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Cognite · 10 hours ago

Director of Financial Planning & Analysis

Phoenix, AZ

Full-time

Onsite

Director/Executive

8+ years exp

Cognite operates at the forefront of industrial digitalization, building AI and data solutions that solve some of the world’s hardest, highest-impact problems. The Director of FP&A will support Cognite’s Product organization, leading processes for budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis to influence AI product development strategies.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Industrial AutomationInformation TechnologyMachine LearningSaaS

Responsibilities

Budgeting and Forecasting: Develop and manage annual budgets, quarterly forecasts, and long-range planning for Product Development through zero-based budgeting for R&D

Investment Analysis: Lead ROI and NPV modeling for major initiatives, including new product introductions (NPI) and R&D investments

Performance Monitoring: Track and analyze product development spend, headcount, and resource allocation to ensure alignment with strategic priorities. Implement automation in reporting

Scenario Planning: Build financial models to evaluate trade-offs, risks, and opportunities for product roadmap decisions. Champion data-driven decision-making through advanced analytics

Business Partnering: Provide actionable insights and recommendations to engineering and product leaders to drive financial discipline and strategic decision-making

KPI Development: Define and monitor key metrics for product development efficiency, innovation ROI, and cost optimization

Governance & Compliance: Ensure adherence to corporate financial policies and support audit readiness for development-related expenditures

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with Product Management, Engineering, and Corporate Finance to align financial goals with business objectives

Strategic Projects: Support deal due diligence, pricing strategy, and capital allocation decisions impacting product development

Cloud support: Manage the accounting for Cloud including the management judgment for OPEX vs COGS split. Support software margin improvement work in partnership with IT and Sourcing team

Qualification

Financial ModelingSaaS Business ModelsCloud EconomicsBudget ManagementData VisualizationLeadershipCommunicationCollaboration

Required

Bachelor's or Masters degree in Finance, Accounting or related field; MBA preferred

8+ years of progressive finance experience, including leadership roles in FP&A

Prior experience partnering with Product Development or R&D organizations

Deep understanding of SaaS business models, including ARR/MRR, churn, CAC, LTV, and unit economics

Ability to forecast subscription revenue streams and model SaaS-specific KPIs

Familiarity with product lifecycle economics and cloud infrastructure cost drivers

Understanding of cloud and AI infrastructure cost cannot sit downstream of Product and Engineering decisions

Experience making cloud cost a strategic input—modeling and explaining tradeoffs between architecture options (compute vs. storage, managed services vs. build, multi-tenant vs. single-tenant, performance vs. margin) and helping teams choose paths that protect unit economics without blocking innovation

Ability to speak to GPU/CPU tradeoffs, inference vs. training costs, and region/latency choices in business terms, and turn these into financial narratives that influence senior technical leaders and shape roadmap, development velocity, and long-term margin

Advanced financial modeling and scenario analysis skills

Strong Excel skills

Comfort with data visualization and BI tools for executive reporting

Able to deliver independently, strong attention to detail

Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and act as a trusted advisor

Strong presentation skills and ability to simplify complex financial concepts for non-finance audiences

Collaborative mindset