Our mission is to make higher education accessible and affordable for everyone. We empower students with financial support and supercharge their ability to pay down their debt, so they can get on the right financial track, fast.
We build tools that help people feel in control of their financial future, including:
- Private student loans - low rates, people-first service, and flexible payments.
- Student loan refinancing - break free from high-interest rates or monthly payments.
- Scholarships - access to thousands of scholarships to help students pay less.
Earnies are committed to helping students live their best lives, free from the stress of student debt. If you’re as passionate as we are about our mission, read more below, and let’s build something great together!
The Senior Strategic Finance Associate position will report to the Strategic Finance Lead.
As the Senior Strategic Finance Associate, you will:
- Work closely with other Finance staff as well as General Managers, Marketing team, and Operations team to develop budgets and forecasts and maintain those forecasts.
- Concentrate on marketing drivers including channel efficiency, funnel conversion, and campaign performance to identify opportunities for more efficient spending. Support reporting and analysis needs to highlight operational performance and measure alignment with strategic objectives.
- Responsible for maintaining 5-year strategic plan forecast, and annual budget alongside current-year monthly forecast for the Earnest business unit.
- Make recommendations and express financial significance for both leveraging opportunities or mitigating risks.
Your Impact:
- Measure new business opportunities, financial outcomes for various financing vehicles, and prepare materials for Executive meetings, Board of Director meetings, and ad hoc requests from executive management.
- Support the production, maintenance, and development of models and processes performed for the financial planning, analysis, and forecasting of Earnest LLC and Navient Corporation
- Serve as departmental CFO to conduct monthly reviews with Marketing and Operations group leaders to bring financial insights. Help them understand monthly expense details, complete monthly forecasts, identify savings opportunities, and justify higher expense needs.
About You:
- Degree in Finance, Business or a related field
- 3+ years of experience in strategic finance, corporate FP&A. Investment banking, management consulting and private equity experience are a plus.
- High proficiency with Excel, Google Sheets, PowerPoint, and Financial ERP systems
- Experience working with C-suite level leadership (direct reporting, presentations, etc.) and comfortable speaking in large groups
- Experience building dynamic financial models and experience working with large data sets to disseminate trend analysis for forecasting / manipulating data to tell a story with supporting evidence
- Experience and/or knowledge of the lending industry, amortization tables, loan loss models, securitization structures, warehouse financing facilities and risk-based pricing
- Ability to build strong relationships of trust & influence, ability to lead work initiatives with cross-functional coordination with stakeholders
- Willingness to travel to the Oakland office monthly to collaborate with other Earnies
Even Better:
- Experience with Marketing is a huge plus. This includes return on investment (ROI) and Lifetime Value (LTV) of various marketing channels and campaigns, calculation of Cost per Acquisition (CPA), and spend forecast based on different scenarios.
Where:
- This role will be based in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA.
- While you’ll enjoy the flexibility of remote work, we also love to see our Earnies face-to-face! We ask you to join us at our Oakland office for 3 consecutive days a month for team collaboration and some fun. It's a chance to connect, share ideas, and maybe even grab some coffee together!
#LI-DNI
A little about our pay philosophy: We take pride in compensating our employees fairly and equitably. We are showcasing a range of your potential base salary. The successful candidate’s starting pay will also be determined based on job-related qualifications, internal compensation, and budget. This range may be modified in the future.
Pay Range
$113,000—$128,200 USD
Earnest believes in enabling our employees to live their best lives. We offer a variety of perks and competitive benefits, including:
- Health, Dental, & Vision benefits plus savings plans
- Mac computers + work-from-home stipend to set up your home office
- Monthly internet and phone reimbursement
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
- 401(k) plan to help you save for retirement plus a company match
- Robust tuition reimbursement program
- $1,000 travel perk on each Earnie-versary to anywhere in the world
- Competitive days of annual PTO
- Competitive parental leave
What makes an “Earnie” culture:
- Drivers – Drivers are satisfied by making things happen, not coming along for the ride. They feel a strong sense of ownership for their projects and teams and demand high standards from themselves and others.
- Humility – Humble team players check their egos and consider the team’s needs above their own. They are self-aware of their strengths and opportunities for improvement.
- Growth Mindset – People with a growth mindset approach challenges and failures as learning opportunities. They seek feedback to improve, give feedback to others, and genuinely want to perform well.
At Earnest, we are committed to building an environment where our employees feel included, valued, and heard. Our belief is that a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging enables us to move forward with our mission. We are dedicated to adding new perspectives to the team and encourage anyone to apply if your experience is close to what we are looking for.
Earnest provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or genetics. Qualified applicants with criminal histories will be considered for the position in a manner consistent with the Fair Chance Ordinance.
Top Skills
What We Do
Earnest, founded in 2013, is a technology company that insists on providing exceptional student lending products and services to earn happy clients. Every day, Earnest employees, or as we like to call ourselves, Earnies, are working hard to shape thae next generation of finance. Earnest empowers people with the financial capital they need to live better lives. We strive to eliminate unnecessary costs from the system and offer our clients the lowest possible rates.
Our mission is to make higher education accessible and affordable for everyone. Our products empower anyone seeking higher education to reduce the total price tag of their degree, supercharge their ability to pay down student debt, and get on the right financial track fast.
Our values were built into the core of Earnest on day one. These values guide our ship and keep us constantly aligned. We believe in a culture that supports a Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable workforce where everyone can have a sense of belonging to each other and our mission.
Earn Happy Customers
Our success comes from anticipating their needs and providing the solutions they’re looking for
Better is Better
The path to great means getting better every day. We push ourselves, and each other, to remain curious and think differently.
PhD in Moving Fast
Our customers are tired of long wait times and large student loan bills so we constantly seek out ways to deliver faster.
Passion for Challenges
Perseverance and optimism are just the start to take on the inertia of a national trillion-dollar problem.
Impact is a Team Sport
We maximize our impact when we act as one team.
Why Work With Us
Our mission to maintain and strengthen diversity and inclusion through employee-led Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) empowers our Earnies to step into leadership roles and drive our culture. Through ERGs, and with the support of our Executives, we provide a safe space for all Earnie's to be their true selves and to promote diverse backgrounds.
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