Head, Operating Financial Planning and Analysis

at  Toronto Transit Commission

JOB INFORMATION

Requisition ID: 9596
Number of Vacancies: 1
Department: Financial Planning & Analysis-Operating (20001218) - H&S - Financial Planning & Analysis Oper (30000588)
Salary Information: $168,477.40 - $210,646.80
Pay Scale Group: 14SA (CAN/S/N/14SA)
Employment Type: Regular
Weekly Hours: 35 Off Days: Saturday and Sunday Shift: Day
Reports to: Executive Director, Finance
Date Posted: November 6th, 2024
Last Day to Apply: November 22nd, 2024
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), North America’s third largest transit system and recognized as one of the top places to work in the GTA has introduced its new 2024-2028 TTC Corporate Plan - Moving Toronto, Connecting Communities which continues the TTC’s legacy of delivering service to hundreds of millions of customers a year. The TTC’s new vision and mission statements also help promote the many environmental, social equity and economic benefits that the TTC provides:
Vision: Moving Toronto towards a more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous future.
Mission: To serve the needs of transit riders by providing a safe, reliable, efficient, and accessible mass public transit service through a seamless integrated network to create access to opportunity for everyone.
The full Plan can be viewed on ttc.ca.

POSITION SUMMARY

Reporting to the Executive Director of Finance, the Head of Operating Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) will provide strategic leadership and guidance on the development of corporate financial strategies, policies, tools and reporting for the organization’s operating planning & budgeting, financial management, and related activities.
Working in collaboration with business partners and senior leadership, the Head of Operating FP&A will provide strategic direction on all multi-year operational financial activities, establishing themselves as a trusted business partner to deliver the highest level of performance, quality, and customer service through relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Leading the corporate finance team and Business Partner Support teams, this role will oversee the development, planning, evaluation, monitoring, and reporting of financial plans related to operational budgeting and costing for services in the annual operating budget.
Additional areas of responsibility include overseeing corporate-level financial modelling to estimate future operating impacts of major organizational initiatives, assessing financial feasibility of various efficiency opportunities, supporting collective bargaining as appropriate, and leading and/or supporting financial and/or technical transformational programs.

KEY SKILLS & EXPERTISE

• Significant experience in progressively senior leadership roles in financial planning and management, forecasting and evaluation, policy development, project management, performance management and analysis.
• Extensive financial planning and management experience including multi-year service based planning, forecasting, budgeting and performance management in a major public or private sector organization.
• Proven leadership abilities, with a focus on coaching and mentoring diverse, multi-discipline management teams within an organization experiencing transformative change.
• Superior communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to facilitate, negotiate, resolve conflict, problem solve, and interact with all levels of the organization and external relationships including with outside agencies and/or elected officials.
• Proven ability to apply strategic, analytical and conceptual thinking skills to complex service offerings, operating and policy issues, evaluation frameworks, program interrelationships and the potential outcomes of policy actions.
• Experience with relevant government legislation in the area of governance, budgeting, financial reporting, service delivery, employee and labour relations, and occupational health and safety.
• Experience with enterprise budgeting/financial systems such as SAP; business intelligence tools for data analytics, modelling and forecasting, including implementation, sustainment and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated commitment to continuous learning due to the complexity and rapidly changing conditions and issues faced by finance executives.

EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Accounting or related discipline combined with extensive experience in a large, diverse corporate environment, preferably a comparable public sector organization OR a combination of education, training and experience deemed equivalent.
• Graduate degree in a related discipline is preferred.
• Professional accounting designation is a requirement.

The duties of this role will include but are not limited to the following:

• Oversee the development of corporate operating budget objectives, direction, guidelines and base budget data and assumptions upon which the budgets will be based.
• Lead the development and approval of the corporate annual Operating Budget, evaluate and support new budget requests according to business needs, provide recommendations to meet corporate objectives, and advise TTC Executives as needed.
• Collaborate with senior leadership to ensure key issues, integration points and interdependencies between Business Partners’ operations, plans and budgets are identified, analyzed and accounted for in all affected Operating and Capital Budgets.
• Oversee the preparation of monthly and/or quarterly financial update presentations for various internal Committees, utilizing data analytics, reports, and dashboards to present mitigating strategies and insights on financial project performance to senior leadership and the TTC Board.
• Deliver corporate operating financial performance and results with quarterly reporting to the TTC Board, City staff and City Council.
• Ensure corporate budgetary guidelines, directions, and submission requirements are understood by business partners; guide the development of multi-year operating budget submissions to ensure operating budget requests are submitted in accordance with all budgetary requirements.
• Oversee detailed evaluations of operating budget submissions and business performance information including detailed expenditure analysis and trends, relevant performance indicators and business case justifications for new funding.
• Lead the development, implementation and continuous improvement of policies and procedures that ensure staff are properly executing operating expenditures against contracts, defined scope, deliverables, milestones, payment schedules and approved funding.
• Establish additional costing and financial modelling methods to support the organization, including but not limited to full cost recovery for TTC work done at the request of third-parties, overhead and employee benefit cost allocations and provisions, and modal cost analysis.
• Provide guidance in financial modelling and analysis to estimate future operating budgeting / cost impacts of major and/or high-profile TTC initiatives, anticipate potential long-term operating budgeting issues and considerations, offer strategies to mitigate potential reputational and financial harm.
• Present relevant financial projections and results to internal and external parties such as the City of Toronto, Provincial and/or Federal Government.
• Advise and establish continuous improvement initiatives and best practices in financial planning and management.
• Act as a contact with Municipal, Provincial, Federal and external auditors as required.
• Monitor and evaluate the department’s service performance through key performance indicators, quantitative or qualitative that gauge service effectiveness and efficiency.
• Act as a financial SME; providing consultation and technical expertise on financial planning, budgeting, management and reporting to management and staff.
• Promote a respectful work and service environment that supports diversity, inclusion, and is free from harassment and discrimination. Provides leadership in the development and implementation of inclusive and accessible policies, programs and/or services for employees and customers in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code (OHRC), the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), and TTC’s policies.