Senior Manager, Workforce Planning

This is a Full Time Job

Sr Manager, Workforce Planning (Project Hire)

Location: Burbank, California, United States; Orlando, Florida, United States

Job Summary:

As Sr. Manager, Workforce Planning (Project Hire), you will lead the workforce planning and forecasting function that informs headcount, capacity, and talent decisions across the organization. Operating within the Corporate segment, you will act as a strategic partner to HR, Finance, and senior leaders by providing clear, data-driven insights that align workforce strategy to business priorities, financial targets, and long-term organizational needs.

Responsibilities:
As Sr. Manager, Workforce Planning (Project Hire), you will lead the design and execution of workforce planning while mentoring a team of specialists to deliver accurate, trusted insights. You will collaborate with cross-functional partners to interpret scenarios, guide trade-off decisions, and standardize planning processes that are scalable, well-governed, and aligned with the company's strategic priorities. This role matters because it ensures the right talent and capacity are in place at the right time, requiring a knowledgeable, strategic, and collaborative leader who can prioritize effectively, influence senior stakeholders, and inspire high performance across multiple teams.
• Own AOP labor plans, forecasts, and scenario modeling outputs
• Define and maintain headcount planning frameworks and assumptions
• Integrate workforce planning with financial planning cycles and processes
• Lead capacity planning methodology and application
• Own variance explanations and executive-level narratives
• Ensure data integrity, consistency, and quality of planning outputs
• Drive process improvements and automation roadmap for planning
• Ensures consistency and alignment between workforce plans and financial plans
• Owns final planning narratives presented to executives
• Serves as primary partner to HRBPs, Finance, and business leaders
• Ensures compliance with COE planning playbooks, decision frameworks, and engagement model
• Accountable for evolving and operationalizing the workforce planning model
• Leads and develops a team of workforce analysts
• Assigns work, sets priorities, and ensures quality of outputs
• Accountable for team performance and delivery consistency

Required Qualifications
• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Business, Economics, Data Analytics, Human Resources, or a related quantitative or business discipline or equivalent work experience
• 10+ years of relevant experience in workforce planning, financial planning and analysis, or related strategic planning roles, with a minimum 3 years in people management.
• Strong expertise in workforce planning, headcount and capacity planning, and labor forecasting in a
complex, matrixed organization.
• Advanced analytical and quantitative skills, including scenario modeling, variance analysis, and translating data into clear business insights.
• Proficiency with workforce planning tools and spreadsheets, and familiarity with financial planning and reporting systems.
• Excellent stakeholder management and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence and partner effectively with HR, Finance, and senior business leaders.
• Proven leadership capabilities, including mentoring, coaching, and developing high-performing teams of professional staff.
• Strong strategic thinking, planning, and prioritization skills, with the ability to align team efforts to organizational goals.
• Exceptional communication skills, including the ability to craft and present executive-ready narratives and recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to drive process improvement, standardization, and automation within planning or analytics functions.

Preferred Qualifications
• Experience in a large, global corporate environment, ideally within media, entertainment, or other innovative industries.
• Background working in or closely with Centers of Excellence (COEs) for HR, Finance, or workforce analytics.
• Experience implementing or optimizing workforce planning technologies and automation solutions.
• Track record of leading cross-functional initiatives that enhance planning accuracy, governance, and scalability.
• Professional certification in workforce planning, HR analytics, finance, or project management.
• Master's Degree in Business Administration, Finance, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Data Science, or a related field.