Senior Manager Financial Compliance

Sr. Manager, Financial Compliance

The Senior Manager, Financial Compliance reports to the SVP of Finance and leads Authority Brands' franchisee financial compliance and internal controls programs. This role designs and owns the company's franchisee audit strategy, using a combination of risk-based selection and random sampling to verify accurate sales reporting, fee remittance, and adherence to franchise agreement requirements across all brands. The Senior Manager builds and trains a team of auditors to execute audits and drive remediation in partnership with brand operations. The role also oversees the company's Delegation of Authority policy and financial controls framework and manages third-party internal audits to ensure adherence to company policies..

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Franchisee Audit Strategy

• Develop and own a system-wide franchisee audit strategy, combining risk-based targeting with random sampling to provide appropriate coverage across all brands
• Build and maintain risk models using franchisee sales reporting trends, collections history, and other indicators to identify and prioritize high-risk franchisees
• Define audit scopes and procedures covering sales reporting accuracy, royalty and fee remittance, local marketing spends requirements, and other franchise agreement obligations
• Establish an annual audit plan and report results, trends, and recoveries to finance and executive leadership

Audit Team Leadership & Execution

• Develop a team of auditors to execute franchisee audits consistently and to a defined standard
• Develop audit methodology, workpaper standards, and training materials to support a scalable, repeatable audit program
• Review audit findings and ensure conclusions are well supported, clearly documented, and communicated to franchisees appropriately

Remediation & Operations Partnership

• Partner with brand operations leaders to address audit findings, align on remediation plans, and elevate issues as needed
• Monitor implementation of corrective actions, including recovery of underreported fees, and track issues through resolution
• Coordinate with Legal and Accounting on matters involving defaults, disputes, or financial adjustments resulting from audits

Delegation of Authority & Financial Controls

• Own and maintain the company's Delegation of Authority policy, ensuring approval thresholds are current, clearly communicated, and consistently followed
• Oversee the financial controls framework, identifying gaps and partnering with process owners to design and implement control improvements
• Serve as the primary point of contact for finance teams on policy interpretation and control requirements

Internal Audit Oversight

• Manage the relationship with the company's third-party internal audit provider, including development of the annual internal audit plan and scope
• Coordinate audit fieldwork across departments, ensuring timely delivery of documentation and supporting materials
• Track internal audit findings and management action plans through remediation, and report status to finance leadership.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, Finance, or a related field; CPA strongly preferred
• 8+ years of experience in audit, internal controls, or compliance, with public accounting experience preferred
• Demonstrated experience designing risk-based audit programs and sampling methodologies
• Strong working knowledge of internal controls frameworks (e.g., COSO) and delegation of authority policies
• Experience reviewing franchise agreements, FDDs, and franchisee financial statements preferred
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to deliver findings constructively to franchisees and senior leaders
• Franchise or multi-unit industry experience strongly preferred.
• Ability to travel up to 20%