Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis

Job Responsibilities & Duties

• Serve as the principal FP&A partner to the Chief Financial Officer; build, run, and continuously evolve the annual operating plan, quarterly reforecast cycles, monthly close commentary, and the multi-year long-range plan.
• Act as a true business partner to the executive team, translating operational ambition into financial commitments and translating financial constraints into operational priorities.
• Drive deep, repeatable analytics around price/mix/traffic, labor productivity, food and paper, four-wall margin, AUV ramp curves, cohort performance, and channel profitability, surfacing the insights that drive same-Shack sales and margin expansion.
• Lead the Strategy & Enterprise Planning function; develop the multi-year financial framework that connects strategy, capital plan, P&L outlook, and shareholder expectations, including scenario, sensitivity, and risk-adjusted views.
• Partner closely with the head of Investor Relations to develop the financial narrative for earnings, guidance setting, Investor Day, and Board materials; ensure FP&A produces decision-ready analyses for every quarterly cycle and major external event.
• Build a best-in-class FP&A organization, creating the bench of next-generation finance leaders; act as career sponsor and coach, and ensure thoughtful coverage planning during team transitions and leaves.
• Continually upgrade planning systems, reporting cadences, and the financial data model; champion modern tooling (Workday, Workday Adaptive Planning, Tableau, Snowflake) and embed a single financial language across the enterprise.
• Partner closely with Controllership, Treasury, Tax, and Investor Relations to ensure FP&A outputs are auditable, defensible, and consistent with external disclosures and capital structure decisions, without owning those functions.
• Model and reinforce Shake Shack’s values and Enlightened Hospitality in every interaction; bring high standards, optimism, and a bias toward action to a publicly traded, growth-oriented business.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related quantitative field required.
• 12+ years of progressive corporate finance experience, with a clear track record of FP&A leadership at scale.
• 5+ years managing managers within a finance organization, including building, mentoring, and retaining high-performing teams.
• Public company experience required; demonstrated ability to support earnings, guidance, Board reporting, and SOX-relevant FP&A processes.
• Deep expertise in long-range planning, unit-economic modeling, and ROI analytics for capital-intensive growth businesses.
• Proven success serving as a credible thought partner to senior executives and operating leaders, with the executive presence to influence at the Board and Investor level.
• Strong working knowledge of modern finance systems and analytics tooling; direct experience with Workday, Workday Adaptive Planning, Tableau, and Snowflake is a plus.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication; ability to make complex financial concepts simple, actionable, and motivating for non-finance audiences.
• Ability to travel up to 10% across Shake Shack offices (New York, Atlanta) and Shack locations as the business requires.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree or professional certification (e.g., MBA, CFA, CPA) is a plus, though not required.
• Multi-unit restaurant, retail, hospitality, or consumer experience, with deep familiarity with four-wall economics, AUV ramp, labor models, and food cost dynamics.
• Familiarity with international licensing economics is helpful.
• Experience operating in a growth-stage, founder-influenced, or values-led public company culture.
• Direct collaboration with Investor Relations and Treasury in support of earnings cycles and capital markets activity.
• Track record of developing finance talent into Director and VP-level successors.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Strategic, enterprise-level thinker who naturally connects financial outcomes to operating decisions and brand strategy.
• Strong executive presence and gravitas; persuasive in both small executive forums and large all-team settings.
• High ownership orientation; comfortable making the call, defending the analysis, and updating the view as facts evolve.
• Outstanding coach, teacher, and developer of people; builds finance leaders, not just finance reports.
• Calm and credible under public-company scrutiny; comfortable navigating ambiguity, deadlines, and competing priorities.
• Curious, intellectually honest, and deeply commercial; treats finance as a tool for better decisions rather than an end in itself.

Physical Requirements

• Primarily office-based at Shake Shack’s New York, NY Home Office, with prolonged periods of sitting, keyboarding, and screen-based work.
• Periodic travel between the New York and Atlanta offices, Shack locations, and external Board, investor, and conference engagements.
• Occasional lifting and/or moving of up to 25 pounds (laptops, presentation materials).
• Must possess hearing, visual, and sensory abilities sufficient to participate in extended meetings, presentations, and operational site visits.