Director, Commercial Finance

Position Title: Director, Commercial Finance

Requisition ID: R101355

Location: Irvine, CA

Full/Part-Time: Full time

About Us:

Learfield is the leading media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield’s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With data-based solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.

Our people-first culture is the foundation of our business and is reflective of our approach to building meaningful relationships with our employees, partners, and fans. The company strives each day to deliver the mission statement and embody the core values that make Learfield an exciting place to work.

Our Mission

Powering the connection of fans to the brands and experiences they love.

Our Core Values

Build Trust | Be Fans of One Another | Power Tomorrow | Create & Connect Communities | Have Fun

The Director of Commercial Finance serves as a financial subject-matter expert and strategic business partner for Paciolan. This role bridges finance and commercial operations—driving pricing strategy, client-level economic modeling, commission design, long-range planning, and client operations to ensure business decisions are financially sound and margin-accretive. The Director provides the analytical rigor and forward-looking insight that shapes go-to-market strategy, deal structuring, and profitability across Paciolan's revenue and cost base.

Pricing & Deal Economics

• Own the pricing framework across Paciolan: build, maintain, and govern pricing models, and evaluate the financial impact of pricing changes and new commercial structures.
• Evaluate the economics of large, complex client contracts and renewals, quantifying margin, gross-to-net treatment, and profitability implications before deals are signed.
• Partner on go-to-market and deal-structuring discussions, providing objective, pragmatic guidance that maximizes value for both client and business.

Commissions

• Shape the design of, model, and administer the commission and incentive framework, ensuring plans align financial outcomes with commercial objectives.
• Provide commission-related reporting and forecasting, partnering with sales leadership on plan effectiveness and cost.

Paciolan Financials

• Partner with FP&A on monthly forecasting, actuals reconciliation, and variance analysis against plan.
• Evaluate the economics of variable cost of sales to ensure accurate client profitability models.
• Lead financial reporting for Paciolan segments.

Long-Range Planning

• Partner with Strategy on Paciolan's long-range planning process, building multi-year financial models that align commercial strategy with resource allocation and growth targets.
• Partner with FP&A to incorporate the LRP into annual budgeting and quarterly forecasting cycles, and produce scenario analyses to inform strategic decisions.

Client Model Optimization

• Build and continuously refine client-level financial models to surface margin, retention, and profitability trends at the account level.
• Recommend initiatives to improve client economics, and identify cost-optimization and revenue opportunities.

Business Partnership & Reporting

• Develop and deliver clear financial reporting, dashboards, and executive presentation materials for Paciolan and Digital and Technology leadership audiences.
• Partner with cross-functional teams (sales, operations) to translate financial insight into action, explaining financial concepts clearly to non-finance stakeholders.
• Support contract review from a financial perspective, ensuring compliance with financial policies and contractual obligations.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field; MBA, CPA, or CFA preferred.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in commercial finance, FP&A, or a comparable financial leadership role, ideally within technology, SaaS, media, or a transaction/payments-intensive business.
• Demonstrated expertise in pricing, deal economics, incentive/commission design, P&L ownership, and long-range planning.
• Advanced financial modeling and Excel skills; experience with ERP and planning/BI platforms (e.g., Intacct, Abacum, or comparable).
• Strong commercial instinct, with the ability to identify issues, develop solutions, and influence senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to distill complex analysis into clear recommendations for executive audiences.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, matrixed environment while managing multiple priorities against deadlines.

The approximate national base pay range for this position is $160,000 to $200,000. Please note that this is a good faith estimate for the position at the time of posting. Individuals may also be eligible for an annual discretionary bonus and/or sales compensation based on individual and company performance. Placement on the range may vary based on factors including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, and geographic location. The pay rate will comply with all minimum federal, state, and local wage/salary requirements.

Learfield offers a full spectrum of benefits for eligible employees including Medical, Dental, Vision, Health Savings Account, Life Insurance and Other Insurance Plans, Flexible Paid Time Off (minimum 10+ days annually), including Parental Leave, 20 Paid Holidays, 401(k) + Match, and Short/Long Term Disability. Leave benefits are consistent with state and local laws, including the Colorado Health Families and Workplaces Act.

Learfield is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race; color; sex; gender identity; sexual orientation; religious practices and observances; national origin; pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; status as a protected veteran or spouse/family member of a protected veteran; or disability.

Equal employment opportunity, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

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