Director, Production Finance

This is a Full Time Job

Tennis Channel is seeking a hands-on Director, Production Finance to lead and manage production budgeting, forecasting, accounting, controls, reporting, and continuous improvement across Tennis Channel production activities. This role sits within Tennis Channel Corporate Finance & Accounting and reports to the Controller / VP Finance, serving primarily as the finance partner in support of the Head of Production & Programming and the related teams across live events, studio productions, original content, digital initiatives, creative, and production operations.

The Head of Production & Programming owns the department budget, including Creative budgets; the Director role supports that responsibility through production-related financial management, reporting, analysis, and decision support. The Director will work closely with Production, Programming, Rights & Acquisitions, Creative, Operations, Legal, HR and Finance & Accounting, as needed, to support the production-related financial responsibilities. This role is onsite and located in Santa Monica, CA.

In this role, you will…

Lead Strategic Production Finance & Planning
• Prepare annual production budgets, quarterly forecasts and long-range plans.
• Build financial models for productions/tournaments, seasonal coverage plans, and production cost centers to support staffing, resource allocation, and investment decisions.
• Lead PickleballTV joint venture production-related forecasting, actualization, and variance analysis in coordination with production leadership and Finance & Accounting.
• Prepare financial support for go/no-go decisions, cash flow, production economics, and financial risks.

Oversee Production Accounting & Financial Controls
• Lead production accounting, including job costing, accruals, amortization, and close support.
• Track production costs, commitments, vendor obligations, and talent costs to support accurate reporting.
• Review production payables and purchasing card activity for proper coding, approvals, and controls.
• Prepare forecast updates and cost variance explanations for FP&A, Accounting, and Production.

Drive Business Analytics & Executive Reporting
• Prepare KPI dashboards, forecast packages, cost summaries, and recurring reports for the Head of Production & Programming to support production planning, cost visibility, and decision making.
• Conduct post-event production cost reviews to explain variances, capture planning takeaways, and recommend improvements for upcoming productions.
• Summarize production financial insights for executive reporting and upcoming production planning.

Champion Continuous Improvement
• Improve budgeting, forecasting, accounting, reporting quality, forecast accuracy, and decision support.
• Develop cost benchmarks, productivity metrics, savings trackers, and performance indicators across productions, vendors, staffing, travel, and operations.
• Implement automation, AI-enabled tools, templates, and reporting improvements to increase efficiency and financial visibility.

Manage Financial Governance & Oversight
• Review production agreements, vendor arrangements, talent commitments, and related documents for financial terms, budget impact, cost tracking, and risks in support of the Head of Production & Programming.
• Coordinate with Legal, HR, Treasury, Tax, and Accounting as needed on production-related financial risks, labor costs, international requirements, cash flow, and compliance.
• Support international productions, including foreign costs, tax/VAT, payment timing, currency exposure, and compliance impacts.
• Maintain practical governance, controls, and processes that support growth, compliance, cost discipline, and operational effectiveness.

Provide Leadership & Team Development
• Provide day-to-day leadership, coaching, and support to the Production Finance team.
• Set priorities, goals, development plans, and operating rhythms.
• Foster accountability, collaboration, financial discipline, improvement, and data-driven decision making.

Key Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or related field.
• CPA preferred.
• 8 years of progressive experience in Production Finance, Production Accounting, Media Finance, FP&A, or related disciplines.
• Experience in live production, sports media, entertainment, streaming, digital media, or content businesses preferred.
• Strong hands-on financial modeling, budgeting, forecasting, accounting, controls, reporting, and analytical skills.
• Experience with project accounting, production costing, close support, operational budgets, and cost governance.
• Ability to partner with operational leaders and translate financial data into business recommendations.
• Experience with ERP/project costing systems, production accounting tools, Excel, and BI reporting; Oracle experience preferred.
• Strong communication, leadership, judgment, business partnership, and stakeholder management skills.