Global Financial Shared Services Manager

Role Overview

This position places you at the helm of a brand‑new finance operations hub being established inside the global finance division of an international non‑profit research organization. Your mandate is to shape everything from the ground up: designing workflows, recruiting and coaching a compact team, and becoming the go‑to liaison between country offices and headquarters. Day to day, you will keep the engine of accounts payable, journal entries, expense reimbursements, intercompany movements, and ledger reconciliations running smoothly across multiple countries, while pushing for smarter, more automated ways of working.

Key Responsibilities

• Direct the complete operational cycle of the shared services unit, including invoice processing, general ledger journal preparation, intercompany postings, expense report reviews, and periodic bank and balance sheet reconciliation for all global offices.
• Build and manage service‑level agreements with both country finance teams and headquarters, defining expected turnaround times, accuracy thresholds, and issue‑resolution deadlines, then track actual performance against those targets.
• Act as the first point of escalation for in‑country finance staff, helping to clear missing documentation, resolve reconciling items, and ensure every entity’s month‑end close is complete and accurate before submission.
• Step in to maintain essential accounting coverage when individual country offices face staffing gaps or transitions, ensuring no lapse in processing continuity.
• Identify chances to automate repetitive tasks, simplify cumbersome procedures, or improve system configuration, partnering with IT and global finance colleagues to implement changes without disrupting day‑to‑day service.
• Design recurring dashboards and key performance indicators for the shared services function, presenting progress and outstanding risks to senior finance leadership on a set cadence.
• Recruit, onboard, and manage shared services staff, set annual objectives, conduct formal performance reviews, and create individual development plans that support professional growth and retention.
• Develop and maintain up‑to‑date training materials for junior accountants covering NetSuite workflows, reconciliation methods, country‑specific compliance rules, and core accounting procedures; adjust workload allocations based on shifting priorities and proactively flag resource gaps.
• Enforce a strong internal control environment by ensuring all transactions adhere to organizational policies, donor restrictions, and applicable accounting frameworks, and by keeping a clear separation between shared services processing duties and country‑level banking/treasury functions.
• Lead recurring check‑ins with country finance leads to discuss close status, unresolved issues, upcoming deadlines, and team performance; also provide monthly financial reporting packages to stakeholders.
• Participate in finance transformation projects and other global initiatives that touch accounting systems, process standardization, or organizational efficiency.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a directly related field.
• At least seven years of progressive accounting experience, including a minimum of three years directly supervising professional staff.
• Proven background working in a shared services center, centralized finance operation, or business process outsourcing environment where you were responsible for processing and service delivery across multiple entities.
• Full professional fluency in both English and Spanish, with the ability to communicate financial concepts clearly in writing and in person across different time zones.
• Solid working knowledge of accounts payable cycles, general ledger accounting, month‑end close procedures, and internal control principles.
• Hands‑on proficiency with an ERP platform — NetSuite is strongly preferred — along with advanced Excel skills for analysis, reconciliations, and reporting.
• Demonstrated comfort managing multi‑currency and multi‑country accounting operations, including awareness of foreign exchange and intercompany settlement nuances.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, especially the ability to collaborate tactfully with colleagues from various cultural and organizational backgrounds.
• A professional accounting credential such as CPA, CA, or equivalent is preferred, as is a master’s degree in accounting, finance, or business administration.
• Experience in non‑profit, international development, or donor‑funded settings, with familiarity of USG and FCDO compliance requirements, is preferred.
• A track record of designing or standardizing accounting processes across multiple geographies or legal entities is preferred.