Associate Director, Financial Planning

Position Summary

The Associate Director, Financial Planning, leads and oversees critical financial planning and business performance activities for the Legal & Regulatory US (LR) Division of Wolters Kluwer.

This highly visible role serves as a strategic business partner to the Divisional CEO, CFO,  and Business Unit leadership teams. The Associate Director will play a central role in annual strategy and budget development, quarterly forecasting, business performance analysis, investment prioritization, and the continued evolution of financial processes, tools, and decision support across the Division.

Success in this role requires an intellectually curious, commercial acumen, hands-on senior finance leader who wants to understand the business at a detailed level, its commercial drivers, operating models, systems, processes, and underlying data. The successful candidate will move comfortably between strategic discussions with senior executives and direct engagement in complex analyses and processes to determine what is working, what is not, and how it can be improved.

This is a senior people-leadership role with significant individual-contributor responsibility. The Associate Director will combine strong executive communication and constructive challenge with the ability to establish accountability and drive results while maintaining a collaborative, professional approach. The role also calls for practical fluency in AI, automation, and emerging analytical tools to improve the quality, efficiency, and scalability of Finance and broader divisional processes.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Partner with business and functional leaders to develop processes, governance, and performance frameworks that strengthen ownership, transparency, and accountability.
• Support the annual Budget, VSP strategic planning, and quarterly forecasting processes for the LR Division, including full P&L and Cash Flow.
• Develop a deep understanding of the Divisional businesses, commercial models, operating processes, systems, and value drivers to identify risks, opportunities, and areas for improved performance.
• Translate complex financial, operational, and commercial information into clear insights, recommendations, and actions for senior leadership.
• Ask the questions behind the numbers investigating performance drivers, constructively challenging assumptions, and connecting investments and activities to business outcomes.
• Develop business cases for key investment priorities and establish appropriate governance and performance tracking to ensure financial and operational commitments are delivered.
• Drive greater financial insight into key operational areas while strengthening financial controls, forecast accuracy, and business accountability.
• Lead initiatives to improve management reporting, analytical capabilities, processes, systems, and tools, simplify complexity and improve the speed and quality of decision-making.
• Identify and implement practical opportunities to use AI, automation, advanced analytics, and related technologies to reduce manual effort, enhance analysis, and create scalable efficiencies across Finance and the Division.
• Work across functions to resolve complex business and process challenges, constructively challenging established approaches when opportunities for improvement exist.
• Manage, coach, and develop a high-performing team of financial professionals while remaining actively engaged in analysis, problem-solving, and execution.
• Build an environment in which team members understand the business context behind their work, ask thoughtful questions, develop ideas, and take ownership for outcomes.
• Prioritize and drive multiple initiatives in a dynamic environment with competing demands and high expectations for quality and responsiveness.

Education

Minimum: Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, Economics, or related business field and 7+ years of experience in finance, financial planning, business operations, or related roles.

Preferred: Master’s degree in business administration, Finance, Accounting, or related discipline.

Experience

• Significant progressive experience in financial planning, business partnering, corporate finance, or business operations, including experience leading and developing professional-level employees.
• Demonstrated ability to operate successfully as both a people leader and an individual contributor, personally engaging in complex analysis and problem-solving when required.
• Intellectual curiosity and ability to quickly develop a deep understanding of complex businesses, processes, systems, data, and commercial models.
• Strong business analytics capabilities, with a demonstrated ability to identify root causes, develop insights, and translate analysis into actionable recommendations.
• Strong financial analysis, forecasting, scenario modeling, business performance management, and investment evaluation capabilities.
• Demonstrated success partnering with executives and senior leaders, influencing decisions without relying solely on positional authority, and driving complex issues toward resolution.
• Experience developing and implementing successful financial or operational strategies in a complex, cross-functional organization.

Other Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Executive presence and exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to simplify complex topics and communicate a clear point of view.
• Confident, constructive communication style; able to ask difficult questions, challenge assumptions, and push for outcomes while building trusted relationships.
• Strong understanding of accounting principles and financial management, with the ability to synthesize quantitative and qualitative information into an aligned recommendation and action plan.
• Highly self-motivated and comfortable operating with ambiguity; able to independently identify what needs to be done and drive work forward without extensive direction.
• Approachable and collaborative leadership style combined with high expectations for quality, accountability, and results.
• Advanced proficiency with financial modeling, Excel, PowerPoint, enterprise financial systems, data visualization, and analytical tools; comfort rapidly learning and adopting new technologies.

Location

Hybrid work schedule with an expectation of working approximately two days per week in the New York City office alongside the team.

To maintain a fair and genuine hiring process, we kindly ask that all candidates participate in interviews without the assistance of AI tools or external prompts. Our interview process is designed to assess your individual skills, experiences, and communication style. We value authenticity and want to ensure we’re getting to know you—not a digital assistant. To help maintain this integrity, we ask to remove virtual backgrounds and include in-person interviews in our hiring process. Please note that use of AI-generated responses or third-party support during interviews will be grounds for disqualification from the recruitment process.

Applicants may be required to appear onsite at a Wolters Kluwer office as part of the recruitment process.

Compensation:

Compensation range listed is based on primary location of the position.  Actual base salary offer is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skills, experience and actual hiring location. Your recruiter can share more information about the specific offer for the job location during the hiring process. 

Wolters Kluwer offers a wide variety of competitive benefits and programs to help meet your needs and balance your work and personal life, including but not limited to: Medical, Dental, & Vision Plans, 401(k), FSA/HSA, Commuter Benefits, Tuition Assistance Plan, Vacation and Sick Time, and Paid Parental Leave. Full details of our benefits are available upon request.