Business Planning Manager

Description

The Business Planning Manager combines forward-looking business planning (validating assumptions, tracking performance, and driving cost optimization and process improvements) with strong financial governance (internal controls, compliance, reporting integrity, and risk management). This role serves as the financial and operational backbone of the regional branch, enabling efficient, transparent operations aligned with corporate standards.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Business Model Validation

• Evaluate and continuously validate branch business-model assumptions, including vendor funding processes, operational expenses, revenue projections.
• Develop and maintain scenario models (base, upside, downside) to support leadership decision-making under uncertainty.
• Partner with regional leadership to assess whether forward-looking projections are realistic and achievable.
• Develop and validate expense models across product categories and regions for overall marketing and operational expenses.
• Monitor cost changes, cost drivers, and vendor programs that impact budgets.

Performance Tracking and Variance Analysis

• Own the branch performance-management cadence, including monthly close reporting, and quarterly business reviews (QBRs).
• Prepare and distribute monthly budgetary reporting with insights into business trends; analyze results, identify drivers, and partner with business leaders on budgeting and forecasting.
• Build and maintain KPI dashboards tracking revenue attainment, credit notes expenses, customer programs, and operating expenses versus plan.
• Conduct structured variance analyses for material deviations from plan and forecast; present root-cause findings and corrective actions to regional leadership.
• Lead the rolling forecast process for the region, improving accuracy and ensuring alignment with corporate planning cycles.
• Coordinate with FP&A and Accounting to ensure regional results are accurately and timely reflected in consolidated reporting.

Process Improvement and Operational Excellence

• Identify and eliminate operational inefficiencies across branch workflows, including order management, deal approvals, services scheduling, and financial reporting.
• Lead automation of manual reporting and data-aggregation tasks in partnership with IT and Finance teams.
• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs) for branch financial and operational processes to ensure consistency and audit readiness.
• Apply structured continuous-improvement methodologies to reduce cycle time, error rates, and administrative burden.
• Champion adoption of corporate systems, tools, and process standards within the regional branch.

Spend Control and Budget Governance

• Design and operate the branch spend-control framework, including budget guardrails, commitment tracking, approval workflows, and reforecast triggers.
• Drive budget-ownership accountability with department heads and functional leaders across the branch.
• Maintain real-time visibility into actual, committed, and approved spend; proactively flag overruns and budget-lapse risk to leadership.
• Lead periodic budget-holder reviews to maintain financial discipline and reinforce a culture of accountability.

Business Planning

• Maintain a deep understanding of ASUS product roadmaps, key technology transitions, and platform relationships.
• Perform detailed financial analyses of profitability drivers, including services and logistics.
• Partner with Sales, Accounting, and Finance to resolve disputes and complete reconciliations.
• Support decision-making on Sales investments, including advertising, sell-through programs, and inventory management.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Able to manage multiple priorities and complex projects while maintaining day-to-day operational rigor.
• Strong understanding of business and management principles.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Proven ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders; tactful, adaptable, and professional.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to establish credibility, exercise sound judgment, and align actions to company priorities.
• High attention to detail and a strong sense of urgency aligned to business needs.
• Able to work independently with minimal supervision and consistently deliver high-quality results.

Required Qualifications:

Years of Education OR Equivalent Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration (or equivalent) and 7+ years of relevant experience in Finance and/or Business Planning.

Language Skills:

• Ability to read, analyze and interpret financial reports and data.
• Ability to write reports and business correspondence.
• Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from team members, customers, and the general public.
• Fluent in English is a must; Mandarin is a plus.

Computer Skills:

• Experienced knowledge of personal computer with mastered skills in MS Excel.
• Proficiency with database applications and presentation software applications such as PowerPoint are also required.
• Ability to write ad hoc query reports.

Working Conditions:

• Office Only: Typically works in an office environment.
• Requires sitting, operating a computer keyboard, telephone and other office equipment for extended periods of time.

$100,000 - $125,000 annually is the estimated pay range for this role working in Fremont, California office. It does not include bonuses, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, AD&D insurance, Paid Time Off, EAP, & 401(k). The final amount will be determined based on the qualifications & experience of the candidate relative to the role.

ASUS is an equal employment opportunity employer. The Company makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, pregnancy/ breastfeeding, medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth, sexual orientation, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, marital status, as well as any other characteristic protected by law, regulation or local ordinance, and strives to comply with all applicable laws on the subject. These employment decisions extend to hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, recruitment, pay and other forms of compensation, training and other terms and conditions of employment.