Senior Specialist, Finance Business Partner

Overview

This role is the primary finance partner for Scout's aftersales and connected services teams. The portfolio covers parts sales planning and distribution, service and warranty strategy, accessory sales, charging and memberships, connectivity and fleet, customer support, and Scout's consumer-facing digital ecosystem 

This role is designed to carry the full aftersales and connected services portfolio during Scout’s pre-production build phase.  As the commercial finance team grows and Scout approaches start of production, the portfolio will specialize and additional roles will be added to support it. The seniority of this role reflects the breadth of the portfolio and the autonomy required to manage it well in a lean, fast-moving environment. 

Day to day this means owning the financial relationship with those teams from forecasting through month-end close, reviewing commercial proposals against established guardrails, and producing monthly variance analysis shared directly with business leaders. It also means building financial frameworks ahead of Scout's service and connected services launch so the right controls, provision methodologies, and reporting structures are in place before operations go live. 

A great Finance Business Partner at Scout is many things to their business partners simultaneously: a trusted advisor on financial decisions, a guide through finance processes, a challenge partner on plans and assumptions, and a consistent resource for any question at the intersection of business and finance.

What you’ll do

Become part of an iconic brand that is set to revolutionize the electric pick-up truck & rugged SUV marketplace by achieving the following:

• Develop a deep understanding of each business area's model, plans, and financial drivers, including parts distribution economics, service lane operations, accessories commercial performance, warranty provision and claims management, and the unit economics of charging, memberships, connectivity, and fleet services. 
• Gather and maintain forward-looking forecasts in active partnership with business teams. Ensuring costs are planned to the correct cost centers, GL accounts, and periods, and challenging assumptions that appear inconsistent with known business plans. 
• Monitor cost center activity monthly, identifying mispostings, missing accruals, and incorrect provisions before month-end close and directing corrections. 
• Own journal entry setup and month-end close for your portfolio. Accruals, reclasses, and provision adjustments with clear supporting documentation. 
• Produce variance reports comparing actuals against prior forecast and budget. Sharing findings directly with business leaders, discussing drivers, and agreeing on any forecast changes needed. 
• Review spend requests to confirm they are budgeted, directed to the correct cost center and GL account, and forecasted in the correct period. 
• Monitor adherence to financial guardrails and controls across your business partner portfolios. Guide business partners toward correct processes and escalate or report exceptions where guardrails have not been followed. 
• Package portfolio actuals, variance commentary, and forecast inputs for the FP&A function in a standardized format on the defined monthly schedule. 
• Review commercial proposals across parts pricing, service promotions, accessories pricing and margin, warranty strategy, charging and membership pricing, and connected services investments against established financial guardrails. Approving within authority or escalating as appropriate. 
• Monitor accessories commercial performance. Track accessories revenue, margin by category, and promotional activity. Accessories follow a similar commercial model to parts and require the same financial discipline around pricing, margin guardrails, and promotional spend review. 
• Build financial frameworks for aftersales and connected services business lines ahead of their go-live. Working with internal partners to ensure financial monitoring, cost structures, and reporting approaches are ready before Scout's service operations and connected services launch. 
• Support warranty provision methodology development, working with internal finance and accounting partners to ensure Scout's warranty reserve approach is defensible, consistent, and appropriately reflects the evolving claims experience. 

Location & Travel Expectations:

• This role may be based out of the Scout Motors corporate headquarters in Charlotte, NC. 
• This role requires 4-5 days per week in the office, with regular in-person meetings and events. 
• Applicants should expect that the role will require the ability to convene with Scout colleagues in person and travel to participate in events on behalf of the company from time to time.

What you’ll bring 

We expect all Scout employees to have integrity, curiosity, resourcefulness, and strive to exhibit a positive attitude, as well as a growth mindset. You’ll be comfortable with change and flexible in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. You’ll take a collaborative approach to achieve ambitious goals. Here's what else you'll bring: 

• 8 or more years of professional experience in finance business partnering, FP&A, controlling, or management accounting. 
• Experience owning a financial portfolio end-to-end, including forecasting, actuals monitoring, close, and variance analysis. 
• Automotive aftersales experience preferred. Familiarity with parts margins, service economics, accessories commercial models, and warranty provision is a meaningful advantage. 
• Experience with or genuine interest in connected services business models. Charging, connectivity, memberships, and fleet are building their financial frameworks and this role is central to that work. 
• SAP FICO experience preferred, with particular strength in the Controlling module (CO). Familiarity with cost center accounting, internal orders, and cost element structures is directly relevant to this role. Experience with Profitability Analysis (CO-PA) is a plus.  Comfortable navigating cost centers, GL accounts, and month-end close processes. 
• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field. 
• Strong financial modeling and Excel skills with the ability to build and maintain forecasting models independently. 
• Comfortable raising concerns and reporting exceptions when financial guardrails have not been followed. Diplomatic but direct. 
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills. Able to build trusted relationships with business partners and translate financial analysis into clear, actionable language. 
• Comfortable in a fast-moving environment where processes are still being defined. Brings structure to ambiguity rather than waiting for it to be provided. 
• Minimum of High School Diploma, GED or equivalent required for all roles at Scout Motors, Inc. 
• Valid driver's license required. 

What you'll gain

The benefits of joining Scout include the chance to build products and a company from the ground up.  This is a chance to create something new and lasting – with an iconic brand at its foundation.  In addition, Scout provides competitive compensation and benefits to support your physical, mental, and financial wellbeing. Program specifics are detailed in company policies and employee benefit guides, select highlights:

• Competitive insurance including:
  • Medical, dental, vision and income protection plans
• 401(k) program with:
  • An employer match and immediate vesting
• Generous Paid Time Off including:
  • 20 days planned PTO, as accrued
  • 40 hours of unplanned PTO and 14 company or floating holidays, annually
  • Up to 16 weeks of paid parental leave for biological and adoptive parents of all genders
  • Paid leave for circumstances related to bereavement, jury duty, voting time, or military leave

Pay Transparency

This is a full-time, exempt position eligible to receive a base salary and to participate in an annual performance bonus program. Final salary offered will be determined based on factors including but not limited to the candidate's skills and experience. The annual performance bonus program is preset and not candidate dependent.

Initial base salary range =  $100,000.00 - $125,000.00

Internal leveling code: IC8