TBM Strategy & Planning Director

The next part of your journey is right around the corner — with The Standard.

A genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of others is the foundation for everything we do. With a customer-first mindset and an intentional focus on building strong teams, we’ve been able to uphold our legacy of financial stability while investing in new, innovative technologies that support the needs of our customers. Our high-performance culture focused on operational excellence thrives thanks to remarkable people united by compassion and a customer-first commitment. Are you ready to make a difference?

Job Summary:

The TBM Strategy and Planning Director is a senior, high-impact role within IT Finance & Analytics focused on improving expense-management discipline, transparency, and value realization across product and technology spend. As a trusted advisor to IT, Business and Corporate Finance leadership, the role shapes and supports the IT optimization agenda using Technology Business Management (TBM), and FinOps best practice—translating insights into decision-ready recommendations and governance materials that drive sustained improvements in expense-management discipline and transparency. This role provides enterprise visibility and influence across the organization’s most transformative product and technology initiatives, without direct people management responsibilities.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

30% - Enterprise Cost & Value Optimization Strategy

Lead and shape enterprise technology cost optimization and value realization initiatives by:

• Defining and evolving the IT cost optimization strategy and roadmap in alignment with enterprise and IT priorities
• Identifying and framing high-impact opportunities to improve cost efficiency, productivity, and value delivery across product and technology spend
• Influencing investment prioritization and trade-off decisions across cost, risk, and value at the portfolio level
• Partnering with IT, Finance, and supplier management leaders to drive execution of strategic initiatives with measurable business outcomes

25% - Executive Decision Support & Financial Insight Leadership

Provide enterprise-level decision support and thought leadership through:

• Developing advanced financial models, scenario analyses, and unit economics to evaluate strategic options and investments
• Translating complex data into clear, decision-ready insights for senior leaders and executive forums
• Anticipating and articulating business implications, risks, and trade-offs across multiple scenarios
• Challenging assumptions and providing independent, data-driven perspectives to improve decision quality

20% - TBM / FinOps Thought Leadership & Capability Development

Serve as a company-wide subject matter expert and advance TBM, Value Management and FinOps capabilities by:

• Defining and standardizing methodologies, frameworks, and best practices for cost transparency, unit costing, and financial governance
• Embedding TBM- and FinOps-enabled insights into financial planning, forecasting, and operational management processes
• Developing scalable tools, playbooks, and metrics (e.g., cost per service, cost per user) to enable consistent adoption across IT and Finance
• Educating and influencing leaders to adopt new financial management practices and improve decision discipline

15% - Governance, Value Realization & Performance Transparency

Strengthen financial governance and ensure realization of planned outcomes by:

• Designing and implementing governance frameworks that improve visibility into cost, value, and performance across initiatives
• Establishing measurement approaches and controls to track benefits, validate assumptions, and ensure accountability
• Driving transparency into consumption, cost drivers, and financial performance across technology services
• Providing regular, structured reporting to inform leadership oversight and decision-making

10% Cross-Functional Leadership & Strategic Influence

Lead complex, cross-functional initiatives and influence enterprise stakeholders by:

• Serving as a trusted advisor and primary point of contact for senior IT and business leaders
• Leading multidisciplinary workstreams with significant complexity, ambiguity, and organizational impact
• Aligning stakeholders on methodologies, assumptions, and execution plans across functions
• Building strong relationships to influence outcomes without direct authority

Other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Financial & Analytical Expertise

• Advanced expertise in financial modeling, cost analysis, and unit economics, including the ability to evaluate complex investment trade-offs and quantify value across large-scale technology initiatives
• Deep knowledge of IT financial management practices, including budgeting, forecasting, cost allocation, and capital investment analysis
• Ability to synthesize large, complex datasets into actionable insights that inform senior leadership decisions

Technology Business Management (TBM) & FinOps

• Strong understanding of Technology Business Management (TBM) framework, including cost transparency, service costing, and consumption -based financial management
• Ability to design and implement scalable methodologies, metrics, and governance models that improve financial transparency and decision discipline
• Knowledge of technology cost drivers (e.g., infrastructure, cloud, applications) and industry best practices for optimization

Strategic Thinking & Problem Solving

• Demonstrated ability to frame and solve ambiguous, high-impact business problems using structured thinking and innovative approaches
• Ability to connect financial insights to enterprise strategy, identifying opportunities to optimize operating models and improve business performance
• Applies conceptual and systems-level thinking to evaluate long-term implications, risks, and trade-offs

Executive Communication & Influence

• Exceptional ability to translate complex financial and technical concepts into clear, compelling narratives for senior leaders
• Proven effectiveness in influencing decisions and driving alignment across diverse stakeholder groups without direct authority
• Ability to anticipate objections, challenge assumptions, and guide leadership to informed decisions

Cross-Functional Leadership & Collaboration

• Demonstrated success leading complex, cross-functional initiatives involving IT, Finance, and business stakeholders
• Ability to build trusted relationships and align stakeholders on shared goals, methodologies, and outcomes
• Skilled at navigating organizational complexity, competing priorities, and ambiguity

Tools & Technical Capabilities

• Advanced proficiency in Excel, Power BI, DAX, SQL, and data modeling tools such as Alteryx; ability to leverage technology to automate, scale, and enhance analysis
• Familiarity with TBM / financial management and planning platforms (e.g., Apptio One and TargetProcess) and enterprise systems (e.g., ERP, Service Desk, or HR tools)

Job Specifications:

• Required education: Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Analytics, or related quantitative field.
• Preferred education: MBA or advanced business degree preferred.
• Required experience:

• 8-10 years in finance, or management consulting, including deep experience in IT financial management, cost optimization, and operating model transformation.

• Preferred experience:

• Experience working on large transformation programs and estimating cost synergies from strategic M&A programs.
• Expertise with Apptio One, Cloudability, Flexera, JIRA, ServiceNow and Workday Financials
• Working knowledge of Python, and AI prompting with Copilot or Claude Code
• Experience using tools like Copilot and ChatGPT/Claude to test hypotheses and accelerate data insights
• Preferred professional licensure or certification: CPA, CMA, FPAC, CTBME or FinOps Certified Practitioner

Location:

•  Employees in this role are eligible for fully remote work (other than periodic in-person meetings or other periodic business travel).

Travel Requirements:

•  Occasional travel only (such as for planning purposes, team-building, or conferences) may be required.

Physical Requirements:

• N/A

We have built an enduring legacy of stability, financial strength and exceptional customer service through the contributions of the service-oriented people who choose to work at The Standard. To ensure we can attract and retain the best talent, when you join The Standard you can expect:

• A rich benefits package including medical, dental, vision and a 401(k) plan with matching company contributions

• An annual incentive bonus plan

• Generous paid time off including 11 holidays, 2 wellness days, and 8 volunteer hours annually — PTO increases with tenure

• A supportive, responsive management approach and opportunities for career growth and advancement 

• Paid parental leave and adoption/surrogacy assistance

• An employee giving program that double matches your donations to eligible nonprofits and schools

In addition to the competitive salary range below, our employee-focused benefits support work-life balance. Learn more about working at The Standard.

• Eligibility to participate in an incentive program is subject to the rules governing the program and plan. Any award depends on a variety of factors including individual and organizational performance.

The actual compensation for this role will be based on a combination of education and experience, knowledge and skills, position budget, internal equity, and market data.

Salary Range:

Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, Inc., StanCorp Mortgage Investors, LLC, StanCorp Investment Advisers, Inc., and American Heritage Life Insurance Company and American Heritage Service Company, marketed as The Standard, are Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or veteran status or any other condition protected by federal, state or local law. Except where precluded by state or federal law, The Standard will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. The Standard offers a drug- and alcohol-free work environment where possession, manufacture, transfer, offer, use of or being impaired by an illegal substance while on The Standard's property, or in other cases which the company believes might affect operations, safety or reputation of the company is prohibited. The Standard requires a criminal background investigation and employment, education and licensing verification as a condition of employment. After any conditional offer of employment is made, the background check will include an individualized assessment based on the applicant’s specific record and the duties and requirements of the specific job. Applicants will be provided an opportunity to explain and correct background information. All employees of The Standard must be bondable.