Associate Director, Global Accounting

Role Description

The Associate Director of Global Accounting position is a global role that oversees the accounting, reporting, and compliance functions for all Worldwide Clinical Trials entities.

• Manage the global Financial Accounting team while complying with international and local accounting standards.
• Manage the global Financial Accounting team, including training of the team and new team members.
• Ensure timely and accurate processing of month-end reporting, including analysis of actual data versus budget.
• Ensure full reconciliation of balance sheet accounts with commentary as required.
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting of external year-end statutory audit requirements at both Group and United Kingdom (UK) levels.
• Maintain tax-related processes:
• United States (US) taxes, including coordination of filings and payments alongside payroll, legal, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
• International taxes, including regular review of tax profiles by entity, such as tax rate and timing of payments, to ensure accurate accounting.
• Research and Development (R&D), including regular review of global opportunities and potential impact on Worldwide Clinical Trials and sponsors.
• Transfer pricing, including maintaining the Group policy in an up-to-date manner.
• UK taxes, including UK R&D tax claims and European Union (EU) Sales List filings.
• UK employment taxes, including collaboration with payroll to address key topics.
• Lead the Group audit, including both fieldwork and statistical requirements.
• Maintain appropriate relationships between the Finance team and local third-party accountants to ensure compliance with local laws and regulations.
• Review and ensure accuracy of monthly reconciliations between local and Worldwide Clinical Trials trial balances.
• Review reconciliation of year-end statutory accounts for Worldwide Clinical Trials subsidiaries.
• Provide managerial expertise on the processing, recording, and reporting of financial accounting transactions.
• Maintain relationships with internal departments to effectively communicate the need for existing guidelines and controls.
• Maintain internal controls over processes that affect financial and related reporting, including ensuring all transactions are recorded promptly, properly valued, accrued, classified, and disclosed.
• Provide ad hoc reporting to senior management as required.
• Perform other duties as assigned. The duties and responsibilities listed above are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and are not necessarily all-inclusive.

Qualifications

• Strong communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced and evolving organization.

Requirements

• Qualified accountant (ACA, CIMA, ACCA) with at least 12 years of industry experience.
• At least 5 years of experience supervising or managing a Finance team.
• Knowledge of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, including MS Great Plains Dynamics and Oracle/NetSuite, is a plus.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office 365 is required.
• Ability to work under pressure, often in a deadline-driven environment.
• Ability to perform several tasks concurrently with superior attention to detail.
• Excellent critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Promotion to the next level is not automatic based on years of experience. Personnel are evaluated on proven competency, level of responsibility, and ability to work independently.

Benefits

• We love knowing that someone is going to have a better life because of the work we do.