Director, Global Process Owner – Record-to-Report and Controls
Genuine Parts Company · Atlanta
Job Summary
The Director, Global Process Owner – Record-to-Report and Controls leads the company’s global internal controls and Record-to-Report strategy. This role is responsible for sustaining SOX compliance, strengthening financial controls, standardizing global accounting processes, and improving the speed, quality, and predictability of the financial close. The Director serves as the global authority for R2R process governance, leads the global controls team, and partners with Controllers, GBS, Finance, Internal Audit, External Audit, Technology, Tax, Treasury, Legal, Human Resources, and other stakeholders to establish consistent processes, controls, documentation, performance measures, and accountability across the organization.
Responsibilities
Global Internal Controls and SOX Leadership:
- Own the company’s global SOX compliance program, including annual scoping, materiality, risk assessment, control design, documentation, testing coordination, deficiency evaluation, remediation, and management certification.
- Establish a globally aligned internal-control framework across corporate functions, business units, regions, and shared-service operations.
- Lead the global financial-controls team and provide functional direction to business-unit SOX resources through an appropriate direct-report and dotted-line structure.
- Simplify and rationalize the global control environment while maintaining effective coverage of financial-reporting risks.
- Partner with Internal Audit, External Audit, and Technology leaders on testing strategies, documentation expectations, automated controls, system dependencies, findings, and remediation.
Global Record-to-Report Process Ownership:
- Own the end-to-end global R2R framework, including general ledger accounting, journal entries, account reconciliations, intercompany accounting, fixed assets, period-end close, consolidation, and reporting support.
- Define, document, and maintain global R2R policies, standard operating procedures, controls, roles, and decision rights.
- Standardize journal-entry approvals, account reconciliations, close activities, workflows, supporting documentation, and management review requirements.
- Improve close discipline and reduce the accounting and reporting close from 10 days to five days or less.
- Serve as the primary escalation point and subject-matter leader for global R2R process matters.
Process Improvement and Transformation:
- Assess global R2R performance and prioritize improvements based on business value, risk reduction, control impact, complexity, readiness, and available resources.
- Partner with the Global Business Services process-improvement team to implement prioritized R2R changes and sustain new ways of working.
- Eliminate unnecessary manual work, duplicate activities, inconsistent practices, and avoidable close delays.
- Support major business, shared-service, and technology transformations by ensuring processes and controls are designed before implementation.
- Lead change-management activities, including stakeholder communication, training, process documentation, adoption monitoring, and post-implementation review.
Technology and Data Enablement:
- Partner with Finance and Technology leaders to define requirements for systems supporting R2R and internal controls.
- Evaluate opportunities to automate reconciliations, journal entries, close management, controls, certifications, reporting, and supporting workflows.
- Ensure technology changes include appropriate financial controls, data governance, system dependencies, access considerations, and audit-ready documentation.
- Promote consistent use of approved systems and data across business units and regions so new systems support standardized processes.
Performance Management and Governance:
- Establish a global governance model for R2R and internal controls, including regular governance meetings with key Finance, GBS, Audit, Technology, Tax, Treasury, and other stakeholders.
- Define performance measures and targets for close timeliness, reconciliation completion, journal-entry compliance, issue resolution, control execution, and audit readiness.
- Develop transparent reporting that identifies trends, bottlenecks, control issues, root causes, and corrective actions.
- Maintain a prioritized global roadmap for control enhancement and R2R transformation and report progress, risks, decisions, and resource needs to senior Finance leadership.
Leadership and Stakeholder Partnership:
- Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing global controls team and provide functional guidance to business-unit and regional controls professionals.
- Influence senior leaders and process owners who may not report directly to the position.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to Controllers and Finance leaders on financial controls, process risks, SOX requirements, and R2R improvement.
- Promote accountability, continuous improvement, collaboration, strong financial stewardship, and clear practical communication.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
- Active Certified Public Accountant license.
- At least 10 years of progressive accounting, audit, internal-controls, controllership, or finance-transformation experience.
- Recent Big Four experience focused on SOX, internal controls over financial reporting, financial-statement audits, or related controls advisory work.
- Strong knowledge of SOX requirements, internal controls over financial reporting, U.S. GAAP, financial-close processes, and external-audit expectations.
- Demonstrated experience leading global or enterprise-wide control, accounting-process, or finance-transformation initiatives.
- Deep understanding of end-to-end R2R activities, including general ledger, journal entries, reconciliations, intercompany accounting, close, consolidation, and reporting support.
- Experience evaluating control design and operating effectiveness, identifying deficiencies, and leading remediation.
- Experience working in a complex, multinational, multi-business-unit, or shared-service environment.
- Strong analytical, project-management, problem-solving, written-communication, and presentation skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience leading a global SOX or financial-controls function, supporting a public company, and interacting with Audit Committee and external-auditor stakeholders.
- Experience with Global Business Services, shared-service operating models, ERP, reconciliation, close-management, consolidation, governance-risk-compliance systems, automation, IT controls, data governance, or system implementation risks.
Leadership
- Enterprise ownership: Makes decisions for the global organization rather than optimizing one business unit or region.
- Controls mindset: Balances process efficiency with financial-reporting integrity, compliance, and risk management.
- Influence: Builds support and drives action across teams outside the Director’s direct reporting structure.
- Strategic execution: Converts broad objectives into clear priorities, accountable owners, and measurable outcomes.
- Change leadership: Explains the purpose of change, involves affected teams, and sustains adoption.
- Clear communication: Explains technical accounting, controls, and process issues in concise business language.
Physical Demands / Working Environment
- Position location: Atlanta, Georgia
- Principal duties of this job are performed primarily in an office environment
- Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
- Must be able to stand and walk short distances between work sites.
- Must be able to work in a corporate office setting.
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