Associate Director, Operations Accounting

The Associate Director, North America Operations Accounting will lead and oversee North America operations accounting activities across five US and Canadian legal entities. This role ensures accurate, timely, and compliant reporting under US GAAP and German GAAP (HGB), with strong internal controls and support for internal/external audits and statutory reporting. The Associate Director partners with Operations, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Sales, FP&A, IT, and Tax to provide decision-ready financial information, drive scalability, and improve processes through standardization, automation, and ERP enablement (SAP, S/4HANA).

Key Responsibilities

• Lead North America operations accounting for revenue, COGS, inventory, product costing, and gross margin analysis.
• Manage and develop the Operations Accounting team (including cost accounting manager), providing hands-on leadership.
• Oversee monthly, quarterly, and annual close for operations accounting areas.
• Review and approve complex journal entries, reconciliations, accruals, reserves, and estimates.
• Perform balance sheet and P&L variance analysis, identify drivers, and recommend actions.
• Oversee product costing, absorption analysis, and manufacturing variance reporting.
• Review PPV, cycle count reporting, and excess/obsolete inventory analysis.
• Ensure accurate inventory valuation and reserve methodology across all sites.
• Provide SME support for revenue, manufacturing costing, cost of sales, and inventory accounting.
• Act as the primary contact for internal audit, external audit, and statutory reporting.
• Prepare audit schedules, accounting memos, and position papers as needed.
• Own and maintain operations accounting policies, procedures, and SOPs.
• Partner with IT on SAP S/4HANA enhancements, automation, and data quality improvements.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives and ad hoc transformation projects.
• Review monthly excess and obsolete inventory analysis and support related ad hoc initiatives.

Required

• 10+ years of accounting/cost accounting experience (preferably distribution & manufacturing) with demonstrated process improvement results
• 7+ years supervisory experience
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance

• Strong knowledge of US GAAP; German GAAP/HGB is a plus
• Advanced Excel skills
• SAP experience preferred (FI/CO/SD/BI); open to comparable ERP experience (e.g., Oracle, JD Edwards)

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent written/verbal communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to translate complex accounting topics for non-finance stakeholder
• Strong presentation skills and ability to review/abstract information

Work Model: Hybrid – 3 days per week in office

If you’re energized by turning financial complexity into strategic clarity—and want your work to matter—this role offers both impact and growth.

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