Expense Strategy & Analytics Director

We’re seeking someone to join our team as a Director in Expense Strategy & Analytics within the Financial Planning & Analysis team to partner with senior leaders across Finance, business, and functional teams to evaluate tradeoffs, improve transparency into spend drivers, and identify opportunities to optimize costs and resource allocation.

The role brings a forward-looking perspective to expense management, connecting day-to-day decisions to multi-year financial outcomes, while also supporting the continued evolution of finance data, analytics, and AI-enabled tools that strengthen forecasting, scenario analysis, and decision support

In the Finance division, we act as a partner to business units around the globe by providing management, review, analysis and advisory services of the Firm's financial and capital resources. This is a Director position within our Financial Planning & Analysis Job Family which is responsible for the firm’s budget, forecast, internal management reporting and financial analysis to provide insight into the firm’s current and expected financial performance, as well as expense allocation.

Since 1935, Morgan Stanley is known as a global leader in financial services, always evolving and innovating to better serve our clients and our communities in more than 40 countries around the world.

What you will do in the role:

• Collaborate with a varied group of colleagues in Finance and across the Firm

• Responsible for and lead a significant set of deliverables, leveraging advanced understanding of Finance functional area, product and/or client segment

• Proactively identify emerging risks in individual and department work and contribute to strategies for mitigating them

• Act as a role model and culture carrier; Embody and set an example of the Firm's values and hold yourself and others accountable to Firm standards

• Support strategic decision making by providing in-depth financial analysis on the global non-compensation expense portfolio, including professional services, marketing and development spend, and present savings recommendations to leadership.

• Work across Finance, business, and functional partners to improve transparency into spend drivers, align assumptions, and support coordinated action across expense categories.

• Translate expense actions into a clear multi-year projection, linking near term decisions to longer term cost outcomes.

• Partner with senior leaders and governance forums to frame key expense decisions, evaluate tradeoffs, and support prioritization across competing investment and cost objectives.

• Help enhance expense forecasting and scenario modeling capabilities by improving data, analytics, and tools that support management decision-making.

What you will bring to the role:

• Advanced understanding of Finance functional area, product and/or client segment and technical skills, as well as of industry and competitive environment

• Ability to provide positive and constructive feedback and acknowledge efforts of team members

• Ability to articulate risk and impact to various audiences, and create plans to mitigate those risks

• Proven ability to build trusted partnerships with business leaders, align priorities, challenge spend, and drive coordinated decisions across expense functions.

• Excellent communication and influence skills with the ability to synthesize complex information into clear, action-oriented messaging for executives and cross-functional stakeholders.

• Strong expense analytics and decision support skills with the ability to run deep dive analysis, identify key cost drivers, quantify tradeoffs, and translate analysis into clear recommendations for senior leaders.

• Forward thinking mindset with strong interest in applying technology, data, and AI-enabled tools to improve financial analysis and decision making.

• Strong commercial judgment with the ability to assess vendor spend, evaluate requirements, and support contract and business case discussions with fact-based financial analysis.

• Ability to bring structure to ambiguity, manage multiple priorities, and drive work forward in a fast-paced environment with strong attention to detail and follow-through.

• At least 6 years' relevant experience would generally be expected to find the skills required for this role

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM MORGAN STANLEY:

At Morgan Stanley, we raise, manage and allocate capital for our clients – helping them reach their goals. We do it in a way that’s differentiated – and we’ve done that for 90 years.  Our values - putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, committing to diversity and inclusion, and giving back - aren’t just beliefs, they guide the decisions we make every day to do what's best for our clients, communities and more than 80,000 employees in 1,200 offices across 42 countries. At Morgan Stanley, you’ll find an opportunity to work alongside the best and the brightest, in an environment where you are supported and empowered. Our teams are relentless collaborators and creative thinkers, fueled by their diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are proud to support our employees and their families at every point along their work-life journey, offering some of the most attractive and comprehensive employee benefits and perks in the industry. There’s also ample opportunity to move about the business for those who show passion and grit in their work.

To learn more about our offices across the globe, please copy and paste https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us/global-offices​ into your browser.

Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a workforce that is diverse in experience and background.  Our recruiting efforts reflect our strong commitment to a culture of inclusion, where individuals are hired, developed, and advanced based on their skills and talents.

Our workforce reflects a broad cross-section of the global communities in which we operate, bringing a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives, and experiences.

For more information, please visit: https://www.morganstanley.com/people-opportunities/eeo.