Financial Analyst

Global Supply Management (GSM) supports the enterprise in sourcing, contracting and paying suppliers and partners, alongside third-party risk management and related services.

Function Description

The Supplier Payments Quality Control & Compliance Review team performs independent secondary reviews of supplier invoices and payment transactions before payment release. The team helps protect American Express from incorrect, duplicate or unsupported payments by validating invoice accuracy, AP accounting, payment attributes, approvals and adherence to risk and control requirements.

The Band 30 Senior Lead Analyst is an experienced AP and payment quality specialist who independently manages complex or high-risk reviews, exercises sound judgment on exceptions, provides technical guidance to reviewers and helps improve quality governance, operational consistency and team capability. This is a senior individual-contributor role with day-to-day coordination and mentoring responsibilities, not a formal people-management position.

• Bachelor s degree in Commerce, Accounting, Finance or related discipline; relevant professional qualifications are an advantage.
• Typically 4-6+ years of relevant Accounts Payable, Supplier Payments or payment controls experience, including substantial hands-on pre-payment quality review experience (indicative band differentiation; subject to HR validation).
• Advanced practical knowledge of the end-to-end AP lifecycle, including PO/non-PO invoicing, supplier master data, tax, approvals, invoice accounting, payment processing and reconciliation.
• Demonstrated ability to independently review complex/high-value invoices and payment scenarios, interpret supporting documentation and identify material financial/control risks.
• Strong hands-on Oracle Accounts Payable knowledge, including supplier records, invoice/payment transactions, sub-ledger and general ledger; ability to trace discrepancies across the workflow.
• Proven capability in duplicate-payment prevention, supplier validation, accounting accuracy and pre-payment control effectiveness.
• Experience performing root-cause analysis, managing quality exceptions and supporting remediation, audit evidence and SOP/control improvements.
• Ability to coach junior reviewers, provide technical guidance, influence stakeholders and coordinate competing priorities without formal reporting authority.
• Strong Excel, data analysis, reporting, written communication and problem-solving skills; familiarity with automation/digital workflow improvements is desirable.
• General audit or compliance experience alone, without substantive AP process and payment QC expertise, is not sufficient for this role.

• Lead independent, risk-based pre-payment QC of complex supplier invoices and payment transactions; ensure accurate, complete and timely review before payment release.
• Validate invoice details including supplier identity, Assess PO and non-PO invoices against contracts, purchase orders, goods/service receipts, delegated approvals and applicable policies; challenge incomplete or inconsistent evidence.
• Identify and assess duplicate-payment risks, incorrect amounts, unauthorized payments, supplier master data issues and other material financial/control exposures; determine appropriate escalation.
• Provide technical review guidance and second-level support to B28 reviewers for complex exceptions, policy interpretation and consistent application of QC checklists.
• Coordinate daily review priorities and ageing visibility with the manager; support workload allocation, capacity planning and adherence to agreed SLAs without compromising quality.
• Lead analysis of recurring quality errors, trends and root causes; recommend preventive controls, corrective actions and sustainable remediation with Operations and upstream teams.
• Maintain clear, auditable review documentation, exception decisions and evidence; contribute to management reporting on quality, first-pass yield, ageing, query themes and risk.
• Partner with Supplier Payments Operations, Procurement, Vendor Management, Technology and Control stakeholders to resolve complex cases and improve end-to-end process quality.
• Lead or support SOP/checklist updates, process standardization, knowledge-sharing, onboarding and targeted refresher training for reviewers.
• Support internal/external audits, control testing, issue remediation and process-change readiness; escalate significant or repeat deficiencies promptly.
• Identify opportunities for workflow automation and preventive validation while maintaining appropriate human review and governance.

Leadership Skills:

• Risk judgment and accountability: make defensible review decisions, challenge exceptions and escalate material concerns.
• Technical leadership: serve as a go-to AP/QC subject matter resource and coach less-experienced reviewers.
• Operational excellence: manage quality, timeliness and competing priorities with disciplined follow-through.
• Collaboration and influence: resolve cross-functional issues constructively and communicate clearly with senior stakeholders.
• Continuous improvement: use data, root causes and technology opportunities to reduce repeat errors and strengthen preventive controls.