Requisition ID: 110092
Share Our Purpose. Be Yourself. Feel Valued.
People are the heart of our business. As an American Water employee, you will be offered a competitive salary and health benefits package, along with opportunities to develop, grow, and evolve your career. Our benefits packages focus on key areas such as health & wellness, emotional & well-being, and savings for current & future goals.
We are Beautifully Different. We strongly believe having diversity across our company makes us more successful and helps us provide essential services to our customers. We are stronger because we embrace different ideas, viewpoints, experiences, and backgrounds. American Water is the best choice for your next role! Click here for more information on our inclusion, diversity, and equity journey.
About American Water
American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886 and celebrating 140 years in 2026, We Keep Life Flowing® by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to approximately 14 million people with regulated operations in 14 states and on 18 military installations. American Water’s approximately 7,000 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company’s national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders.
For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Position Information
$145,600 - $231,400
The base salary range represents a good faith salary range for this position. This position is eligible for annual incentive pay and has the opportunity for continued salary growth. If you are hired at American Water your base salary compensation will be determined based on factors such as market, geography, skills, education and/or experience. At American Water, we are committed to pay equity.
In addition to compensation, you will be offered a comprehensive benefits package including 401(k),Defined Contribution Plan, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, medical, prescription, dental and vision coverage, plus disability, paid time off, life insurance, voluntary benefits, health and wellness programs and much more!
American Water is also proud to offer employees learning opportunities and work experiences to grow professionally!
Primary Role
The Senior Director, Acquisition Analytics provides enterprise leadership over the organization’s financial modeling, acquisitions due diligence, and valuation functions in support of strategic growth initiatives. This role oversees multiple director-level leaders and their respective teams, ensuring high-quality, consistent, and timely analytics to support investment decisions.
The Senior Director is responsible for driving alignment and integration across these specialized teams, enhancing processes, and strengthening collaboration with internal stakeholders and state/regional partners. This role operates at a strategic level, focusing on governance, prioritization, and continuous improvement.
Key Accountabilities
- Provide leadership and direction to Directors overseeing financial modeling, due diligence, and valuation teams.
- Establish clear priorities, performance expectations, and accountability frameworks across all functions.
- Foster a high-performing, collaborative culture across teams of subject matter experts.
- Ensure appropriate resource allocation and capability development aligned with business development objectives.
- Drive alignment and coordination across financial modeling, valuation, and due diligence activities to ensure consistent assumptions, methodologies, and outputs.
- Serve as the central point of integration across these functions to support investment decisions and executive leadership reviews.
- Partner with Business Development leadership to prioritize pipeline activities and ensure timely delivery of insights.
- Identify and implement process improvements to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and consistency across teams.
- Standardize frameworks, tools, and reporting methodologies where appropriate.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives that reduce cycle times and improve decision-making quality.
- Establish metrics and reporting to monitor performance and effectiveness of supported activities.
- Collaborate with state/regional partners to align expectations, improve workflows, and enhance outputs related to acquisition and investment activities.
- Build strong cross-functional partnerships with Operations, Finance, Legal, Regulatory, and Executive Leadership.
- Builds strong relationships with peers and supervisor and can manage up and down the chain of command.
- Serve as a key advisor on financial and strategic considerations related to acquisitions and capital investments.
- Translate complex financial analyses into clear, concise insights for executive audiences.
- Prepare and present materials for senior leadership, investment committees, and board-level discussions.
- Ensure consistency and clarity in messaging across all business development analytics outputs.
Knowledge/Skills
- Understanding of financial modeling, valuation methodologies (e.g., DCF, comparable analysis), and acquisitions due diligence processes
- Knowledge of business development lifecycle within a regulated utility environment, including acquisition evaluation and capital investment planning
- Understanding of water and wastewater utility operations, regulatory considerations, and infrastructure investment drivers
- Familiarity with financial and operational data structures used to support investment decision-making
- Working knowledge of governance frameworks, approval processes, and investment committee expectations
- Awareness of industry trends, market dynamics, and growth opportunities within the utility and infrastructure sectors
- Understanding of cross-functional dependencies, including Finance, Legal, Regulatory, and Operations in supporting transactions
- Strong management skills with the ability to lead directors and specialized teams, set priorities, and drive accountability
- Practices a team-oriented approach to achieving corporate goals
- Proven ability to create, implement, and sustain process improvements across multiple teams to enhance efficiency, consistency, and quality of outputs
- Ability to effectively coordinate and align work across teams of subject matter experts, ensuring integration of insights and deliverables
- Strong communication skills, including the ability to translate complex financial concepts into clear, concise messaging for executive audiences
- Ability to collaborate with state/regional partners and cross-functional stakeholders to improve workflows, outputs, and overall effectiveness
- Ability to synthesize diverse inputs into actionable insights and support strategic decision-making
- Confidence and effectiveness in presenting to senior leadership and influencing decision-making
- Strong analytical and critical thinking skills to identify issues, evaluate options, and recommend solutions
- Ability to manage competing priorities and operate effectively in a fast-paced, evolving environment
Experience/Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, Business, Management or related field required. MBA preferred.
- 18+ years’ progressive experience in financial analysis, business development, corporate finance, and/or related fields.
- 5+ years of leadership experience overseeing multiple teams and/or leaders.
- Experience in regulated industries (water/wastewater, utilities, infrastructure, or similar) strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience supporting acquisitions, capital investments, or strategic growth initiatives.
Travel Requirements
Up to 20%, as required.
Scope
This is a senior level people leader with 2-4 direct reports and 10-15 indirect reports