Finance Manager - Entertainment

Conexus - Burbank, CA, United States

Our entertainment client seeks an Interim Finance Manager for a 9 month project. This role is in office 3 days per week, with 2 days remote.

 

Position Overview:

The Finance Manager will play a critical role in managing and forecasting development-related investments across a portfolio of projects. This position combines traditional financial planning and analysis responsibilities with hands-on ownership of development pacing, close activities, and stakeholder alignment. The ideal candidate has a strong background in FP&A, excellent communication skills, and the ability to navigate complex cross-functional environments.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Finance, this role will serve as a key business partner to teams across the business. You will be responsible for delivering accurate forecasts, overseeing budget performance, and ensuring alignment across teams on the financial status of development initiatives. This is a highly visible position that will contribute to strategic decision-making, budget prioritization, and the overall financial health of the development pipeline.

 

Key Responsibilities:

Financial Planning & Analysis

  • Lead budgeting and forecasting for all development-related expenses across multiple studios, business units, and content categories.
  • Analyze monthly and quarterly financial performance, providing insight into key variances and trends across actuals, forecast, and prior periods.
  • Develop and maintain financial models to support scenario planning and long-range planning efforts for development investments.
  • Present financial updates, risk assessments, and ROI analyses to senior leadership to support strategic investment decisions.
  • Build dashboards and reports that enable teams to monitor spend and progress against financial targets in real-time.

Development Spend Tracking & Pacing

  • Manage monthly and quarterly pacing submissions for development projects, including recoupments, talent deals, and vendor activity.
  • Track spending against approved budgets and identify risks or overruns early, enabling course correction before they impact overall results.
  • Consolidate and synthesize pacing inputs from various stakeholders to ensure consistent and reliable reporting at the division and corporate level.
  • Maintain centralized visibility of all development financials, highlighting areas of overspend or underspend to functional partners.

Month-End and Quarter-End Close Support

  • Partner with the Controllership team to support close activities, including preparation and review of journal entries related to accruals, recoupments, intercompany charges, and cost transfers to production.
  • Ensure the integrity of development-related account balances by reviewing reconciliations and substantiating entries with documentation.
  • Coordinate with external and internal auditors during quarterly and year-end audit processes, ensuring timely and accurate information delivery.
  • Review and manage quarterly long-term commitment disclosures for inclusion in consolidated financial reporting packages.

Budget Ownership & Cross-Functional Coordination

  • Reconcile financial information across platforms used by Creative, Business Affairs, and Studio Finance teams.
  • Work closely with business partners to validate project status and approval stage, ensuring that only authorized activity flows through to budget forecasts and actuals.
  • Drive alignment and accountability across stakeholders to promote financial discipline and transparency.

Vendor Payments & Expense Management

  • Oversee the review and approval of vendor payment requests related to script development, options, rights acquisitions, and milestone-based deliverables.
  • Ensure compliance with company policy, accurate cost center attribution, and proper documentation to support internal controls and audit readiness.
  • Monitor and support timely processing of expense reimbursements, identifying and resolving discrepancies or policy exceptions in coordination with AP and Legal.
  • Proactively identify process gaps and recommend improvements to streamline payment workflows and strengthen oversight.

 

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or related field (MBA or CPA preferred)
  • 5–8 years of progressive experience in FP&A; entertainment/media industry experience a plus
  • Strong analytical and modeling skills, with the ability to synthesize complex data into actionable insights
  • Advanced proficiency in Excel and experience with ERP and planning systems (e.g., Oracle, SAP, Adaptive Insights, Anaplan)
  • Excellent communication skills and ability to collaborate across functional teams and executive stakeholders
  • Strong attention to detail with a proactive and solutions-oriented mindset
  • Comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment and managing multiple priorities with competing deadlines


Posted On: Monday, July 7, 2025
Compensation: Up to $80/hr



Apply to this job