Senior Director, Business Systems

We’re not just building better tech. We’re rewriting how data moves and what the world can do with it. With Confluent, data doesn’t sit still. Our platform puts information in motion, streaming in near real-time so companies can react faster, build smarter, and deliver experiences as dynamic as the world around them. It takes a certain kind of person to join this team. Those who ask hard questions, give honest feedback, and show up for each other. No egos, no solo acts. Just smart, curious humans pushing toward something bigger, together. One Confluent. One Team. One Data Streaming Platform. ABOUT THE ROLE: Our business runs on a consumption model — and that changes everything about how our systems need to be designed, integrated, and scaled. Unlike traditional seat-based SaaS, consumption-based businesses demand real-time visibility into usage, highly flexible billing and revenue recognition, and a GTM motion that is deeply intertwined with how customers adopt and expand the product. As we scale, the systems that underpin these operations must be not just functional, but a direct driver of business outcomes. To lead that effort, we are investing in a new senior leadership role at the heart of our business systems organization. The Senior Director, Business Systems will serve as the primary technology partner to our GTM, Finance, Legal, and Customer Support organizations, owning the strategy, roadmap, and execution of the systems and capabilities that power these functions. Reporting directly to the Chief Information Officer, this leader will manage a team of Business Systems Analysts and an Architecture team, and will be accountable for the performance, reliability, and strategic evolution of our core business application stack including Salesforce, NetSuite, Marketo, and Metronome. This is a highly cross-functional role that demands executive-level credibility with senior business stakeholders, a clear point of view on how systems enable consumption-model growth, and a track record of leading teams that deliver with consistency and quality. WHAT YOU WILL DO: - Business Partnership & Stakeholder Leadership - Serve as the senior IT partner to the GTM, Finance, Legal, and Customer Support organizations, building trusted relationships with VP and C-suite stakeholders across each function - Lead a structured business engagement model — including roadmap reviews, prioritization forums, and executive business reviews — that gives stakeholders visibility and confidence in systems delivery - Translate complex and often competing business requirements into clear systems strategies, ensuring alignment between business objectives and technology investments - Act as an escalation point and decision-maker when business priorities conflict, balancing urgency, risk, and long-term platform health - Represent the Business Systems function in cross-functional planning cycles, including annual and quarterly business planning Roadmap Ownership & Delivery - Own and maintain a consolidated systems roadmap across all supported business functions, ensuring initiatives are sequenced, resourced, and aligned to company priorities - Drive end-to-end delivery accountability across your team — from requirements through configuration, testing, change management, and hypercare - Establish and enforce delivery standards, including project intake, prioritization criteria, change control, and post-deployment review processes - Partner with the Architecture team to ensure platform decisions are scalable, integration-sound, and aligned to the long-term technical direction of the enterprise - Manage vendor relationships for core platforms (Salesforce, NetSuite, Marketo, Metronome), including contract renewals, roadmap alignment, and escalation management Governance & Compliance - Ensure business systems processes and controls meet the requirements of a public company, including SOX compliance, audit readiness, and segregation of duties across financial systems - Partner with Internal Audit, Legal, and Finance to support control documentation, testing cycles, and remediation efforts as needed - Champion a culture of change management discipline — ensuring system changes are properly documented, tested, and communicated before deployment to production environments Team Leadership & Organizational Development - Lead, develop, and retain a team of five direct reports including Business Systems Analysts aligned to GTM, Finance, Legal, and Customer Support, and an Architecture team - Build a high-performing BSA organization by establishing clear role expectations, career frameworks, and development plans - Foster a culture of business empathy, technical rigor, and continuous improvement within the team - Partner with the CIO to evolve the organizational model as the company grows, including decisions around hiring, structure, and capability building WHAT YOU WILL BRING: - 10+ years of experience in business systems, enterprise applications, or IT, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role managing cross-functional teams - Proven track record of executive-level stakeholder management across multiple business functions in a complex, matrixed organization - Deep familiarity with core business application domains including CRM, ERP, marketing automation, and billing/revenue systems - Experience owning a systems or technology roadmap across multiple concurrent business functions - Strong understanding of quote-to-cash and lead-to-revenue business processes and the systems that support them - Demonstrated ability to lead teams through ambiguity, competing priorities, and organizational change - Experience operating within a public company environment, including working knowledge of SOX controls and IT general controls (ITGCs) - Excellent communication and executive presence — able to present to and influence C-suite stakeholders WHAT GIVES YOU AN EDGE: - Hands-on experience with one or more of the following platforms: Salesforce (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, or Revenue Cloud), NetSuite, Marketo, Metronome - Experience managing or collaborating closely with an Enterprise Architecture function - Direct experience with consumption-based or usage-based business models, including the systems complexity they introduce around metering, entitlements, rating, and revenue recognition - Experience scaling a business systems function through a period of rapid company growth or significant business transformation - Background in or strong exposure to software, SaaS, or technology industries READY TO BUILD WHAT'S NEXT? LET’S GET IN MOTION. COME AS YOU ARE Belonging isn’t a perk here. It’s the baseline. We work across time zones and backgrounds, knowing the best ideas come from different perspectives. And we make space for everyone to lead, grow, and challenge what’s possible. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Employment decisions are based on job-related criteria, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by law.