Tennis Channel's Production Finance Manager manages day-to-day production accounting and financial analysis for domestic and international production activities. Reporting to the Director of Production Finance, the role supports live events, studio productions, original content, and digital initiatives through accurate close, event cost reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and financial controls. The manager works closely with Production, FP&A, and Accounting, coordinating broader accounting requirements with the Director of Accounting. This role is onsite and located in Santa Monica, CA.
In this role, you will do the following: - Manage the production-related monthly close in accordance with corporate deadlines, including production and program costs by line of business, prepaid assets, accrued liabilities, amortization entries, and account reconciliations. Maintain job-cost schedules and supporting calculations; reconcile production records to the general ledger and investigate discrepancies.
- Support the Director of Production Finance in preparing annual budgets, quarterly forecasts, long-range planning schedules, variance analyses, and monthly reporting packages for Finance and Production leadership.
- Maintain event-level estimates of total expected costs, incorporating actual spending, outstanding commitments, and remaining costs. Review assumptions with Production, explain cost drivers, and escalate potential overruns, forecast changes, and financial risks promptly.
- Track production costs, vendor obligations, talent commitments, and open purchase orders. Prepare recurring event cost reports and post-event analyses, including budget-to-actual comparisons and recommendations for future planning.
- Review crew payroll, timecards, overtime, labor coding, and related production labor costs for accuracy, budget impact, supporting documentation, and required approvals. Coordinate exceptions with Production, HR, and payroll providers in accordance with established responsibilities and approval authority.
- Review production payables, purchasing card activity, employee expense reimbursements, and per diem payments for appropriate coding, documentation, approvals, and compliance with policy. Approve transactions within delegated authority and coordinate with Corporate AP and expense systems, including Concur.
- Support financial review of production agreements and vendor commitments for cost tracking, accounting treatment, payment timing, and budget impact. Escalate exceptions to the Director of Production Finance and coordinate technical accounting questions with the Director of Accounting.
- Serve as a day-to-day finance contact for Production on project setup, chart of accounts, transactional workflows, policies, and procedures. Coordinate with Production on financial requirements while Production retains responsibility for talent, hotel, and crew booking and operational logistics.
- Prepare production-related audit schedules and supporting documentation, coordinating submissions and requests through the Director of Accounting. Support Corporate tax requests related to production, including international costs and tax/VAT documentation, as directed by Accounting and Corporate Tax.
- Coordinate production accounting priorities, close deadlines, and supporting work with Finance and Accounting team members. Maintain clear process documentation, reporting calendars, and follow-up on unresolved items.
- Improve production accounting, forecasting, and reporting processes through standardized templates, reconciliations, and approved automation and AI-enabled tools. Maintain cost benchmarks, savings trackers, and operational metrics across vendors, staffing, travel, and other production spending.
- Support production-related corporate initiatives, parent-company integration, and system upgrades under the Director of Production Finance, coordinating with the Director of Accounting and VP Finance/Controller as appropriate.
Qualifications: - Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field; CPA or a relevant master's degree preferred.
- Five to seven years of progressive accounting or finance experience, including hands-on budgeting, forecasting, production or project job costing, monthly close, and reconciliations.
- Experience in live sports, production finance, entertainment, or media preferred; familiarity with domestic and international production costs is valuable.
- Ability to build and maintain event cost forecasts, analyze actuals and commitments, and translate financial results into clear explanations for production managers and Finance leadership.
- Strong understanding of accrual accounting, financial controls, production labor and vendor cost review.
- Advanced Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookup functions, and financial modeling; experience with Oracle or a comparable ERP/project accounting system preferred.
- Strong communication, organization, and judgment; ability to manage competing deadlines, work independently, collaborate across teams, and deliver accurate work with appropriate review.
- Experience documenting processes and improving reporting workflows; familiarity with BI tools and approved automation is a plus.
Tennis Channel is proud to be equal opportunity employer and a drug free workplace. Employment practices will not be influenced or affected by virtue of an applicant's or employee's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, military or veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.
About Tennis Channel Tennis Channelis the only multiplatform destination dedicated solely to tennis year-round. Together, the Tennis Channel flagship network, Tennis Channel 2, and the Tennis Channel app (tennischannel.com) deliver the most accessible and concentrated single-sport coverage anywhere. As the exclusive U.S. home of the ATP Tour and WTA Tour, Tennis Channel features live coverage of every Masters 1000 tournament - including Indian Wells, the Miami Open, Madrid, Rome, Cincinnati, and more - alongside live studio programming including its premier series, TC Live . Tennis Channel 2, a free FAST channel available in over 100 million homes, brings fans matches from across the globe at every level of the game. The Tennis Channel app brings it all together in one place, delivering live and on-demand matches, original content, and a personalized multi-view experience for fans, available on mobile and connected TV devices. Owned by Sinclair, Tennis Channel is also a co-owner of PickleballTV (pickleballtv.com), a joint venture with the Professional Pickleball Association.
About SinclairSinclair, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) is a diversified media company and a leading provider of local news and sports. The Company owns, operates and/or provides services to 177 television stations in 79 markets affiliated with all major broadcast networks; owns Tennis Channel, the premium destination for tennis enthusiasts; and multicast networks CHARGE, Comet, ROAR and The Nest. Sinclair's AMP Media produces a growing portfolio of digital content and original podcasts. Additional information about Sinclair can be found at www.sbgi.net.
About the TeamThe life-blood of our organization is our people. We have a compelling story, a goal-oriented culture, and we take really good care of people. How good? Here is a glimpse: great benefits, open-door policy, upward mobility and a strong desire to see you succeed. Ready to be part of a winning team? Let's talk.
The base salary compensation range for this role is $90,000 to $120,000. Final compensation for this role will be determined by various factors such as a candidates' relevant work experience, skills, certifications, and geographic location. Full time positions are eligible for benefits that include participation in a retirement plan, life and disability insurance, health, dental and vision plans, flexible spending accounts, sick leave, vacation time, personal time, parental leave and employee stock purchase plan.
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