Senior Manager, Workforce Planning Strategy & Analytics

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Senior Manager, Workforce Planning Strategy & Analytics based in Canada. This is a newly established leadership opportunity to build and shape an enterprise-wide workforce planning function from the ground up. You will develop forecasting, capacity, headcount, and scenario-planning models that connect workforce decisions with business outcomes. The role sits at the intersection of People Operations, Finance, Talent, Analytics, and business strategy. You will transform fragmented and manual planning processes into scalable systems, tools, and operating rhythms. Your analysis will directly inform executive decisions around workforce strategy, financial planning, recruitment, and organizational capacity. This is an ideal environment for a hands-on strategic leader who can build sophisticated models while confidently advising senior stakeholders. You’ll have significant ownership and influence in a fast-paced, high-growth organization. Build and lead the enterprise workforce planning function, defining its long-term vision, roadmap, frameworks, and operating model in collaboration with Finance, HR, Talent Acquisition, and business leaders. Develop demand forecasting, headcount, capacity, and scenario-planning models that connect workforce decisions to costs, organizational capacity, and broader business outcomes. Partner closely with FP&A on headcount governance, annual budget cycles, workforce forecasting, and long-term workforce cost planning. Diagnose and redesign complex workforce planning processes, including data collection, forecasting cadences, approval workflows, and governance mechanisms. Transform manual or fragmented planning practices into scalable, repeatable, and data-driven systems. Own and continuously improve the data infrastructure, reporting, dashboards, and tools that support workforce planning and provide leadership with self-service visibility into headcount and capacity. Influence senior stakeholders across Finance, HR, Talent, and business functions to adopt new planning models, frameworks, processes, and ways of working without relying on direct authority. Translate complex workforce and business data into clear, executive-ready narratives, recommendations, and strategic insights. Establish a consistent operating rhythm for workforce planning and continuously improve the quality, accuracy, and usability of planning outputs. Requirements 6+ years of experience in FP&A, business or data analytics, management consulting, quantitative strategy, or a closely related field; direct workforce planning experience is an advantage but not mandatory. Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills, with strong experience building sophisticated models from scratch. Proven ability to create forecasting, capacity, headcount, or scenario models using incomplete, complex, or imperfect datasets. Strong SQL and experience with BI and visualization tools such as Tableau, Power BI, or Looker are highly preferred. Demonstrated ability to identify inefficient or manual processes and replace them with scalable, structured, and repeatable solutions. Strong business acumen and the ability to connect workforce data with financial, operational, and strategic outcomes. Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build alignment across Finance, HR, and business leadership without formal authority. Comfortable operating at both strategic and hands-on levels, from building analytical models personally to presenting recommendations to senior executives. Exceptional communication and executive presence, with the ability to turn complex quantitative analysis into concise, actionable business narratives. Ability to work effectively in ambiguous, fast-paced, and high-growth environments while managing multiple priorities. Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business, a quantitative discipli