Director, Production Accounting

The Role and What You’ll Do:

The Director of Production is responsible for leading all aspects of UFC’s production planning, budgeting, and financial oversight while ensuring productions are executed on time, on budget, and at the highest quality. This role partners closely with internal production teams, accounting, finance, and external vendors to align creative and operational needs with accurate forecasting, resource allocation, and cost control. The Director oversees production staff and ensures financial and operational workflows scale effectively with UFC’s expanding live event and media footprint.

• Production Budgeting & Forecasting
  • Lead the creation, management, and monitoring of production budgets for live events, studio shows, and media productions.
  • Develop rolling forecasts and financial models to reflect production costs, cash flow, and resource needs.
  • Track actuals vs. budget, conduct variance analysis, and recommend corrective action to stay within financial parameters.
  • Partner with producers and creative leads to build production plans in line with approved budgets.
  • Ensure timely and accurate cost reports are generated, reviewed, and communicated to senior leadership.

• Production Management & Oversight
  • Oversee day-to-day production operations across multiple events and projects.
  • Ensure production schedules, workflows, staffing, and equipment needs align with approved plans.
  • Coordinate cross-functionally with Creative, Business Affairs, Legal, HR, Marketing, and Finance.
  • Build and manage internal production timelines to guarantee timely delivery of live and recorded content.
  • Maintain strong vendor relationships and oversee contract negotiations, invoice approvals, and reconciliations.

• Risk Management, Compliance & Controls
  • Ensure compliance with UFC policies and financial controls, as well as GAAP accounting standards.
  • Monitor union/guild requirements, tax incentives, and regulatory obligations relevant to productions.
  • Identify financial and operational risks; implement mitigation strategies to protect budgets and production quality.
  • Partner with Finance and Legal on audit, insurance, and risk management matters.

• Leadership & Communication
  • Manage, mentor, and develop production finance and operations staff.
  • Communicate clearly and consistently with senior executives, production personnel, and external stakeholders.
  • Serve as a key liaison between creative, operations, and finance teams to ensure alignment across the organization.

You Have These:

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Production Management, or related field.
• Minimum 10 years’ experience in production management and finance roles, ideally within live events, sports, or media.
• Demonstrated experience in production budgeting, forecasting, cost reporting, and variance analysis.
• Strong understanding of live event/studio production processes, workflows, and cost drivers.
• Proficiency in financial modeling and Excel; experience with ERP and production budgeting tools (e.g., Movie Magic, EP, SAP, Oracle).
• Proven leadership experience, with ability to manage multiple concurrent productions under tight deadlines.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills across creative and financial stakeholders.
• CPA, CMA, or FP&A certification.
• Experience working with sports organizations, live event broadcasting, or large-scale touring productions.
• Familiarity with tax credits, co-productions, and union/guild agreements.
• Experience scaling financial and operational systems in a fast-growing production environment.