Principal, Finance

Requisition ID: 109606

Share Our Purpose. Be Yourself. Feel Valued.

People are the heart of our business. As an American Water employee, you will be offered a competitive salary and health benefits package, along with opportunities to develop, grow, and evolve your career. Our benefits packages focus on key areas such as health & wellness, emotional & well-being, and savings for current & future goals.

We are Beautifully Different. We strongly believe having diversity across our company makes us more successful and helps us provide essential services to our customers. We are stronger because we embrace different ideas, viewpoints, experiences, and backgrounds. American Water is the best choice for your next role! Click here for more information on our inclusion, diversity, and equity journey.

About American Water

American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886, We Keep Life Flowing® by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people across 14 regulated jurisdictions and 18 military installations. American Water’s 6,500 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company’s national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders.

As one of the fastest growing utilities in the U.S., American Water expects to invest $40 to $42 billion in infrastructure repairs and replacement, system resiliency and regulated acquisitions over the next 10 years. The company has a long-standing history of executing its core operations, aligned with sustainable best practices, through its commitments to safety, affordability, customer service, protecting the environment, an inclusive workforce and strengthening communities.

American Water has been recognized on the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the fifth consecutive year, ranked 18th on Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies 2023 List, earned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security SAFETY Act designation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense® Excellence Award, among additional state, local and national recognitions.

For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Primary Role

Position provides leadership to the finance function for one or more states or lines of business. Responsible for leading the business planning and reforecasting process, financial and management reporting activities, the design and management of internal controls, financial analysis and modeling, and ensuring compliance with generally accepted accounting principles. This role is a key strategic partner in driving growth for the organization, providing an advisory role in the evaluation of new business opportunities through the use and interpretation of appropriate financial models.

Key Accountabilities

- Serve as a key member of the State or Line of Business executive management team – participation in strategy development and leading the resulting financial plan in order to achieve targets and objectives that support the overall corporate plan

- Coordination and quality of financial reporting – monthly and annual reporting, business planning, monthly reforecasting, and analysis of financial risk

- Provide analytical support to all levels of management, including ad-hoc reporting for the state(s) and/or line of business and corporate partners

- Evaluation of new business proposals – oversight of financial analysis and modeling of proposed growth opportunities to assure financial viability using appropriate investment and risk appraisal techniques

- Provide financial guidance and serve as state/line of business point of contact for all other finance-related activities – rate cases, external audits, internal audits, financing activities, etc.

- Lead training initiatives as assigned for Finance teams (eg: modelling, planning, and any other finance related areas)

- Support Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance controls assigned to the team

Knowledge/Skills

- Strong interpersonal skills with an emphasis on communication, knowledge sharing and team building

- Strong leadership skills, including ability to work effectively with all levels throughout the organization and across functional lines to achieve business goals

- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision making skills

- Strong financial analysis and modeling skills

- Understands the mission, vision, values, and strategies of AW

- Advanced knowledge of US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (USGAAP)

- Advanced MS Excel and PowerPoint skills

- SAP and Hyperion experience preferred

Experience/Education

- Minimum of seven (7) years finance, including a planning and analysis role.

- Utility industry experience preferred.

- Bachelor's Degree in Finance or Accounting.

- MBA preferred.

Travel Requirements

10 – 25% travel primarily in the continental United States.

Work Environment

Standard office environment.

Competencies

Champions safety

Customer obsessed

Cultivates innovation

Nimble learning

Drives Results

Collaborates

Join American Water...We Keep Life Flowing™

American Water is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and prohibits employment discrimination for employees and applicants based on his or her age, race, color, pregnancy, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, marital status, citizenship, or because they are an individual with a disability, protected veteran or other status protected by federal, state, and local laws.