Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Director of Treasury

🎯 Role Definition

The Director of Treasury is a senior finance executive accountable for designing and executing the enterprise treasury strategy to ensure optimal liquidity, minimize financial risk, support growth and M&A activity, and maintain best-in-class treasury operations and controls. This role leads cash and liquidity management, funding and capital markets activities, banking relationships, treasury technology, and a team of treasury and cash management professionals. The Director of Treasury partners cross-functionally with FP&A, accounting, tax, legal, and business units to deliver reliable cash forecasting, manage hedging programs, optimize working capital and ensure compliance with regulatory and internal control frameworks (including SOX).

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Treasury Manager / Head of Treasury Operations
Senior Manager, Corporate Finance or Cash Management
VP, Treasury (in smaller organizations)

Advancement To:

Vice President, Treasury or Finance
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Head of Global Finance / Group Treasurer

Lateral Moves:

Corporate Finance Director
Head of Working Capital or Receivables & Payables
Director, Financial Risk Management

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop, own and execute a multi-year treasury strategy aligned with corporate objectives, balancing short-term liquidity needs with long-term capital structure optimization and risk tolerance.
Lead enterprise cash and liquidity management: design and operate cash concentration, pooling and intercompany netting structures to minimize idle balances and reduce bank fees while supporting working capital objectives.
Produce and continuously improve rolling short-term and long-term cash forecasts (daily/weekly/monthly/yearly), institute clear governance for forecast inputs, and deliver scenario modelling to guide funding decisions and contingency planning.
Manage the company’s funding strategy and capital markets activities, including negotiating credit facilities, term debt, commercial paper programs, covenant management, private placements and bank financing to ensure cost-effective, diversified liquidity sources.
Own bank relationship management: select and negotiate with global and local banking partners, lead annual reviews, optimize fee structures, maintain signatory and account authorities, and supervise onboarding/closure of bank accounts.
Design and manage foreign exchange (FX) and interest rate risk management programs, including policy setting, hedging strategy, counterparty selection, hedge accounting (ASC 815/IFRS 9), and oversight of derivative valuations and documentation (ISDAs).
Oversee treasury operations and payments: ensure secure, efficient payments processing (domestic and cross-border), fraud prevention controls, implementation of payment factories, and adherence to sanction/screening rules.
Champion treasury systems implementation and optimization (e.g., Kyriba, TreasuryXpress, GTreasury, SAP Treasury), drive automation of cash management, bank connectivity (APIs, host-to-host), and integration with ERP and banking channels.
Ensure robust internal controls and SOX-compliant processes across treasury activities: segregation of duties, access controls, reconciliations, approvals, and regular audit readiness.
Lead daily cash positioning and liquidity reporting, including intraday visibility where required, and coordinate funding execution to support operational and strategic activities.
Direct investment strategy for operating cash and surplus balances, including policy for counterparty credit limits, approved instruments, liquidity ladders and short-term investing programs.
Manage debt compliance and covenant reporting, including proactive covenant monitoring, remedial actions, and communications with lenders and rating agencies as needed.
Supervise treasury accounting and month-end close activities related to cash, debt, derivatives, intercompany balances and bank reconciliations; partner with accounting to ensure accurate GAAP/IFRS treatment.
Provide treasury support for M&A, divestitures and strategic transactions: lead treasury due diligence, design and execute post-close liquidity and banking integrations, and advise on pro forma capital structure.
Negotiate and manage relationships with treasury vendors and service providers (banking, TMS vendors, payments processors, custodians, custodial banks) and manage vendor SLAs and fees.
Establish and monitor treasury KPIs and dashboards (liquidity metrics, cash conversion, bank fees, forecasting accuracy), deliver insights to the CFO and executive team, and recommend initiatives to improve performance.
Design and maintain treasury policies, procedures and limits (counterparty, investment, hedging, delegation of authority) and communicate them across the organization.
Lead treasury-related regulatory compliance (AML/KYC, OFAC/sanctions, cash reporting requirements) and respond to regulatory inquiries, audits, and inspections.
Build, mentor and scale a high-performing treasury team: recruit, develop and retain talent, set clear objectives, succession planning, and deliver continuous process improvement.
Act as a key finance partner to support strategic capital allocation decisions, working capital initiatives, and cross-functional projects (supply chain finance, receivables financing, payables optimization).
Provide thought leadership on financial risk exposures, prepare executive-level briefings for the CFO and Board on liquidity, funding, market risks and treasury-related strategic options.
Drive cost optimization programs in treasury, including bank fee analysis, process automation, and consolidation of banking relationships to reduce total cost of ownership.
Lead periodic liquidity stress testing and contingency funding plans, ensuring readiness for adverse scenarios (market dislocation, currency shocks, systemic banking events).
Ensure effective communication and escalation protocols with internal stakeholders (FP&A, Accounting, Tax, Legal, IT, Business Units) and external stakeholders (bankers, auditors, rating agencies) on treasury matters.

Secondary Functions

Partner with FP&A and business units to translate operational cash drivers into forecast inputs and continuously improve forecast accuracy through root-cause analysis.
Support periodic capital allocation reviews and provide treasury perspective on cash availability for dividends, share repurchases, and capital projects.
Collaborate with IT to define technical requirements and priorities for treasury system integrations, data quality, and cybersecurity controls related to banking interfaces.
Assist in enterprise risk management initiatives, contributing treasury inputs to enterprise-wide risk assessments and insurance programs.
Provide ad-hoc treasury analysis and executive summaries to support strategic decisions, board materials, investor presentations and audit inquiries.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Treasury management and strategy development (cash & liquidity management, cash pooling, concentration).
Short- and long-term cash forecasting and scenario modelling at enterprise scale.
Debt and capital markets expertise (credit facilities, term debt, covenant negotiation, capital raising).
Derivatives, FX and interest rate risk management, and practical hedge accounting knowledge (ASC 815 / IFRS 9).
Treasury technology and integrations: hands-on experience with TMS solutions (Kyriba, GTreasury, TreasuryXpress) and ERP integration (SAP, Oracle).
Payments and bank connectivity (host-to-host, SWIFT, APIs), cross-border payments, and treasury operations best practices.
Treasury accounting and close: cash, debt, derivatives, intercompany, and bank reconciliation processes.
Regulatory and compliance knowledge: AML/KYC, sanctions screening (OFAC), and finance regulatory reporting.
Internal controls and SOX compliance design and remediation within treasury.
Financial modelling and analysis using Excel (advanced), Power BI/Tableau or similar visualization tools; familiarity with SQL a plus.
Negotiation of bank and vendor contracts, fee structures and commercial terms.
Experience managing global banking networks, multicurrency operations and cross-border cash structures.

Soft Skills

Strategic leadership with ability to translate corporate strategy into executable treasury initiatives.
Strong stakeholder management and executive communication skills; comfortable presenting to the CFO and Board.
Team leadership, coaching, and talent development skills; experience building scalable teams.
Analytical mindset with attention to detail and problem-solving orientation.
High integrity, confidentiality and sound judgment in managing sensitive financial matters.
Influencing and negotiation skills across internal and external partners.
Ability to work under pressure, prioritize competing deadlines, and drive timely decisions.
Change management and project leadership experience, particularly for systems implementations.
Cross-cultural awareness and ability to manage global, distributed teams and banking relationships.
Continuous improvement mindset and data-driven decision making.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration or a related field.

Preferred Education:

MBA, Master’s in Finance, or relevant advanced degree.
Professional certifications desirable: CPA, CFA, CTP (Certified Treasury Professional) or equivalent.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Finance
Accounting
Economics
Business Administration
Financial Engineering (preferred for quant-heavy roles)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 10–15+ years of progressive treasury, corporate finance, or banking experience with at least 5–7 years in a leadership role managing treasury operations and strategy.

Preferred:

Proven track record leading treasury functions in a multi-national corporation or high-growth environment.
Experience implementing/optimizing Treasury Management Systems and bank connectivity.
Demonstrated success managing liquidity, funding programs, hedging strategies, and complex corporate financing transactions.
Prior exposure to M&A integration, investor/rating agency interactions, and SOX/internal control frameworks.