Financial Close and Operational Effectiveness Director

Job Description:

Providing for loved ones, planning rewarding retirements, saving enough for whatever lies ahead – our policyholders count on us to be there when it matters most. It’s a big ask, but it’s one that we have the power to deliver when we work together. We collaborate and innovate – pushing one another to transform not just Pacific Life, but the entire industry for the better. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do. Pacific Life is more than a job, it’s a career with purpose. It’s a career where you have the support, balance, and resources to make a positive impact on the future – including your own. 
 

We’re actively seeking a talented Financial Close and Effectiveness Director to join our Accounting & Reporting team in Newport Beach, CA.
 

• This role is on-site. You’ll work at our state-of-the-art Newport Beach headquarters.

As a Financial Close and Effectiveness Director, you’ll move Pacific Life, and your career, forward by project managing the finance transformation through financial close and reporting processes on multiple bases of accounting for a complex insurance organization.  You will report to the VP, Divisional Accounting and Accounting Operations and will be an individual contributor.  You will partner with teams across the enterprise including Valuation, Tax, Enterprise Finance Solutions, Capital Management, and Divisional Accounting. You will demonstrate accountability, agility, a dedication to be inclusivity, strong business acumen, and will show courage, even in the most difficult situations. Effective communication skills will be key to successful relationship-building and articulating the reasoning and bases for your recommendations and conclusions. You will demonstrate an inquisitive approach, asking probing questions to identify issues with specificity.

How you’ll help move us forward:

You will be responsible for leading the end-to-end financial close and reporting processes, while maintaining effective controls:

• Independently lead, project manage, and drive the enterprise close process to ensure accurate, timely and efficient execution of the close process and reporting process across all teams including Investments, Valuation, Divisional Accounting, Reinsurance Accounting, Accounting Operations, Variable Products Accounting (VPA) where applicable, Financial Reporting, FP&A and Tax.

• Includes all bases of accounting, US GAAP, Statutory, Adjusted Operating Income and includes Economic Value/Economic Capital (EV/EC) (future state)

• Lead the daily close meetings and understanding process interdependences and identify key roadblocks for the Financial Close and Reporting calendar and drive solutions

• Serve as a subject matter expert for the current‑state close, partnering with the Finance Transformation team to assess impacts of future‑state changes. Adjust close calendars, dependencies, and timelines based on evolving project plans and system changes. 

• Operate effectively in an environment with ongoing change, evolving requirements, and uncertainty. 

• Manage and track accountability for the retrospective close tracker opportunities and related execution of improvements.  Lead retrospectives and identify immediate and near-term solutions

• Support problem management by tracking all issues identified during the Close and Financial Reporting processes which results in any errors or delays.  Ensure accurate issue capture in ADO. 

• Develop and maintain a close calendar with key milestones in a project plan (e.g. leveraging Microsoft Project), with appropriate level of tasks, level 1, 2 and 3 milestones and appropriate responsible parties

• Support future state acceleration of the close timeline. 

• Effectively communicate results to senior management in enabling timely strategic decision making.

• Clearly articulate the status of financial close process to leadership on a regular cadence including highlighting any upstream and downstream dependencies and impact of those to the overall close process timeline Manage enterprise close task management tool process (FCCS) and leverage tool to create metrics

• Support business as usual (BAU) team in the creation and redesign of the FCCS close tasks to align with future state taxonomy (supplement BAU team resources to meet Finance Transformation requirements)

• Lead the pre-planning meetings for quarterly close process and understand the impact of the key quarterly transactions and any impacts to the close timeline and proposed risk mitigation plans

• Prepare key metrics for Pacific Life Accounting & Reporting (PL A&R) including the financial close and reporting processes

The experience you bring:

• Enterprise financial systems background or exposure preferred

• Experience in ADO, and project management software

• Experience in Oracle FCCS and Workiva (Wdesk) is preferred, but not required

• Minimum 10 years of experience in financial close management, project or process management role, financial transformation or other financial operations role

• Significant insurance, reinsurance, financial services and/or operational experience is preferred

• Actuarial operations and systems experience is preferred

• Leadership experience required.  Ability to manage multiple teams and influence others without a direct reporting relationship. 

• Well-developed oral and written communication skills.

• Undergraduate degree preferred with strong financial accounting foundation

People come first here. We’re committed to an inclusive workforce. Learn more about how we create a welcoming work environment through Inclusion at www.pacificlife.com. What’s life like at Pacific Life? Visit Instagram.com/lifeatpacificlife. 
 

#LI-TM1

Base Pay Range:

The base pay range noted represents the company’s good faith minimum and maximum range for this role at the time of posting. The actual compensation offered to a candidate will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to experience, qualifications and geographic location. Also, most employees are eligible for additional incentive pay.

Your Benefits Start Day 1  
 

Your wellbeing is important to Pacific Life, and we’re committed to providing you with flexible benefits that you can tailor to meet your needs. Whether you are focusing on your physical, financial, emotional, or social wellbeing, we’ve got you covered.

• Prioritization of your health and well-being including Medical, Dental, Vision, and Wellbeing Reimbursement Account that can be used on yourself or your eligible dependents

• Generous paid time off options including: Paid Time Off, Holiday Schedules, and Financial Planning Time Off

• Paid Parental Leave as well as an Adoption Assistance Program

• Competitive 401k savings plan with company match and an additional contribution regardless of participation

You Can Be Who You Are

We are committed to a culture of diversity and inclusion that embraces the authenticity of all employees, partners and communities. We support all employees to thrive and achieve their fullest potential.

What’s life like at Pacific Life? Visit Instagram.com/lifeatpacificlife

EEO Statement:

Pacific Life Insurance Company is an Equal Opportunity /Affirmative Action Employer, M/F/D/V. If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you have the right to request an accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career center as a result of your disability. To request an accommodation, contact a Human Resources Representative at Pacific Life Insurance Company.