Engineering Business Budget Forecasting & Research Manager

What You'll Do

Financial Management, Forecasting & Capital Planning  

• Lead  financial planning, forecasting, and budget management  for the ARC organization across capital, expense, and headcount. 

• Analyze  cost structures, ROI, and investment trade ‑ offs  to support data‑driven decision‑making and prioritization. 

• Monitor spend, identify variances, and recommend  corrective actions  to maintain financial discipline. 

• Own or support  NPP ARs and investment cases ; ensure proposals are aligned with strategic and financial goals. 

• Evaluate  ROI and trade ‑ offs  to guide decisions on project sequencing, scope, and timing; identify and track  offsets  for critical projects. 

• Forecast unapproved projects to support  accurate out ‑ year and Long ‑ Term Plan (LTP)  planning and performance tracking. 

• Ensure  capital cash  and other financial targets are met; lead finance‑driven requests for  deferrals, re ‑ phasing, and additional funding  as required. 

Program, Portfolio & Business Operations Support  

• Track  progress, risks, and dependencies  across ARC initiatives, highlighting business and financial impacts and proposing mitigation paths. 

• Support portfolio  prioritization and sequencing , ensuring the highest‑value automation and robotics initiatives are resourced first. 

• Lead or support  risk mitigation planning , including scenario‑based impact assessments (upside/downside) and contingency options. 

• Develop and maintain  cost center structures , track headcount, and coordinate reorganizations and staffing changes in partnership with HR. 

• Drive core operating rhythms including  quarterly business reviews, headcount planning, resource allocation , and portfolio performance reviews. 

Strategic Planning & Leadership Support  

• Partner with ARC leadership to define  annual goals, OKRs, and long ‑ range plans  for automation and robotics initiatives. 

• Translate ARC strategies into  actionable business plans, budgets, and investment roadmaps . 

• Connect engineering and robotics work to  business impact , ensuring clarity on value drivers, risks, and expected outcomes. 

ARC Business Research & Scenario Modeling  

• Build and lead a  fast, assumption ‑ driven business research capability  that frames how ARC should think about major automation, deployment, and sourcing decisions. 

• Develop and maintain  scenario models  that explicitly document assumptions, sensitivities, and ranges of outcomes, rather than single‑point estimates. 

• Complement Finance by  building financial context and future ‑ state models  for ARC automation and robotics initiatives,  exploring plausible scenarios and de ‑ risking choices  before complete data exists. 

• Standardize how assumptions are captured, challenged, and refreshed; establish  clear accountability for assumptions  used in business cases and forecasts. 

• Create reusable  frameworks and templates  for recurring ARC decisions and comparing scenarios (e.g., alternative deployment strategies, timing options, sourcing approaches) and articulate trade‑offs in terms of cost, risk, and strategic impact in areas such as Labor Finance, Industrial/IE (BOM cost predictions, break-even BOM and process optimization), GPSC/Material Flow, Robotics Business (volume forecasts) and Data Science/AI  (scenario optimizer). 

Cross ‑ Functional Leadership & Communication  

• Serve as a key liaison between  Engineering, Finance, Manufacturing, GPSC, Product, HR, and IT/Data . 

• Prepare clear, compelling  materials for executive updates, business reviews, and strategic discussions , including scenario comparisons and recommendation rationales. 

• Coach analysts and stakeholders in  assumption ‑ driven thinking , encouraging thoughtful “best‑guess” guidance over analysis paralysis. 

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)  

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Engineering, or a related field. 

• 4+ years of experience in business operations, financial analysis, strategy, program management. 

• Demonstrated experience  building or leading complex financial models, forecasts, and scenario analyses  in ambiguous or fast‑changing environments. 

• Proven ability to  translate technical and operational information into clear business insights  and decision options. 

• Strong  analytical and financial skills , including high proficiency with spreadsheets and comfort with assumption‑driven modeling. 

• Excellent  communication, storytelling, and stakeholder ‑ management skills , including experience presenting to senior leadership. 

• Experience leading or mentoring  analysts or cross ‑ functional teams , setting priorities, and managing workload in a fast‑paced environment. 

What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred   Qualifications)

• Experience in  automation, robotics, industrial engineering, GPSC/material flow, or en gineering‑driven environments. 

• Advanced degree (MBA, MS in Finance/Analytics, or related field) preferred. 

• Experience with  scenario modeling tools, simulation, or data science/AI ‑ driven decision support . 

• Demonstrated track record of  driving faster, assumption ‑ driven decisions  and improving ROI selection in complex portfolios. 

Detailed Scope of Work / R&R:  

• Scope and prioritize all projects to meet NPP waterlines. 

• Author all NPP ARs and ensure alignment with strategic and financial goals. 

• Identify offsets for critical projects. 

• Ensure accurate monthly forecasting. 

• Lead all financial-driven requests for deferrals and offsets. 

• Ensure financial targets are met for Capital Cash. 

• Forecast unapproved projects to support accurate out-year planning. 

• Manage additional funding requests and integration/ARs, if required. 

• Serve as gatekeeper for all ARC projects proposals. 

• Develop Long-Term Plan (LTP) and manage monthly forecasts and performance. 

• Lead risk mitigation activities as needed.