The Director of Finance Transformation is a strategic leadership role responsible for orchestrating the optimization of financial processes in a global shared services environment. This position requires an experienced professional with a strong finance background, change management expertise, and a proven track record of successful transformation initiatives. The position will oversee the migration of transactional business essential finance and accounting work to global shared service centers, with a specific focus on purchase to pay, order to cash, record to report, and supply chain accounting processes. The focus is on optimizing efficiency, reducing costs, and ensuring a seamless transition that aligns with global business objectives and on tailoring strategies to regional needs while maintaining a cohesive and standardized approach to finance transformation across the entire global organization. Moreover, the role extends to driving the implementation and leveraging of a global ERP system, such as SAP S4/Hana, to achieve standardized, simplified, and efficient global processes. These responsibilities highlight the ongoing commitment to leveraging a global ERP system to drive efficiencies and advance the organization’s finance transformation journey while emphasizing standardization, simplification, and integration with cutting-edge technologies to help lead the organization into a future-ready and digitally advanced financial landscape.

Change Management

• Lead and manage change initiatives to ensure successful implementation of finance transformation projects.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation within the finance function.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with finance teams, business units, and other functional stakeholders to understand their needs and tailor transformation initiatives accordingly.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to understand their specific requirements and dependencies within the identified processes.

Global Stakeholder Engagement

• Engage with leaders and stakeholders across different regions to understand regional nuances and regulatory requirements to ensure a globally cohesive finance transformation strategy.
• Communicate transparently with key stakeholders, including regional finance teams and business units, regarding the progress, benefits, and challenges associated with the migration of transactional processes.
• Collaborate closely with regional finance teams to ensure seamless integration of shared service operations.

Standardization of Procedures

• Develop and implement standardized procedures and workflows for transactional finance processes to ensure consistency across shared service centers.
• Ensure alignment with global policies and regulatory requirements.
• Identify opportunities to standardize financial processes, increase efficiency, reduce costs.
• Facilitate the transfer of knowledge from decentralized finance teams to shared service center personnel during the migration process.
• Establish a roadmap for simplifying complex processes and adopting global best practices embedded within the ERP platform

Risk Mitigation and Compliance

• Implement robust risk mitigation strategies to address potential challenges during the migration of transactional processes.
• Ensure compliance with local and international regulations throughout the migration process.
• Efficiency Optimization through ERP
• Leverage the capabilities of the global ERP system to drive efficiencies in financial processes, emphasizing automation, real-time data access, and advanced analytics.
• Work with functional teams to identify opportunities for ERP-driven optimization across purchase to pay, order to cash, record to report, and supply chain accounting.

Agility for Future Innovations

• Foster a culture of agility and adaptability within the finance transformation team to respond effectively to future innovations and changes in business requirements.
• Proactively identify opportunities for continuous improvement and innovation within the context of evolving technologies and industry standards.
• Explore opportunities to integrate the ERP system with emerging technologies such as machine learning, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to enhance financial processes.
• Stay informed about industry trends and technological advancements to maintain a cutting-edge finance transformation strategy.

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, business, or a related field. An MBA or CPA is preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience in finance leadership roles.
• Proven track record of successfully leading and implementing global finance transformation initiatives within shared service environments.
• SAP S4/Hana experience preferred in implementation role and/or end user experience.
• Extensive experience working in a global context, with a strong understanding of regional variations in regulations, business practices, and cultural nuances.
• Familiarity with global compliance requirements related to finance operations.
• Previous involvement in finance transformation projects across diverse regions, including Latin America, Asia, Europe, and Africa.
• 25% – 40% international travel expected in the 1st 18 months of the role to support global roll-out of shared services initiative.
• Strong change management skills with a history of successfully leading teams through significant organizational and process changes.
• Ability to foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation within the finance function.
• Proven ability to develop and articulate a strategic vision for finance transformation aligned with overall business objectives.
• Experience collaborating with senior leadership to translate vision into actionable plans.
• Communication and Stakeholder Management
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively communicate with stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
• Previous experience managing relationships with vendors, third-party service providers, and executive leadership.
• Demonstrated adaptability to evolving technologies and industry trends.
• Proven ability to foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within the finance transformation team.