Director of Finance - M&A

Job Description

Wiley’s Director, Finance M&A is a newly created role within FP&A that supports portfolio transformation through M&A. The role partners closely with commercial and operational leaders to align revenue assumptions, growth drivers, and synergy commitments, translating these into robust, financially sound transaction analyses. This high‑visibility, execution‑focused position provides direct exposure to the CFO, CEO, ELT, and external stakeholders, and offers a clear development path to senior leadership within FP&A or Corporate Development.

Job Responsibilities

Transaction Analysis & Business Partnering

• Lead financial analysis for acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic partnerships on both the buy‑side and sell‑side.
• Own the Finance workstream during due diligence: quality of earnings, working capital, synergy modeling, and integration/separation cost estimation.
• Partner with business and operational leaders to develop and pressure‑test revenue assumptions, growth drivers, and synergy targets, ensuring financial models reflect proper valuation.
• Collaborate closely with Corporate Development, bringing FP&A’s proximity to internal data, business context, and financial planning processes to improve deal evaluation.

FP&A M&A Integration

• Own hypothetical M&A scenario planning end‑to‑end, relieving capacity pressure on the broader FP&A team.
• Translate active and pending transactions into the operating financial plan: carve‑outs, integration budgets, stranded cost analysis, and pro‑forma modeling.
• Maintain a live deal pipeline tracker with financial context, updated for leadership review on a regular cadence.

Post-Close Financial Integration

• Own post‑close financial integration, working within FP&A to establish reporting structures, chart of accounts alignment, and financial process set‑up for newly acquired or divested businesses.
• Oversee all traditional post‑close activities including synergy realization and integration cost commitments.
• Serve as the financial integration lead across Finance, Accounting, Treasury, and Tax during the post‑close period.

Capital Allocation & Reporting

• Develop financial frameworks to evaluate portfolio composition, ROIC, and capital deployment across inorganic activity.
• Support CFO, FP&A, and Investor Relations with M&A‑related financial narrative for earnings, Board materials, and management presentations.
• Contribute to Finance Transformation objectives by building a repeatable, disciplined M&A finance playbook that institutionalizes best practices across the team.

Team & Resource Management

• Manage contingent and/or offshore analyst support to flex capacity with deal activity.
• Build and advance due diligence templates, integration checklists, and scenario planning frameworks that make the broader FP&A team more effective over time.

Required Qualifications

• Proven experience in investment banking, corporate development, FP&A, or a dedicated M&A finance function.
• Demonstrated experience contributing to financial due diligence on buy‑side and/or sell‑side transactions, with particular emphasis on business partnering and assumption development alongside modeling.
• Experience working across commercial and operational functions to align on synergy targets and integration plans is strongly valued.
• Post‑close financial integration experience is a plus but not required.
• Industry background in publishing, technology, information services, data/analytics, or SaaS preferred but not required.
• Strong financial modeling and valuation skills: DCF, accretion/dilution, synergy builds, working capital and quality of earnings analysis.
• Fluency in separation accounting, carve‑out financials, and stranded cost modeling.
• Exceptional business partnering skills able to engage credibly with commercial and operational leaders and translate qualitative business insight into financial assumptions.
• Clear, direct communicator who can synthesize complex analysis for the CFO, CEO, and ELT.

Preferred Qualifications

• 7+ years in investment banking, corporate development, FP&A, or a dedicated M&A finance function.

Salary Range: 139,300 USD to 204,233 USD

Location: Hoboken (HQ), NJ, USA

Wiley is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. We evaluate all qualified applicants and treat all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or based on any individual's status in any group or class protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. Wiley is also committed to providing reasonable accommodation to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants who require accommodation to participate in the job application process may contact for assistance.

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