Accounting Manager II

Accounting Manager II

Location: 5000 Kansas Avenue Kansas City, KS 66106

Work Model: Hybrid

Department: AWG Support Center Accounting

Summary

The Accounting Operations Manager oversees the strategic and day-to-day operations of Accounts Payable, Vendor Accounts Receivable, and Case Dispute Management. This role is responsible for directing the activities, resources, and leadership team within these functional areas to ensure compliance with established corporate policies, internal controls, and procedures. Key responsibilities include compiling, analyzing, and reporting on financial metrics to provide leadership with actionable insights. The ideal candidate will drive initiatives with a strong focus on process automation, cross-functional collaboration, and outstanding customer service to both internal stakeholders and external vendors. Additionally, this individual must possess deep process and technical system knowledge to effectively mentor team leads, partner with IT to triage systemic issues, and provide the detailed oversight necessary to guide company deployment initiatives to successful, on-time, and on-budget completion.

Position Responsibilities:

• Manage and develop functional supervisors, fostering a culture of accountability and continuous growth and professional development
• Leverage deep end-to-end process and system knowledge to provide strong technical support, guidance, and strategic direction to team leads
• Set clear team goals, monitor performance metrics (KPIs), and ensure equitable workload distribution across sub-departments
• Critically evaluate current workflows to identify inefficiencies and implement smarter, more automated transactional processes to maximize team efficiency and impact
• Develop a strong understanding of the technical aspects of overseen financial systems to actively identify, troubleshoot, and triage systemic issues in close partnership with Information Technology (IT)
• Participate in and oversee tactical activities in support of corporate and departmental initiatives, contributing detailed operational insight to ensure successful, on-time, and on-budget project deployments with little to no post-launch disruption
• Strengthen internal controls and risk mitigation strategies to prevent fraud, reduce errors, and ensure compliance with company policies
• Proactively suggest and execute change management initiatives to modernize departmental tools and software
• Act as the ultimate escalation point for complex vendor issues and case dispute management, performing deep-dive financial research to resolve root causes
• Analyze aging reports, dispute trends, and processing bottlenecks to provide actionable insights to leadership
• Provide reports, support, and feedback to leadership regarding financial performance as it relates to their gross profit centers and/or cost centers
• Manage competing demands seamlessly in a fast-paced environment, balancing daily transactional deadlines with long-term strategic projects
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Procurement, Operations, and Legal on initiatives to investigate root causes and escalate outstanding issues until fully resolved
• Other duties as assigned

Position Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or related business field
• Strong attention to detail and high level of accuracy
• Excellent organizational skills with proven ability to balance and prioritize multiple day-to-day deadlines and ongoing projects simultaneously
• Solid knowledge of general accounting practices and experience with PeopleSoft (or equivalent ERP systems)
• Strong technical acumen regarding underlying financial system architecture to facilitate effective system triaging and alignment with IT teams
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Access), with advanced proficiency in Excel
• Exceptional research and investigative skills with analytic mindset to identify root-cause issues
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, with the ability to clearly, effectively, and persuasively present complex information to all levels of employees, management, and customers
• Demonstrated ability to influence, lead, and manage change thoughtfully and positively
• Previous experience managing supervisors, team leads, or a multi-tiered team is highly preferred
• Proven experience participating in system implementations or software deployments, with a track record of meeting strict project timelines and budget targets
• Ability to relocate regionally may be necessary for advancement at our division offices

Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. (AWG) is the nation's largest cooperative food wholesaler to independently owned supermarkets, serving 1,100 member companies and 3,500 locations throughout 33 states from 9 wholesale division support centers. Consolidated sales for AWG in 2025 were $12.2 billion. In addition to its cooperative wholesale operations, the company also operates subsidiary companies that provide certain real estate and supermarket development services, and pharmaceutical products.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance
• Health Savings Account
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
• Paid Vacation, Holiday, and Sick Time
• 401(k) with 4% match along with 3 other contributions
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Basic & Supplemental Life and AD&D
• Employee Assistance Program
• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability
• Wellness Program
• Yearly Holiday Bonus

Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc.