Accounts Payable Manager

About King Ocean Agency

King Ocean Agency is part of the King Ocean group, a family-owned ocean freight transportation organization with over 40 years of proven expertise connecting the United States with ports throughout Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Operating from Port Everglades, Florida, we provide weekly cargo services including Full Container Load (FCL), Less-than-Container Load (LCL), refrigerated cargo, vehicles, heavy machinery, and project cargo. Our modern fleet, C-TPAT, BASC, and ISO certifications, and deeply customer-centric culture have established us as a leader in intra-Americas maritime shipping.

Following our 2024 strategic acquisition of Seacor Island Lines, King Ocean continues to grow its regional footprint and invest in the people and systems that support our mission - including an upcoming transition to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations.

Position Summary

The Accounts Payable Manager leads King Ocean's Accounts Payable function and is responsible for the accurate, controlled, and timely execution of all AP activity across the group's supported entities - including King Ocean Services, King Ocean Agency, Sun Terminals, Martainer, and CUSA- spanning U.S., Caribbean, Central American, and South American operations.

Reporting to the Corporate Controller, the AP Manager owns the full payables lifecycle: invoice processing and posting, payment execution and approval, daily banking and Positive Pay oversight, vendor master governance, petty cash, and sales commissions. The role carries primary responsibility for the maritime-specific invoice categories central to ocean freight - drayage, demurrage and detention, terminal handling charges, customs brokerage, chassis and per-diem, and container repair - working closely with Operations, Logistics, and Port Agents to validate charges and prevent overbilling.

Beyond daily operations, the AP Manager leads and develops a team of AP Coordinators and Specialists, enforces segregation of duties and internal controls, monitors AP aging and KPIs, and partners with Finance on cash funding and the monthly close. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced AP leader who combines hands-on operational excellence with strategic process improvement in a high-volume, multi-entity, international freight environment.

Position Details

Department: Accounting & Finance

FLSA Status: Exempt

Reports To: Corporate Controller

Direct Reports: 2-4 AP Staff

Location: HQ Sweetwater, FL

Key Responsibilities

Banking, Cash Control & Treasury Support
• Review prior-day bank activity across all entity accounts, distribute reports to posting teams, and ensure timely recording of cash.
• Perform and oversee daily bank reconciliation, investigating and resolving discrepancies within 24-48 hours.
• Maintain Positive Pay daily and resolve exceptions to prevent fraud and unauthorized disbursements.
• Prepare and maintain the weekly funding report, coordinating with Finance on the cash required to fund payables and payroll by account.
• Review and approve payments prepared by team members and execute and record payments for designated entities.

Invoice Processing & Lifecycle Management
• Oversee the full invoice lifecycle - from receipt through posting and payment - ensuring accuracy of coding, approvals, and supporting documentation.
• Monitor invoice queues daily, prioritize to avoid late fees and penalties, and resolve discrepancies with vendors, Operations, and Logistics.
• Ensure duplicate-invoice detection and 3-way matching against purchase orders and receiving documentation prior to posting.
• Review Dangerous Goods invoices, reimbursements, and expense reports (e.g., Concur) for managerial approval before posting.
• Validate maritime-specific charges - drayage & trucking, gate-in/gate-out, container interchange, fuel surcharges, demurrage & detention, terminal time records, THC, port storage, customs brokerage, transshipment, canal fees, container repair (M&R), and chassis rental/per-diem - against tariff or contract.

Payment Execution & Controls
• Ensure all payments are supported by approved invoices and that payment proposals are reviewed prior to release.
• Manage check runs, ACH, and wire transfers, including bank-platform uploads, approvals, and secondary-reviewer controls.
• Ensure proof of payment is recorded in the accounting system immediately after processing and investigate returned payments promptly.

Vendor Management & Master Data
• Govern vendor profile creation and changes, ensuring required documentation and dual approval (AP Manager + Finance) for bank-detail changes.
• Apply enhanced validation for high-risk regions (Caribbean, Central America, South America).
• Oversee monthly reconciliation of vendor statements and resolution of variances and maintain strong vendor relationships.

Petty Cash & Commissions
• Oversee petty cash custody, review of receipts, reconciliation, and timely replenishment with proper expense classification.
• Oversee calculation of sales commissions, preparation of periodic commission reports, payout coordination, and resolution of discrepancies.

Team Leadership & Continuous Improvement
• Supervise, coach, and develop AP staff; assign workloads, review work quality, and ensure adequate coverage and cross-training for continuity.
• Enforce segregation of duties and internal controls across vendor master, invoice, payment, and banking activities.
• Review AP aging weekly, prioritize critical invoices, monitor KPIs (payment lead time, late payments, match exceptions), and escalate unresolved exceptions to Finance within 5 business days.
• Support the monthly, quarterly, and year-end close, AP sub-ledger reconciliation, 1099 reporting, and external audit requests.
• Identify and lead process automation and improvement initiatives, including the upcoming migration to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations.

Education & Credentials
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field required.
• Relevant professional certification - Certified Accounts Payable Professional (CAPP), Accredited Payables Manager (APM/APPM), or CPA - is a strong plus.
• IOFM affiliation or comparable continuing education in AP and internal controls is valued.

Experience
• A minimum of 7-10 years of progressive accounts payable experience, including at least 3-5 years leading or supervising an AP team.
• Demonstrated experience managing high-volume, multi-entity, and multi-currency payables in an ERP environment.
• Transportation, shipping, logistics, freight forwarding, or maritime industry experience strongly preferred - with familiarity processing freight-specific charges such as drayage, demurrage/detention, THC, customs brokerage, and chassis/per-diem.
• Hands-on experience executing check runs, ACH, and wire transfers, including bank-platform uploads, approvals, and Positive Pay.
• Experience supporting month-end close, AP sub-ledger reconciliation, 1099 reporting, and external audit requests.
• Working knowledge of internal controls, segregation of duties, fraud prevention, and SOX-aligned practices.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (D365FO) is strongly preferred; exposure to an ERP migration or implementation is a meaningful plus, as King Ocean will be transitioning to D365FO.
• Track record of partnering cross-functionally with Operations and Logistics to resolve invoice and payment discrepancies and prevent overbilling.

Skills & Competencies

Technical Skills
• High-volume, multi-entity AP invoice processing
• 3-way match & PO reconciliation (Planergy/ERP)
• Check runs, ACH, and wire transfers
• Bank platform proficiency (e.g., Fifth Third); Positive Pay
• Daily bank reconciliation across multiple accounts
• Vendor master data, W-9 / 1099 reporting
• Sales commission calculation & payout coordination
• ERP systems - MS Dynamics 365 F&O preferred (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite also valued)
• Advanced Microsoft Excel (pivots, lookups, modeling)
• U.S. GAAP fundamentals; internal controls & SoD

Leadership & Soft Skills
• Team leadership, coaching, and workload coordination
• Diligence and high accuracy under deadlines
• Clear, professional vendor communication
• Cross-functional collaboration with Operations & Logistics
• Sound judgment & problem-solving
• Process improvement and automation mindset
• Discretion, integrity, and confidentiality
• Ownership mindset and follow-through
• Bilingual (English / Spanish) strongly preferred

Why Join King Ocean?

King Ocean is more than a shipping company - we are a people company in the shipping business. Our team members are proud to serve communities across the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, and we take that responsibility seriously.
• Direct impact: Own the AP function for a 40+ year industry leader and partner closely with the Corporate Controller and CFO on cash, controls, and close.
• Leadership: Build, coach, and develop a multi-entity AP team while shaping process and control standards across the group.
• Growth trajectory: Help lead the transition to Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O and modernize AP in an expanding organization following the acquisition of Seacor Island Lines.
• Stability: A privately held, family-owned company with a compelling reputation and enduring vendor and customer relationships.

How to Apply

Please reference "Accounts Payable Manager" in the subject line

King Ocean Agency is an Equal Opportunity Employer