Finance Manager, Gaming Planning

Overview

At Microsoft Gaming, we are on a mission to bring the joy, excitement, and community of gaming to everyone on the planet. We deliver on that vision by putting players at the core, enabling you to play the games you want, with the people you want, anywhere you want. Governing economic performance, Finance is integral to making this vision a reality, supporting the entirety of our multi-billion-dollar business to expand and capture the gaming opportunity worldwide.

Within Finance, our Gaming Planning team has an exceptional mandate to continually develop and establish Gaming’s Long Range Plan that sets targets beyond the current Fiscal Year; and, in parallel, advise Gaming Finance leadership on critical decisions/initiatives that accelerate business growth and maximize long-term value creation.

In this hybrid role bridging finance & strategy, you will:

• Engage in cross-functional collaboration across a wide set of stakeholders including Central and Product Finance, Business Planning, Strategy, Business Development, and Product Management teams;
• Develop bespoke financial analysis and author strategic insights addressing business issues and opportunities that are top-of-mind for Gaming leadership; and
• Partner with leaders and stakeholders across the entire Gaming organization to deliver analysis and recommendations that influence high-impact decisions at the highest levels.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

Responsibilities

Analysis & Insights

• Underwrite Gaming’s long-term growth aspiration and value creation by contributing to long-range business & financial plans, prioritizing & right-sizing resource allocation, and rationalizing key decisions
• Guide holistic Gaming business through key opportunities & risks in areas such as hardware / platform distribution, subscription business model, cloud gaming adoption, and first party content monetization

Stakeholder Engagement & Alignment

• Generate well crafted 'stories': data-driven findings, recommendations, and implications to business partners to facilitate discussions and decision making
• Deliver & present with impact: communicate and advocate insights to business leaders and presents viewpoints with written documents (e.g., memos, reports, presentations) through multiple iterations of feedback and vetting

Business Intelligence

• Evolve Xbox financial/operational data reporting to drive more effective business tracking & analytics: examples include P&L analysis by country & by endpoints, Content Fund performance, customer lifetime value (LTV)

C-Level Advisory

• Address ad hoc queries/topics assigned by Xbox CFO: structure problem, engage relevant stakeholders, gather knowledge & data, and deliver valuable insights

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Economics, Data Science or related field OR Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Economics, Data Science or related field AND 2+ years experience in financial analysis, accounting, controllership, finance, or related field OR equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters Degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Economics, Data Science or related field AND 3+ years of post-graduate financial analysis, accounting, controllership or finance work experience OR Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Economics, Data Science or related field AND 5+ years of post-graduate financial analysis, accounting, controllership or finance work experience OR equivalent experience.
• Proficiency in strategic thinking to translate ambiguous business situations into actionable takeaways: problem structuring, quantitative & qualitative analysis, and business plan synthesis.
• Proven financial modeling skills with ability to utilize complex data sources, implement bespoke analytical frameworks, & generate robust conclusions.
• Excellent presentation & communication skills to deliver materials that efficiently & effectively convey complex strategic, financial, and analytical insights and recommendations to senior executives.
• Capacity to effectively prioritize across multiple workstreams, have attention to detail, and work under deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally and influence without authority. Acumen to act as trusted advisor and partner to stakeholders. Executive maturity and self-awareness.
• Ability to balance independent execution with collaborative alignment.
• Desire to produce high-quality work with a commitment to excellence.
• Experience in gaming or related consumer technology industry.
• Familiarity with digital content creation & distribution business models.
• Passion for gaming and understanding of industry trends and market dynamics.
• Growth mindset and willingness to experiment, learn, and iterate.

Key skills/competency

• Financial Analysis
• Strategic Planning
• Business Modeling
• Stakeholder Management
• Data Analytics
• Gaming Industry Acumen
• P&L Management
• Resource Allocation
• Executive Communication
• Business Intelligence