What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director, Operational Finance and Investment Planning position at ThoughtSpot?
Director, Operational Finance and Investment Planning
Location: Atlanta, Chicago, Mountain View, Phoenix
Department: Finance & Strategy
What is the job?
Are you a strategic finance leader who thrives on speed, clarity, and business impact? Join ThoughtSpot, the AI-native Intelligence Platform, and help shape business decisions with data-driven precision and urgency.
Reporting to the VP of Finance & Strategy, you'll lead a team of six high-performing analysts responsible for planning and performance management across Operating Expenses (OpEx), Headcount, and Cost of Revenue (i.e. COGS). This is a high-impact leadership role where you’ll combine financial acumen with operational partnership to help scale our business during a pivotal growth stage.
You’ll help transform how the Finance team collaborates, delivers insights, and drives accountability by building repeatable processes, aligning on templates, and consolidating analysis into compelling executive narratives. This is an opportunity to set the vision, challenge the status quo, and establish thought leadership within the team and across the company.
What You'll Do
- Lead and Scale a High-Performing Team – Hire, coach, and manage a team of analysts supporting company-wide and function-specific FP&A across S&M, R&D, and G&A. Foster a culture where clarity, accountability, and speed drive results.
- Drive Strategic Business Reviews – Evolve monthly Budget vs. Actual (BvA) reviews into robust business reviews. Partner with functional leaders to provide clear insights, highlight trends, and align on key decisions.
- Own Core Planning Processes – Lead the OpEx budget, monthly forecasts, and quarterly outlooks. Ensure forecasts are accurate, timely, and aligned with company priorities.
- Unify Financial Storytelling – Consolidate financial inputs and team analyses into executive-ready deliverables that provide insight, surface risk, and support decision-making.
- Advance Systems & Tools – Own Adaptive Planning, improve forecasting workflows, and enhance reporting through automation and best-in-class practices.
- Strengthen Collaboration & Partnership – Serve as a trusted partner to Sales, Marketing, R&D, and G&A, ensuring finance drives alignment, clarity, and operational focus.
- Champion Continuous Improvement – Be a thought leader in finance. Proactively identify opportunities to optimize processes, strengthen reporting, and scale financial planning capabilities across the organization.
- Scale with Discipline – Build and standardize processes, templates, and shared approaches across the team to enable scale and deepen the team's impact over time.
What You Bring
- Leadership Experience – 10 years in FP&A or corporate finance, including 3 years managing high-performing teams. SaaS or tech experience strongly preferred.
- Headcount, OpEx & COGS Expertise – Proven experience owning financial planning and reporting for people-related expenses, cost of revenue, and department budgets.
- Strategic Finance Acumen – Demonstrated ability to turn analysis into strategy and strategy into execution. Comfortable serving as a thought leader and trusted advisor.
- Systems & Process Strength – Advanced skills in Adaptive Planning and financial modeling, along with a track record of improving planning workflows and tools.
- Executive-Ready Communication – Strong storytelling and synthesis skills. Ability to consolidate team analyses into sharp executive insights.
- Collaboration & Influence – Ability to build trust across functions and influence decision-making at all levels.
- Operate with Speed & Focus – Comfortable navigating ambiguity, raising the bar, and driving toward what matters most with urgency and discipline.
