Senior Accounting Manager

About the role
An international manufacturing company is seeking a Senior Accounting Manager to lead accounting operations, controllership, financial reporting, internal controls, and compliance activities across manufacturing entities located across multiple European countries. The role is responsible for ensuring timely, accurate, and compliant reporting while maintaining strong governance across inventory, standard costing, fixed assets, manufacturing controls, and balance sheet management. The position partners closely with Plant Leadership, Operations, Finance, Shared Services, Tax, Treasury, Internal Audit, external auditors, and regional accounting leadership.

Key Responsibilities
Manufacturing Accounting & Controllership:
• Lead day-to-day accounting and controllership activities for the manufacturing entities in scope, ensuring compliance with US GAAP, corporate accounting policies, and local statutory requirements.
• Manage accounting judgments, accruals, provisions, reserves, and key close activities while partnering closely with Plant Leadership, Operations, and Finance teams to ensure accurate financial reporting and operational alignment.
• Drive accountability across local accounting teams, regional controllership, and shared service organizations. Month-End Close & Financial Reporting:
• Own month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close coordination activities.
• Ensure all close deliverables are accurate, complete, and submitted on time.
• Review journal entries, reconciliations, accruals, and close analytics.
• Manage reporting packages, supplemental schedules, intercompany reporting, and validation activities.
• Communicate accounting risks, significant variances, and escalation topics to management. Inventory, Cost Accounting & Manufacturing Controls:
• Oversee inventory accounting, standard costing, manufacturing variances, overhead absorption, and inventory reserves.
• Ensure physical inventory and cycle count processes are properly controlled and reconciled.
• Review excess and obsolete inventory assessments, slow-moving inventory, and scrap management.
• Partner with Operations and Finance teams to analyze manufacturing variances and ensure proper accounting treatment.
• Drive consistency in cost accounting practices and controls across locations. Balance Sheet, Fixed Assets & Capital Projects:
• Review balance sheet reconciliations and ensure timely resolution of aged or unsupported items.
• Monitor key risk areas including inventory, accruals, intercompany accounts, tax-related accounts, and fixed assets.
• Ensure appropriate accounting treatment for capital expenditure, project capitalization, transfers, impairments, and disposals.
• Coordinate action plans for legacy balances and reconciliation issues.
• Provide visibility to management on balance sheet quality and financial risks. US GAAP, Statutory Accounting & Audit:
• Ensure compliance with US GAAP, internal accounting policies, and local statutory requirements, including oversight of statutory financial statements, regulatory reporting, audits, and US GAAP to local GAAP reconciliations across all manufacturing sites in scope.
• Partner with Corporate and Technical Accounting teams on complex accounting matters.
• Coordinate internal and external audit requests and remediation activities. SOX, Internal Controls & Compliance:
• Coordinate SOX control execution and maintain a strong internal control environment, ensuring compliance with finance policies, procedures, and documentation requirements.
• Identify control gaps and drive remediation initiatives while promoting accountability, transparency, risk awareness, and sustainable control execution across manufacturing and finance processes. Shared Services, Systems & Transformation:
• Partner with Global Finance Organizations to support process standardization, harmonization, and continuous improvement initiatives across finance operations.
• Support ERP deployments, finance transformation projects, automation initiatives, and system enhancements to improve reporting accuracy, efficiency, and control execution. People Leadership & Stakeholder Management:
• Lead, coach, and develop accounting team members across multiple international sites, fostering accountability, collaboration, and professional growth.
• Build strong partnerships with plant leadership, regional finance teams, shared services, and key business stakeholders while supporting organizational readiness and succession planning initiatives. Required

Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or equivalent.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive accounting and finance experience, including manufacturing accounting experience.
• At least 5 years of leadership or team coordination experience.
• Strong experience with month-end close, financial reporting, inventory accounting, balance sheet review, and standard costing.
• Strong knowledge of US GAAP, SOX, internal controls, and audit processes.
• Experience with financial reporting and consolidation systems.
• Experience in multinational and/or shared services environments.
• Ability to lead cross-functional collaboration across countries and functions.
• Fluency in English. Preferred

Qualifications:
• CPA, Chartered Accountant, or equivalent qualification.
• ERP deployment, or finance transformation experience.
• Advanced Excel, PowerPoint, Power BI, and consolidation systems knowledge.
• Previous Big 4 experience.
• Lean / Six Sigma certification.
• Additional European language skills will be considered a plus Travel

Requirements:
approximately 20%–30% Working Model: Hybrid