providing timely and accurate visibility into financial performance and risk.
  • Lead long-range plan, incorporating subscriber growth assumptions, spectrum deployment timelines, competitive dynamics, and macro-economic factors specific to the telecom sector.
  • Develop scenario and sensitivity analyses (ARPU compression, churn, capex cycles, regulatory changes) to support capital allocation and strategic decision-making.
  • Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual management reporting packages for the CFO, CEO, and Board of Directors, including variance analysis, bridge analyses, and forward-looking commentary.
  • Develop executive dashboards tracking key telecom KPIs: ARPU, installs, churn, EBITDA margin, capex efficiency, and free cash flow.
  • Support investor relations with financial analysis and earnings guidance inputs.
  • Serve as a financial advisor to Network, Technology, Sales, and Marketing leadership on major strategic and capital investment decisions, including network buildouts, spectrum acquisitions, and M&A opportunities.
  • Evaluate and optimize FP&A technology solutions) to improve planning accuracy and reduce cycle time.
  • Drive automation of recurring reporting and forecasting; identify opportunities for advanced analytics and AI-enhanced forecast capabilities.
  • Lead, mentor, and develop a team of FP&A professionals with clear performance expectations and individual development plans.
  • Support ad hoc financial analyses, special projects, and executive data requests as business needs evolve.


Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field required; MBA, CPA, or CFA strongly preferred.
  • 7+ years of progressive finance experience, with at least 3 years in FP&A leadership roles.
  • Telecommunications industry experience preferred but not required.
  • Proven track record managing full-cycle budget and forecast processes in a complex, multi-segment business environment.
  • Experience supporting Finance leadership and presenting to executive leadership and boards of directors.
  • Expert-level Excel modeling; hands-on experience with FP&A platforms such as Anaplan, Adaptive Insights, OneStream, Hyperion, or Oracle EPM.
  • Proficiency with ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, Netsuite or similar) and BI tools (Power BI, Tableau, Looker).
  • Deep understanding of telecom financial metrics including ARPU, EBITDA, capex intensity, churn, and subscriber economics.
  • Exceptional executive communication skills; ability to translate complex analysis into clear narratives for non-finance audiences.
  • Strong cross-functional influencing skills and ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
  • Collaborative leadership style with a genuine commitment to team development and mentorship.

About FirstLight

FirstLight is a telecommunications company that provides fiber-optic data, internet, and voice services to businesses and organizations. The company's services include cloud computing, data center, and managed services. FirstLight was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Albany, New York.
Learn more about FirstLight
Size
500 employees
Industry

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