Associate Director Business Finance

Job Description Associate Director Business Finance ( Deeksha Vedantu) Location - Bangalore Working Days: 6 Days, In Office Key Responsibilities: This role focuses on comprehensive revenue planning rather than cost planning, overseeing the entire conversion journey Summary: - Mapping out the lead-to-admission pipeline, from lead generation to sales qualification, initial sales interactions, walk-ins, and finally, admissions - Strategically planning lead generation efforts and allocating the marketing budget based on conversion rates and channel-lead ROI - Integrating marketing and sales budgets to optimize resource and capital deployment - Developing and implementing course/product strategies and go-to-market (GTM) interventions - Establishing sales excellence models and performance tracking systems - Conducting root cause analysis (RCA) on planned vs. actual performance across channels, lead sources, and conversion rates (CVR) to identify and implement corrective actions - Ensuring in-depth, detailed visibility of each stage in the funnel Responsibilities A. Revenue, Sales & Marketing Planning (70%) 1. Annual Operating Plan (AOP) & Monthly Business Planning • Co-own the AOP process with the Business Head, Category Leads, Sales, Marketing, and Finance — from revenue target setting and funnel assumptions to final plan sign-off. • Break annual targets into monthly, weekly, and channel-level plans; own the cascade of targets across all stakeholders and functions. • Run structured Monthly Business Reviews (MBRs) — tracking plan vs. actuals, identifying gaps early, and aligning corrective action owners with clear timelines. • Maintain a live monthly planning tracker across leads, conversions, revenue, and costs — updated and shared proactively. 2. Revenue Funnel Planning & Tracking • Own end-to-end visibility of the lead-to-revenue funnel: lead generation → marketing qualified leads (MQLs) → sales qualified leads (SQLs) → trials/demos → conversions → renewals. • Plan lead volumes, conversion rate benchmarks, and revenue outcomes by course, category, channel, and cohort — and hold each stage of the funnel accountable. • Build and maintain dashboards to track funnel health in real time; surface early warning signals before they translate into a revenue miss. 3. Sales & Marketing Channel Strategy & Budget Planning • Partner with marketing leads to build channel-wise lead budgets grounded in CPL, channel CVR, and ROI — ensuring spend is performance-linked, not just historical. • Evaluate and recommend reallocation of marketing budgets across channels — scaling high-ROI sources, rationalizing underperformers. • Work with Sales Head to build sales productivity models: revenue target per head, funnel throughput per rep, and team sizing vs. plan. • Integrate marketing and sales budgets into a unified revenue plan — no siloed planning. 4. Root Cause Analysis (RCA) — Plan vs. Achievement • Lead structured RCAs whenever revenue deviates from plan — dissecting by channel, lead source, category, funnel stage, cohort, and time period. • Translate RCA findings into corrective actions with named owners, timelines, and success metrics — not just diagnosis, but recovery planning. • Present RCA outputs to Sales Head, Marketing Leads, Category Leads, Academics Head, and Business Head — with solutions, not just slides. • Maintain a living tracker of open RCA actions and their status across functions. 5. Course & Category-wise Revenue Strategy • Partner with Category Leads and the Academics Head to build course-level revenue targets, pricing strategies, and GTM intervention plans. • Track category performance: enrollments, revenue per student, dropout rates, renewal rates, and course-level contribution margins. • Build business cases for new course launches or pricing changes, including market sizing, competitive benchmarking, and projected ROI. 6. Performance Reporting & Business Intelligence • Own the performance reporting cadence — daily/weekly/monthly — with clear accountability mapped to each KPI. • Build and manage dashboards across revenue, sales productivity, marketing efficiency, and funnel health. • Prepare crisp, insight-driven decks for Business Head and senior leadership reviews — distilling complexity into decision-ready outputs. B. Cost, Headcount & Investment Planning (30%) 7. Headcount Planning & Resource Budgeting • Plan and track headcount requirements across sales, marketing, and operations — aligned to revenue targets and per-head productivity benchmarks. • Collaborate with functional heads to build hiring plans, role-level budgets, and cost-per-hire models for the AOP cycle. • Flag headcount risks proactively — over-hiring against a revenue shortfall, or under-hiring against an aggressive plan. 8. Marketing Spend Governance & Efficiency • Own marketing budget tracking — planned vs. actual spend by channel, campaign, and period; update in real time. • Monitor marketing efficiency ratios (CAC, CPL, ROAS, payback period) and call out inefficiencies with recommended actions. • Flag budget overruns or reallocation opportunities in real time — do not wait for month-end reviews. 9. Course-wise P&L Tracking • Maintain course-level P&L visibility — revenue, direct variable costs, contribution margins, and profitability trends by cohort. • Identify underperforming courses or categories early; propose strategic or operational interventions to course heads and BH. • Ensure P&L data is granular, trusted, and decision-ready — not a backward-looking report, but a forward-looking signal. 10. New Investment Evaluation & ROI Tracking • Evaluate business cases for new investments — course launches, technology tools, marketing experiments, and team expansions. • Build financial models and ROI frameworks to support go/no-go decisions; set clear return expectations and payback timelines. • Track post-investment outcomes vs. projections; close the loop with stakeholders and inform future investment decisions. 11. Risk Identification, Call-outs & Contingency Planning • Proactively identify financial and operational risks across revenue and cost — and present solutions alongside the flag, not separately. • Develop contingency plans for high-probability scenarios: demand softness, channel saturation, CAC inflation, cost overruns. • Maintain a live risk register with impact assessments, probability ratings, and mitigation owners — reviewed at every MBR. Qualifications ● Bachelor & Master degree from tier 1 college ● 4+ years of experience in revenue planning, growth planning , conversion/sales strategy business planning, financial analysis, or strategic planning roles. ● Strong financial modeling and data analysis skills, with experience in using advanced analytics tools and software. ● Proven track record in developing and executing business plans in a corporate environment. ● Excellent communication and presentation skills with experience presenting to senior leadership. ● Strong project management skills, with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple initiatives. ● Strategic thinker with excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.