Head of Global Process Owners

The Head of Global Process Owners (“GPO”) will be responsible for leading and managing the GPO function within the finance organization and will act as the lead for the Record to Report (R2R) process. The role will work closely with other functions (IT, HR and business units) in developing and implementing plans, programs and initiatives in line with the company‚ its strategy and goals. The role will also involve coaching and mentoring employees on GPO methods and tools.

The Head of GPO is responsible for setting the strategic direction for the assigned end to end process(es) globally and ensuring compliance with relevant corporate policies.   They will use their professional expertise to ensure that the assigned processes are fully documented, communicated and operated by the relevant finance teams.

The Head of GPO will be responsible for driving continuous improvement efforts and initiatives to improve operational efficiencies and processes and be responsible for developing, documenting, monitoring and reporting process performance metrics to ensure continuous improvement initiatives are successful. This position requires strong problem-solving, analytical, communication, change management and organizational skills, as well as the ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders across the organization.

They will be expected to identify and recommend improvements to increase customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and improve overall business performance. The successful candidate will be highly motivated and organized.

• Set the strategic direction for the process(es) and ensures compliance with corporate policies​ and external regulatory requirements.
• Lead and manage the Finance organisations GPO function
• Act as the lead GPO on R2R
• Identify best practices within and outside the company and serving as a channel for best-practice sharing and adoption across functions and business units
• Maintain effective communication with all stakeholders to ensure successful implementation of Continuous Improvement and change management initiatives
• Act as the key point of contact on all process matters​ and identify, analyze and prioritize Continuous Improvement opportunities.
• Lead the finance interactions with IT and as part of the planning process propose and prioritise process design initiatives and manage the approval/rejection of business cases for change requests ​
• Co-ordinate and lead cross-functional teams and manage the Global/Regional Process Owners to drive global execution of standardisation, automation, process excellence and continuous improvement​
• Create and maintain a culture of Continuous Improvement within the finance organization, encourage and drive the generation of continuous improvement ideas within the process network
• Responsible for new process design and implementation across functional areas
• Manage initial deployment and prioritise portfolio of change initiatives that impact overall process
• Responsible for overseeing the definition, measurement, and establishment of initial Service levels and SLA/KPI targets for the functional area
• Provide commentary on end-to-end process performance KPIs /SLA and monitor and address exceptions
• Set targets and measures for process performance and ensure process performance meets critical business requirement​
• Ensures, owns and maintains process documentation and process level master data and monitors compliance​
• Optimise the operation of the shared services organisation within the process scope​
• Review and provide inputs to corporate policies and procedures​
• Support compliance with all internal policies and external compliance requirements​
• Identify training needs and develop and deliver training programs for regional Process Owners and local users/super users​

Travel - Occasional international travel may be required

Education - University degree and professional finance/accounting qualification

Licenses/Certifications - Ideally Lean/Six Sigma certification or equivalent

Experience:

• Proven experience of delivering process optimisation / continuous improvement in a Finance function ideally combined with accounting professional qualifications and experience
• Proven work experience as a Global Process Owner or similar role with responsibility for driving process improvements and efficiencies.
• Strong project management skills and proven experience of driving change
• Outstanding analytical skills, used to working with data and making data driven decisions to improve efficiency and
• productivity
• Excellent communication and leadership skills and experience
• Experience of managing a team across different locations and ideally timezones
• Ideally experience of working in an international organisation liaising with people in multiple locations/timezones
• Strategic thinking, strong business acumen and excellent understanding of the global business model and operations
• Deep knowledge of the end-to-end finance processes and SSC procedures and service levels
• Detailed working knowledge of ERP systems and set up along with solid understanding of systems and automation tool that enable process operations, Hands-on experience of MS Dynamics ERP functionality and operations preferred
• Significant experience in accounting, risk management and internal controls
• Strong track record of customer focus and ability to manage and influence diverse stakeholders and drive change
• Excellent understanding of the critical success factors for process ownership as reliable, effective and efficient process management & governance model
• Ability to understand and contribute to the commercial issues of the business and reflect these within the process design and operation
• Ability to interact with and influence business leaders, key stakeholders and employees in an effective and efficient manner
•  Ability to embed a culture of continuous improvement and leading practice
•  Implementing a rigorous framework for monitoring process performance and managing continuous improvement initiatives across to  help realise greater efficiencies
• Optimising use of technology to enable process operation      

Other  

• Strong leadership skills with the ability to inspire and motivate teams towards a common goal
• Ability to influence and persuade stakeholders and manage any conflict effectively