Senior Manager - Finance & Accounting Operations

The Senior Manager provides strategic leadership across a portfolio of Finance & Accounting client engagements through Managers and Assistant Managers. The role is accountable for client relationships, accounting and delivery governance, commercial and operational performance, workforce strategy, leadership development, risk management, transformation, and practice growth. It serves as the senior escalation point for significant client, accounting, operational, commercial, and people matters.

Key Responsibilities

Portfolio Leadership & Governance

• Lead and govern a portfolio of Finance & Accounting engagements through Managers and Assistant Managers, establishing priorities, service standards, accountability, and operating rhythms.

• Monitor portfolio health across quality, delivery, client satisfaction, people, capacity, risk, and financial performance, and ensure timely corrective action.

• Provide Directors and practice leadership with clear visibility into performance, risks, opportunities, and decisions required.

Client & Executive Stakeholder Leadership

• Build trusted relationships with Controllers, Finance Directors, CFOs, and other senior stakeholders and serve as the escalation point for significant client matters.

• Lead executive service reviews, understand evolving priorities, and ensure Managers translate client needs into effective delivery actions.

• Protect client satisfaction and retention while identifying opportunities to enhance value and expand services.

Financial & Accounting Governance

• Provide senior oversight of accounting and reporting quality and ensure consistent application of U.S. GAAP, policies, controls, review standards, and documentation requirements.

• Guide Managers on significant, high-risk, or judgmental accounting matters and engage Directors or technical specialists when appropriate.

• Address recurring accounting and quality issues through portfolio-wide, sustainable solutions.

Manager & Leadership Development

• Manage, coach, and develop Managers and Assistant Managers, establishing clear KRAs, KPIs, leadership expectations, and accountability.

• Build leadership capability and succession pipelines through performance, career, talent, and development planning.

• Ensure leaders effectively develop their teams, address capability gaps, and promote accountability, collaboration, learning, and high performance.

Commercial & Operational Performance

• Own portfolio profitability, realization, productivity, utilization, staffing, and operational performance.

• Align delivery models and staffing structures with client requirements and commercial expectations and improve leverage, scalability, and resource efficiency.

• Monitor financial impacts of scope, staffing, complexity, and client changes and partner with Directors on significant commercial or contractual matters.

Strategic Workforce & Capacity Planning

• Anticipate workforce and leadership needs arising from growth, attrition, seasonality, new clients, and changing service requirements.

• Maintain appropriate capacity, workforce leverage, succession, and backup coverage across locations, teams, and levels.

• Identify critical capability gaps and partner with recruiting and leadership on hiring, development, or reskilling strategies.

Risk, Controls & Quality Management

• Establish portfolio-level quality, control, and risk governance across accounting, client, operational, technology, compliance, and people matters.

• Ensure Managers identify risks proactively, perform root-cause analysis, and own corrective actions through closure.

• Escalate material risks to the Director and promote professional judgment, objectivity, confidentiality, and professional skepticism.

Process Excellence, Technology & Transformation

• Set operational-excellence priorities and sponsor standardization of accounting, reporting, reconciliation, review, close, SOPs, controls, and dashboards.

• Leverage automation, AI, workflow technology, and accounting platforms to improve quality, efficiency, scalability, and client outcomes.

• Establish measurable transformation objectives, monitor benefits realization, and drive adoption across the portfolio.

Growth & Practice Development

• Partner with Directors on practice growth, strategic planning, service expansion, new capabilities, and delivery-model development.

• Support significant proposals, solution design, client transitions, onboarding, and prospective-client discussions.

• Promote cross-client knowledge sharing and contribute to business, talent, capacity, technology, and strategic planning.

Span of Control

• Directly manages 2+ Managers and provides leadership oversight across 100+ team members through Managers, Assistant Managers, and Team Leads, ensuring consistent delivery, talent development, capacity management, and operational performance across assigned client portfolios.

Experience, Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Experience - 18+ Years

Strategic Finance & Accounting Knowledge

• Deep knowledge of U.S. GAAP, financial reporting, controls, risk, and complex accounting, including multi-entity accounting, consolidations, intercompany, revenue recognition, and deferred revenue.

• Ability to assess significant accounting, operational, and financial risks at a portfolio level and provide senior guidance.

• Broad understanding of ERP platforms, reporting tools, automation, AI, and evolving Finance & Accounting operating models.

Strategic Leadership & Organizational Capability

• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop Managers and senior accounting leaders through multiple layers of management.

• Strong capability in performance management, succession planning, organizational design, workforce development, and change leadership.

• Ability to balance immediate priorities with long-term capability, scalability, and high-performance culture.

Executive Client & Stakeholder Leadership

• Strong executive presence and ability to build trusted relationships with senior client and internal stakeholders.

• Ability to manage strategic relationships, executive escalations, and sensitive matters and align stakeholders across competing priorities.

• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and executive communication skills.

Commercial & Business Acumen

• Strong understanding of profitability, margins, realization, productivity, utilization, staffing leverage, cost-to-serve, and portfolio management.

• Ability to balance client service, quality, talent, and commercial outcomes and identify opportunities to improve performance and expand services.

Strategic Workforce & Capacity Management

• Ability to anticipate workforce, leadership, skill, and succession requirements and establish scalable delivery structures.

• Strong understanding of organizational leverage, capacity planning, workforce deployment, hiring, development, and reskilling strategies.

Transformation, Technology & Operational Excellence

• Demonstrated ability to sponsor significant improvement and transformation initiatives using automation, AI, data, workflow, and ERP technologies.

• Ability to drive standardization and adoption based on measurable business value, productivity, controls, scalability, and client experience.

Risk, Governance & Decision-Making

• Ability to assess complex accounting, operational, commercial, client, technology, and people risks and make sound decisions with significant business implications.

• Strong knowledge of governance, controls, escalation, mitigation, and when Director or executive involvement is required.

• Sound professional judgment, integrity, confidentiality, objectivity, and composure during high-impact situations.

Growth & Practice Development

• Ability to expand client relationships, support solutioning and significant transitions, and develop new service capabilities.

• Ability to contribute to practice strategy, growth planning, operating models, capability building, and emerging market, talent, and technology priorities.

Behavioral Capabilities

• Strong ownership, accountability, business maturity, executive presence, adaptability, and ethical judgment.

• Proactive, solution-oriented, influential, and collaborative, with the ability to lead through others while maintaining accountability.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-changing environment while maintaining professionalism and confidentiality.