Remote opportunity at
Wikimedia FoundationLead Financial Analyst, Strategic Business Partner – Product & Technology
The Wikimedia Foundation operates Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects, aiming to help every person share in all human knowledge. The organization seeks a Lead Financial…
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About This Role
The Wikimedia Foundation operates Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects, aiming to help every person share in all human knowledge. The organization seeks a Lead Financial Analyst to operate as a strategic business partner for its Product and Technology department, overseeing a budget exceeding $100 million. This position serves as a key financial advisor alongside engineering and product leaders, helping evaluate investment tradeoffs and turning roadmaps into concrete budgets and…
Job Description
The Wikimedia Foundation operates Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects, aiming to help every person share in all human knowledge. The organization seeks a Lead Financial Analyst to operate as a strategic business partner for its Product and Technology department, overseeing a budget exceeding $100 million. This position serves as a key financial advisor alongside engineering and product leaders, helping evaluate investment tradeoffs and turning roadmaps into concrete budgets and forecasts. Operating as part of a globally distributed team, this role requires close collaboration with the Chief of Product and Technology and the Chief Financial Officer.
This role prioritizes business partnership first and financial planning and analysis second. Responsibilities include managing capital expenditures for data centers, vendor spend optimization, financial modeling, and guiding software capitalization. In addition to serving as a partner to technical divisions, the position acts as the most senior analyst on the team, mentoring other staff members and driving process improvements.
This is a remote position open to candidates located between UTC-8 and UTC+1, with specific geographic eligibility restrictions for hires based in the United States and designated international countries. Travel expectations involve two to three trips annually for department offsites, strategy alignment, and global community conferences.
Responsibilities
- Act as the lead finance partner to department leaders and budget owners to inform prioritization and investment trade-offs
- Join roadmap and planning conversations early to provide the voice of finance and highlight risks before commitments are made
- Translate roadmaps from teams such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Site Reliability Engineering, and Data Engineering into budgets, forecasts, and headcount plans
- Lead annual budgeting, quarterly reforecasting, and multi-year planning for assigned departments
- Facilitate vendor spend optimization across cloud hosting, software, and contractor support
- Lead infrastructure and data center capital expenditure planning, including capacity, hardware refreshes, and depreciation
- Partner with Accounting on software capitalization, project classification, and labor cost tracking
- Lead month-end close, forecasting, and variance analysis with clear commentary on performance drivers
- Present resource plans and financial results to executive leaders including the Chief of Product and Technology and Chief Financial Officer
- Coach and mentor FP&A analysts on modeling, stakeholder partnership, and executive communication
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree
- Seven or more years of experience in corporate finance, financial business partnering, or FP&A
- Demonstrated experience supporting a technology, engineering, or product organization
- Strong financial modeling and analytical skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with experience presenting to executives
- Track record of building credibility with senior stakeholders and influencing without authority
- Experience supporting multiple divisions simultaneously while leading process improvement projects
Qualifications
- Master of Business Administration degree
- Certified Public Accountant designation
- Tech-specific planning experience such as infrastructure capital expenditures or software capitalization under ASC 350-40
- Experience using Workday Adaptive Planning
- Finance business intelligence and reporting experience
- Background in a nonprofit, open-source, or mission-driven organization
Core Skills
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers are based only on the employer’s listing; where it doesn’t say, neither do we.
Is this position remote?
Yes, this role is remote and open to applicants between UTC-8 and UTC+1 who reside in specific eligible United States states or designated countries.
What is the salary range for this role?
For applicants based within the United States, the anticipated annual pay range is $110,000 to $181,000, determined by factors such as location and cost of living. For international applicants, pay is adjusted to the country of hire.
What level of experience is required?
Candidates must have a bachelor's degree and seven or more years of experience in FP&A, corporate finance, or financial business partnering, including prior experience supporting a product, engineering, or technology organization.
Are there travel requirements for this position?
Yes, the role requires traveling two to three times per year for the annual department offsite, strategy alignment with leadership, and global community conferences.
Sample Interview Questions
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