Director, Finance Analytics (Santa Clara)

Company Description

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks everything starts and ends with our mission:

Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life.
Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we’re looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are.

Who We Are

We take our mission of protecting the digital way of life seriously. We are relentless in protecting our customers and we believe that the unique ideas of every member of our team contributes to our collective success. Our values were crowdsourced by employees and are brought to life through each of us everyday - from disruptive innovation and collaboration, to execution. From showing up for each other with integrity to creating an environment where we all feel included.

As a member of our team, you will be shaping the future of cybersecurity. We work fast, value ongoing learning, and we respect each employee as a unique individual. Knowing we all have different needs, our development and personal wellbeing programs are designed to give you choice in how you are supported. This includes our FLEXBenefits wellbeing spending account with over 1,000 eligible items selected by employees, our mental and financial health resources, and our personalized learning opportunities - just to name a few!

At Palo Alto Networks, we believe in the power of collaboration and value in-person interactions. This is why our employees generally work full time from our office with flexibility offered where needed. This setup fosters casual conversations, problem-solving, and trusted relationships. Our goal is to create an environment where we all win with precision.

Job Description

Your Career

We are seeking a visionary and hands-on leader to establish and scale our Finance Analytics function. The Director, Finance Analytics will be a key partner to the finance leadership team, responsible for leading a high-performing, multi-disciplinary team to manage and deliver accurate reporting and deliver actionable insights that drive strategic decision-making across the function.

This is a unique opportunity for a player-coach who is passionate about building from the ground up. You will not only set the vision and strategy for finance analytics but also roll up your sleeves to guide your team in creating a robust data foundation and delivering critical reporting and analysis. You will be at the forefront of our data-driven culture, championing the use of AI and advanced analytics to unlock new levels of financial and operational excellence.

Your Impact

• Strategic Partnership: Collaborate closely with senior finance leaders to understand their strategic priorities and translate them into a clear roadmap for the Finance Analytics team.

• Team Leadership & Development: Build and manage a world-class team comprising data engineers, product managers, and a new team of finance analysts. Foster a culture of excellence, collaboration, and continuous learning, embracing a partnership model with the finance organization.

• Player-Coach Mentality: Act as a hands-on leader, providing guidance and mentorship to your team on everything from data architecture and engineering to data modeling and analysis.

• Financial Reporting & Insights: Own the end-to-end process for finance reporting, ensuring accuracy, accessibility, and timeliness. Move beyond standard reporting to deliver deep-dive analyses and predictive insights that inform key business decisions.

• AI-Powered Analytics: Champion the integration of AI and machine learning into all aspects of our data ecosystem, from data engineering and data quality to advanced analytics and data science, to enhance efficiency and predictive capabilities.

Qualifications

Your Experience

• Proven Leadership Experience: 10+ years of experience in data and analytics, with at least 5 years in a leadership role, preferably in a fast-paced enterprise software environment.

• Multi-Disciplinary Team Management: Demonstrated experience leading and mentoring diverse teams that include data engineers, data analysts and product managers.

• Nice to Have:

• Some background in data science with prior experience in application of ML modeling methods for finance use cases (ex: ML based revenue forecasting)

• Prior experience working in companies undergoing a transition from a contract-based to a subscription-based pricing model.

• Deep Financial Acumen: A strong understanding of financial principles, reporting, and planning.

• Broad Analytics Background: Proven experience leading data functions in at least two of the following areas: finance, go-to-market (GTM), and enterprise analytics.

• Technical Expertise:

  • Hands-on experience with modern data stacks (e.g., GCP)

  • Proficiency with BI and data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau).

  • A strong understanding of data modeling, data architecture, and ETL processes.

• Strategic Mindset: The ability to think strategically and translate business needs into technical requirements and actionable insights.

• Excellent Communication Skills: The ability to communicate complex data concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, including executive leadership.

Additional Information

The Team

Our shared mission to safeguard our digital way of life unites and drives us. You will join a multinational team building data and data science solutions to unlock significant business potential and boost productivity by resolving complex data problems. This involves developing innovative algorithms, predictive models, conducting advanced statistical analysis, and engineering scalable data pipelines. Your work will ultimately lead to data products and actionable insights that empower decision-making across the organization. You will be at the forefront of leveraging cutting-edge technologies and methodologies.
We believe in using AI to amplify, not replace, human intellect. We expect you to champion this mindset. You and your team will leverage the best tools available—from generative AI for code and analysis to agentic data science frameworks—to accelerate your impact.

Our Commitment
We’re problem solvers that take risks and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at .

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Compensation Disclosure

The compensation offered for this position will depend on qualifications, experience, and work location. For candidates who receive an offer at the posted level, the starting base salary (for non-sales roles) or base salary + commission target (for sales/commissioned roles) is expected to be between $0 - $0/YR. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be foundhere .

Our Commitment
We’re problem solvers that take risks and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at .

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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