Manager – Finance Shared Services (Accounts Payable)
Location: Bangalore, India
Function: Finance Shared Services – Accounts Payable
Reports to: Finance Ops Lead / Director, Finance
Purpose / Role Summary
Lead and scale the Bangalore based Accounts Payable team supporting the US organization. Ensure accurate, timely, and well controlled AP operations (invoice processing, vendor query management, payment runs, and month end AP close), while driving continuous improvement, stakeholder confidence, and measurable service levels. Maintain a strong control posture and deliver a disciplined execution rhythm with SLC/US stakeholders.
Core Responsibilities
People Leadership & Operations
- Lead a team of AP associates; recruit, onboard, coach, and develop talent; drive engagement, performance management, and succession depth.
- Act as the single point of contact for US/AP stakeholders (SLC and business partners) on SLAs, cadence, and escalations; run day to day operations with clear SOPs and ownership.
- Establish the weekly/monthly governance rhythm (dashboards, KPIs, issue logs) and present progress to leadership with actionable summaries.
AP Process Ownership
- Oversee end to end AP operations: intake/3 way match, exception handling, vendor master hygiene, payment proposal & run governance, credit/debit memos, and GR/IR review cadence. (Grounded in your Analyst/Sr Specialist scopes around handling vendor inquiries, complex issue resolution, and leading AP tasks/projects.)
- Drive root cause analysis and process streamlining to reduce rework and cycle times; translate recurring issues into preventive controls or standard work updates.
- Ensure month end AP close activities (sub ledger review, accruals inputs, reconciliations hand off to GL) are timely, accurate, and evidenced for audit.
- Govern vendor query management with clear SLAs and communication templates; ensure consistent stakeholder/vendor experience across channels.
Controls, Quality & Compliance
- Maintain a robust maker–checker and exception framework; ensure complete audit trails for AP changes, vendor master updates, and sensitive transactions.
- Partner with Quality/Controls to define and monitor key control tests; address audit observations and close actions within agreed timelines.
- Enforce policy adherence (DoA, vendor onboarding/KYC, payment terms, duplicate invoice prevention) and align with IT/Access on role based controls.
Analytics, Reporting & Tooling
- Build and publish AP performance metrics (TAT, first pass yield, exception/backlog trends, vendor response SLA, duplicate/blocked items). Leverage data mining and queries to surface systemic issues and trend risks.
- Champion adoption of advanced Excel/queries and support the roadmap for automation/RPA opportunities in invoice processing and reconciliations.
Collaboration & Stakeholder Management
- Work cross functionally with Procurement, Receiving/Stores, Treasury, and GL/Accounting to resolve upstream/downstream defects and keep the payment calendar risk free.
- Align with HR/TA on hiring waves and skill matrices; participate in interviews for critical AP roles.
