Senior Vice President, Finance

We are seeking an SVP, Finance to serve as a strategic business partner to agency leadership and provide financial and operational leadership across Omnicom Public Relations, Canada, consisting of Weber Shandwick, Golin Ketchum, FleishmanHillard and Porter Novelli. The successful candidate will be a results-driven, collaborative leader who brings strong financial acumen, sound judgement to support business decisions and drive performance. The role leads the finance team and will report to the CEO, OPR Canada and Mexico, and the CFO, Golin Ketchum. This position is based in Toronto and follows a hybrid work model, with an expectation of working in the office three days per week.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide leadership, mentorship and counsel to the finance team, building a high-performing function with strong individual development.
• Provide counsel to the Managing Director, CFO, CEO and senior leaders on the financial and operational performance of the business.
• Oversee the budget and forecasting processes to continually assess the state of the business, and report findings in a complete, timely and accurate manner.
• Drive the dissemination, review, understanding and usage of financial information across the business to support decision making.
• Drive financial performance through analysis of staff utilization, client profitability, working capital management (WIP and A/R), cash forecasting, and other key metrics, identifying opportunities and risk.
• Partner with CFO and leadership on client compensation planning, staffing models, utilization/billability, operations management and other matters impacting business performance.
• Drive effective month and quarter-end close processes.
• Ensure billing is completed accurately and on time, and support initiatives to improve the cycle and client billing efficiencies.
• Identify cost savings measures where appropriate. Act as primary finance approver on non-billable expenses, oversee client-billable spending, and ensure vendor integrity.
• Work with others (FDs, MDs, CFO, Exec team, Community and Practice leaders) on large RFP responses when appropriate.
• Work with HR on workforce planning and staffing needs, including resource planning and related compensation considerations.
• Consult with Business Affairs team (Legal) on contract and client matters including the review and negotiation of compensation and contract terms.
• Support all agency and parent company policies and procedures and collaborate internally and across other agencies to share knowledge and ensure best practices.

Required Skills:

• Leadership and Management skills to include: Problem solving, decision making, time management, strategic thinking, interpersonal communications, written and consultative communications, organization, partnership, mentorship, personal development (own and others), self-starter and self-guided.
• Client service skills to include: Team player attitude, commitment, patience, enthusiasm, creativity, comprehension, initiative, cooperation, attention to detail, resourcefulness.
• Professionalism to include: Confidence, good judgment, appropriate demeanor and appearance, ability to interact with all levels of employees and clients.
• General accounting: theory, practice, procedures and policies.

Qualifications:

• 15+ total years of experience, with increasing levels of responsibilities and portfolio.
• Experience leading a finance function within a complex, evolving business environment.
• Direct experience working with key leaders and managing staff.
• Experience in the communications industry (Public Relations, Advertising, Digital, Marketing, etc.), consulting or other similar service companies a plus.
• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business or related field is required.

Salary Range: $190,000 to 225,000 CAD

Weber Shandwick is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Weber Shandwick recruits qualified applicants without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or citizenship status.

$190,000 to 225,000 CAD

Omnicom’s policy requires employees to work in the office for a minimum of three days a week, unless additional in-office days are directed by their agency or manager. Our objective is to increase this requirement over time, and many of our agencies as well as Omnicom’s corporate group already require five days of in-office attendance.

Omnicom is committed to hiring and developing exceptional talent. We agree that talent is uniquely distributed, and we’re focused on developing inclusive teams that can bring the best solutions to everything we do. We strongly believe that celebrating what makes us different makes us better together. Join us—we look forward to getting to know you. We will process your personal data in accordance with our Recruitment Privacy Notice.