Assistant General Manager- Accounts Payable Lead

POSITION PURPOSE

A brief summary of the purpose this position must fulfill.

The Accounts Payable Lead is responsible of all Accounts Payable activities for India, Middle East, Australia, Newzealand, South Africa, South East Asia and few European Countries. The person oversees the day-to-day execution of the end to end spectrum of the Accounts Payable process, supporting more than 35 legal entities in 14 countries.

The person is the head of an organization of about 50 people and supervises the following areas:

• Invoice processing
• Issue resolution
• Vendor management
• Vendor payment and
• Employee Travel & Entertainment disbursement

The AP Lead ensures that the AP activities are performed in compliance with applicable policies and procedures and with adequate internal control. The person is also responsible for establishing, reporting and continuously improving the operational Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Service Level Agreements.

The person is also responsible for standardization of the various AP processes of the various countries and continuously improve processes driving efficiency and productivity, better quality and control and is to identify and bring to life automation opportunities.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

To perform this position successfully, an individual must satisfactorily perform each essential duty. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.

1. Responsible for setting up the day to day operation of all aspects of Accounts Payable (AP) processing, disbursements and metrics.
2. Lead a complex organization of ~50 people team

3. Manage a diverse AP process with different issues and priorities and diverse stakeholders

4. Develop and execute regional Accounts Payable strategy that is aligned with the global strategy

1. Identify and implement process improvement opportunities through process streamlining and automation, driving improved efficiency and productivity, better control environment and higher level of quality.
2. Identify key focus areas for the short term that supports the longer term goals despite the competing priorities, crisis situations
3. Adopts to changes quickly and manages the changes within the organization
4. Establish great relationships and manage a variety of stakeholders such as country finance leads, procurement heads and the global Shared Service Center leadership team.
5. Identify escalating issues early and establish necessary actions required and manage crisis situations personally depending on the potential severity
6. Establish, report and continuously improve operational Key Performance Indicators and SLAs by understanding root causes and working out adequate action plans.
7. Establish and continuously operate key and non-key controls and report results to the country, Center and Global leadership teams ensuring no significant internal or external audit findings. Actively participate in internal and external audits.
8. Work closely with General Accounting, Indirect Tax and Procurement teams to resolve issues and to ensure no adverse impact of AP on the downstream processes.
9. Ensure country specific process documentations are complete and of great quality, always current, and stored appropriately

14. Actively participate in the Leadership of the Shared Services Center and building the companies unique culture

1. Motivate the team with vision, setting objectives, personal leadership and exemplary people management to bring out the best performance of each individual. Monitor performance and identify training needs
2. Continuously develop organization to become a high performance team

17. Ensure proper staffing and development of personnel with robust succession program for all levels

18. Lead the development of departmental policies and training documents

1. Perform various assignments in flexible manner as business needs warrant (including cross geographic or cross -functional tasks that might arise as business evolves) based on the request of the Finance Shared Service Center Lead

QUALIFICATIONS

The qualifications listed below are representative of the minimum knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

KNOWLEDGE

Must possess good knowledge of accounts payable, purchasing, and procurement processes as well as Company policies and accounting principles.

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Must possess excellent written and verbal communication skills, interpersonal skills, management skills, strong work ethic, consensus gathering skills, organizational skills, and a working knowledge of Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, and Lotus Notes.

SUPERVISION

Position functions autonomously. Position directly supervises employees. Carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities may include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE

Minimum of a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) and 15 - 17 years of experience of which minimum of 3 years should be spent as regional head of Accounts Payable or Procure to Pay organization supervising a team of 60 or more. Experience in process improvement program, driving standardization of multiple countries and stabilizing AP area resulting in great customer satisfaction. A combination of Accounting, Accounts Payable and/ or Procurement experience is a significant advantage.