Financial Systems Enterprise Application Owner

Overview

The Enterprise Application Owner, Finance Systems serves as the strategic and operational leader responsible for the end-to-end lifecycle of the organization’s financial application ecosystem. This role ensures finance platforms operate as systems of record for core financial processes, including general ledger, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), consolidation, reporting, and regulatory compliance. The Application Owner is accountable for maintaining data integrity, financial controls, and system reliability while enabling scalable, standardized finance capabilities across the organization. Acting as the primary liaison between Finance, Controllership, and Technology teams, this role aligns system capabilities with business objectives, drives process optimization, supports audit and SOX compliance requirements, and ensures timely, accurate financial reporting. In addition, the Application Owner leads the roadmap for enhancements, integrations, and automation across finance systems, focusing on improving close cycles, enhancing reporting insights, and increasing operational efficiency. This person is responsible for vendor management, platform governance, and user adoption, ensuring the finance application landscape evolves in line with organizational growth, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices. How you'll make an impact Strategic Vision and Roadmap Leadership Own the Vision: Define, communicate, and secure executive alignment for application’s long-term strategic vision (3-5 years), ensuring it directly supports organizational objectives and key business capabilities. Roadmap Management: Develop and maintain the actionable Application Roadmap, balancing new feature development, major upgrades, technical debt reduction, and eventual retirement or replacement planning. Business Partnership: Serve as the primary liaison to designate Business Process Owners, translating business needs, regulatory changes, and pain points into prioritized, clear, and detailed functional requirements. Value Rationalization: Continuously measure and report on the application Business Value and Return on Investment Prioritization and Financial Accountability Demand Governance: Lead the Intake and Prioritization process for all change requests, new features, and bug fixes, arbitrating between competing business demands to ensure IT resources are focused on the highest-value initiatives. Financial Management: Own the Total Cost of Ownership, managing the annual operating and capital budgets for the application, including licensing, maintenance, hosting, and development Vendor Management: Manage key relationships with application software vendors, overseeing contract negotiations, license compliance, and service delivery performance Delivery and Operational Oversight Delivery Accountability: Be ultimately responsible for the successful delivery of all major projects and features defined in the roadmap, ensuring they are completed on time, within budget, and to required quality standards. Operational Health: Collaborate closely with IT Operations to monitor the application’s performance, availability, and reliability (SLAs), driving root cause analysis and implementing long-term solutions for recurring operational issues. System Integrity: Ensure the application architecture adheres to enterprise standards and manage the process of keeping the application on a current, supported version to mitigate technical risk and security vulnerabilities. Governance, Risk, and Compliance Data Stewardship: Act as or closely supports the designated Data Steward, ensuring the application adheres to data governance policies, maintaining data quality, integrity, and compliance within regulations ( PII, retention policies) Security & Compliance: Ensure the application environment meets all corporate IT Security, Risk, and Audit requirements, leading and tracking remediation efforts for any identified security findings. Documentation: Maintain up-to-date documentation on the application’s business processes, technical architecture, data model, and license usage. Team Leadership and Development Partner, mentor, and develop a high-performing global IT team, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and accountability. Build and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders, external vendors, and partners to ensure effective delivery of enterprise applications. Financial Process Ownership Close cycle, consolidation and reporting, FP&A / forecasting Controls & Compliance Depth SOX / audit readiness Financial data integrity Segregation of duties (critical for D365 / OneStream) Business Outcomes (not just IT delivery) Shortening close cycle Improving reporting insights Standardization of finance processes About you Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Finance, Accounting, or a related field. Advanced degree (, MBA, CPA) preferred. 10+ years of progressive experience in enterprise technology, with at least 5+ years in Finance Systems roles such as Application Owner, Product Manager, Solution Architect, or Business Analyst supporting large-scale ERP and financial platforms (, Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, OneStream, SAP, Oracle). Strong functional knowledge of core finance processes, including Record-to-Report (R2R), general ledger, financial close, consolidation, FP&A, and financial reporting. Demonstrated experience defining and executing multi-year application roadmaps aligned to finance transformation initiatives (, close optimization, reporting enhancements, automation). Proven experience managing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), including budgeting, forecasting, licensing, and vendor spend for enterprise finance systems. Experience working in regulated environments with a strong understanding of SOX controls, audit requirements, segregation of duties, and financial data governance. Hands-on experience with finance platforms such as Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations and OneStream (or comparable ERP/EPM tools), including integrations to upstream/downstream systems (, CRM, payroll, BI/reporting). Strong understanding of modern delivery methodologies (Agile/Scrum) and experience working with cross-functional product and engineering teams. Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into business outcomes for Finance leadership (, CFO, Controllership, FP&A) and vice versa. Proven leadership, stakeholder management, and vendor management skills, with the ability to influence across Finance, IT, and executive leadership. Critical Competencies for Success Prioritization & Stakeholder Alignment: Exceptional ability to prioritize and negotiate across Finance, Controllership, FP&A, and Technology stakeholders, balancing competing demands while ensuring focus on high-impact financial outcomes. Controls & Compliance Mindset: Deep experience operating within a controlled environment, including alignment with SOX, audit requirements, segregation of duties, financial controls, and data governance standards (, GAAP, SOC, COBIT). Global Operating Model Leadership: Proven ability to operate and lead finance platforms in a global environment, supporting multiple regions, currencies, and regulatory requirements. Proactive Problem Solving: Initiative-taking mindset with the ability to anticipate finance business needs (, close cycle improvements, reporting gaps) and deliver scalable, practical solutions. Relationship Management & Business Partnership: Ability to establish trusted partnerships with Finance leadership (CFO, Controllership, FP&A) and technology teams, effectively aligning demand, capacity, and investment to business priorities. Decision-Making & Judgment: Strong judgment in complex, data-sensitive environments, with the ability to make informed decisions that balance financial accuracy, risk, and operational efficiency. Influence in a Matrixed Organization: Demonstrated success leading through influence across a matrixed, global organization, engaging and motivating teams across regions and levels to deliver finance system outcomes. Champions Gallagher’s values and culture. Exemplifies the tenets of The Gallagher Way; engages, participates and collaborates with others. #LI-DK3 #LI-Remote Compensation and benefits On top of a competitive salary, great teams and exciting career opportunities, we also offer a wide range of benefits. Below are the minimum core benefits you’ll get, depending on your job level these benefits may improve: Flexible medical & dental coverage to meet your household's needs Life, Dependent Life and AD & D Insurance options Retirement savings including RRSP including a company match, TFSA, pension and more Employee Stock Purchase Plan Other benefits include: Educational expense reimbursement Employee assistance programs Discounted gym membership (GoodLife Fitness) Opportunity for flexible work arrangements Paid sick days & personal days Employee education recognition program Employee referral bonus program