WHAT YOU'LL DO Ascend Learning is hiring a hands-on finance professional with strong technical and operational reporting skills to lead financial reporting, analysis, and planning for Ascend Learning's Information Technology Services (ITS) and Instructional Learning and Assessment Solutions (ILAS) organizations. This role ensures accurate, consistent, and timely reporting of headcount, spend, and capital activity supporting effective forecasting, disciplined financial management, and transparency across teams.
The ideal candidate is detail-oriented while also seeing the big picture and takes pride in delivering precise financial outputs that drive accountability and execution.
This position provides the financial backbone for Ascend's technology and content development functions. The work directly supports capital planning, headcount management, and spend efficiency. The right candidate will ensure financial reporting serves as a reliable operational system of record that supports better decision-making and disciplined execution.
WHERE YOU'LL WORK This position will work a hybrid schedule from our Leawood, KS office preferred. Remote will be considered, with some travel.
HOW YOU'LL SPEND YOUR TIME Financial Reporting & Analysis - Own all financial reporting for ITS and ILAS, including monthly close support, forecasting, and variance analysis.
- Prepare accurate, reconciled reporting packages showing actuals vs. Plan and drivers of variance.
- Partner with ITS and ILAS leaders to maintain alignment on controllable P&L, headcount, and spend tracking.
- Maintain detailed documentation and ensure reporting consistency across accounting and FP&A teams.
- Analyze drivers and trends to inform decision making by the Chief Technology Officer and technology leadership team
Capital Planning & Investment Tracking - Track all technology and content capital investments in accordance with capitalization policy.
- Maintain dashboards to monitor capitalization rates, project spend, and early warning indicators.
- Support ROI and cost-efficiency analyses to inform resource allocation and project prioritization.
Headcount & Spend Forecasting - Manage headcount and contractor forecasting in partnership with HR.
- Validate labor allocations and forecast models to ensure accurate view of total spend and productivity.
- Support reporting of spend by function, vendor, and cost type to identify efficiency opportunities.
Reporting Process & Automation - Maintain and continuously improve financial models and reporting templates.
- Streamline recurring reporting processes; identify automation opportunities to improve accuracy and timeliness.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED - Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, or related field required.
- 7+ years of progressive FP&A or financial reporting experience and proven experience partnering with the business.
- Advanced Excel skills; familiarity with large-scale financial systems and data visualization tools (eg, PowerBI).
- Strong attention to detail, ability to manage multiple deliverables under tight timelines, and comfort with ambiguity.
HIRING RANGEThe current full-time annualized hiring range for this role is $131,600.00-$188,210.00 and does not include discretionary bonus or sales incentives, if applicable. In accordance with applicable state laws, we are providing the expected salary range for this position. Individual compensation will be determined by various factors, including relevant experience, qualifications, current business needs and local market factors. Most regular, full-time employees are eligible to participate in an Ascend incentive bonus or sales plan.
BENEFITS- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- Company paid Life Insurance
- 401(k) with company match
- Paid time off and parental leave
- Employee assistance program
- Other employee wellness programs such as Headspace and Airvet
- Charitable matching program
