Associate Director Accounts Payable

Role: Associate Director - Accounts Payable

Function: Finance & Accounts

Location: Mumbai (Dadar)

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced and hands-on Associate Director Accounts Payable to lead the Accounts Payable function, drive payment operations, and ensure robust financial controls and process efficiency. The role will oversee a team of 1520 professionals and take ownership of end-to-end AP operations, month-end closing, vendor management, and payment processing.

The ideal candidate will be a qualified Chartered Accountant with 10+ years of overall experience, including at least 5 years in Accounts Payable, preferably within a large manufacturing organization with a turnover of approximately 1,000 crore or more. Experience in Accounts Receivable will be an added advantage.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Accounts Payable Operations & Leadership

• Lead and manage a team of 1520 professionals, ensuring effective workload distribution, performance management, and delivery against defined service levels.
• Oversee the end-to-end Accounts Payable cycle, including invoice receipt, verification, processing, accounting, approvals, and vendor reconciliations.
• Ensure timely and accurate processing of vendor invoices, employee reimbursements, expense claims, and other payables.
• Establish robust processes to manage invoice backlogs, resolve discrepancies, and minimize payment delays.
• Drive standardization, productivity, and continuous improvement across AP operations.

2. Payments & Treasury Coordination

• Oversee domestic and other applicable vendor payment cycles, ensuring payments are accurate, timely, and compliant with internal policies.
• Monitor payment schedules, due dates, cash flow requirements, and payment priorities in coordination with Treasury and Finance.
• Ensure appropriate authorization, segregation of duties, and controls across payment processing.
• Manage payment exceptions, failed transactions, urgent payment requests, and vendor escalations.
• Strengthen controls to mitigate duplicate payments, fraudulent transactions, and other payment-related risks.

3. Month-End Closing

• Own the Accounts Payable month-end close process, ensuring timely closure and accurate reporting.
• Review AP-related general ledger balances, vendor reconciliations, outstanding invoices, accruals, provisions, and advances.
• Ensure accurate accounting of expenses, liabilities, and cut-off entries in accordance with applicable accounting standards and company policies.
• Reconcile AP sub-ledgers with the general ledger and investigate discrepancies.
• Provide timely schedules, reconciliations, and supporting documentation for financial reporting and audits.

4. Vendor Management & Stakeholder Engagement

• Drive effective vendor account management, statement reconciliations, and timely resolution of invoice and payment disputes.
• Build strong working relationships with Procurement, Business Teams, Plant Operations, Treasury, Tax, and Finance.
• Establish clear escalation mechanisms to resolve vendor issues and improve stakeholder experience.
• Monitor vendor ageing, overdue liabilities, and payment commitments to support working capital management.

5. Compliance, Controls & Audit

• Ensure compliance with applicable statutory requirements, tax regulations, GST, TDS, and internal financial control policies relevant to AP.
• Maintain appropriate documentation and audit trails for invoices, payments, approvals, and reconciliations.
• Coordinate with internal and statutory auditors and ensure timely closure of audit observations.
• Identify control gaps and implement corrective actions to strengthen governance and reduce operational risk.

6. Process Improvement & Systems

• Identify opportunities to streamline AP processes, improve turnaround times, and enhance operational efficiency.
• Drive automation and effective utilization of ERP systems and finance tools.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators, including invoice processing turnaround time, overdue invoices, payment accuracy, and reconciliation status.
• Develop dashboards and management reports to provide visibility into AP performance, risks, and process bottlenecks.

7. Accounts Receivable Additional Advantage

• Provide oversight or support to Accounts Receivable operations, where required.
• Support process integration and improved coordination between AP, AR, and other finance functions.

Qualifications & Experience

• Chartered Accountant (CA) is mandatory.
• 10+ years of overall experience in Finance & Accounts.
• At least 5 years of hands-on experience managing Accounts Payable operations, including payment processing and month-end closing.
• Demonstrated experience leading large teams
• Prior experience in a large organization, ideally with a turnover of approximately 1,000 crore or more, is preferred.
• Experience in Accounts Receivable will be an added advantage.
• Experience with ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, or Microsoft Dynamics 365 will be preferred.
• Candidates from both multinational corporations and large Indian organizations are welcome.