Also called: Director of Financial Planning
Leads Financial Planning & Analysis: the team that builds budgets, forecasts and explains the numbers to leaders.
You present next year's budget to executives, defend why marketing should get $5 million less, and update the forecast after a big customer leaves.
Financial managers' BLS median is about $166k (May 2025), with high earners top-coded; large-company executives earn far more through bonuses and stock.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 12 years after high school. Bachelor's in finance; MBA common; 10+ years of experience.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Finance, Accounting, Economics.
Growing much faster than average (about 10% over 10 years). Tracks financial managers.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI builds forecasts and variance commentary, so FP&A teams get smaller; the director who advises executives on tradeoffs remains.
Classes: AP Statistics, Accounting, AP Macroeconomics, Speech.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-3031.
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