Director of Accounting
Overview:
StaffBuffalo is working with a global industrial organization to hire a Director of Accounting, with a base salary up to $230,000 plus significant incentive compensation. This is a high-impact leadership opportunity for an accomplished accounting executive who can lead a complex shared services organization, partner with senior leadership, and drive performance across critical accounting and customer financial functions.
This leader will oversee a multi-location shared services organization spanning general ledger accounting, customer financial services, billing, collections, cash applications, regional and government accounting, payroll and benefits accounting, and indirect tax. The environment is lean, highly accountable, and results-driven, so success requires a leader who can set direction, develop talent, influence across a matrixed organization, and still engage deeply enough in the work to guide high-level accounting, close, audit, controls, and operational discussions.
The strongest candidates will bring substantial progressive accounting and finance experience, proven leadership of large multi-functional teams, strong general ledger and close expertise, and a technology-forward approach to standardization, automation, and continuous improvement. This role also offers meaningful executive exposure and long-term development potential for a leader who wants to broaden their impact within a large, complex organization.
Responsibilities:
- Lead a multi-location shared services organization across diverse functional areas with seven direct reports, providing strategic direction, coaching, performance management, and talent development to foster a high-performance culture.
- Establish departmental priorities, service standards, operating rhythms, key performance indicators, and operational metrics aligned with business and finance objectives to strengthen accountability and transparency.
- Oversee general ledger, payroll, benefits accounting, customer financial services, billing, collections, cash applications, regional and government accounting functions, while maintaining the accounting depth to support close, audit, and higher-level financial discussions.
- Ensure compliance with SOX, sales and use tax, property tax, internal controls, audit readiness, and remediation efforts, while maintaining clear documentation of processes, procedures, roles, responsibilities, and controls.
- Drive process standardization, automation, technology adoption, and continuous improvement to enhance service delivery, reduce risk, improve productivity, and increase scalability.
- Partner with senior leaders across Finance, Tax, Operations, IT, and business units to support enterprise priorities, system implementations, transformation initiatives, and cross-functional decision-making.
- Lead through a complex matrixed environment by influencing stakeholders at all levels, maintaining strong executive communication, and providing people-forward leadership in a lean, results-driven culture.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field with 15+ years of progressive experience in finance, accounting, shared services, or related business areas.
- Proven leadership of large, multi-functional teams within complex, matrixed organizations, with strong talent development, accountability, and executive stakeholder management capabilities.
- Strong expertise in accounting operations, general ledger, financial reporting, internal controls, compliance, and month-end and quarter-end close processes; candidates with finance-only backgrounds without accounting depth are not a fit.
- Demonstrated ability to lead organizational change, process standardization, automation, and measurable operational improvements in a productivity-focused environment.
- Technology-forward mindset with familiarity with finance technology, enterprise resource planning systems, reporting tools, workflow automation, and digital transformation.
- CPA, MBA, or another relevant advanced degree or certification is preferred but not required; a background in multinational manufacturing, industrial gases, or complex business-to-business environments is also preferred.
- Excellent communication, collaboration, presentation, and influencing skills, with the ability to operate autonomously, handle executive-level pressure, and build relationships across functions and levels.
Benefits:
- Base salary up to $230,000, depending on experience and overall fit.
- Annual variable compensation with a 25% target, based on individual performance and company performance.
- Long-term incentive compensation with a 25% target and three-year cliff vesting.
- 401(k) eligibility from day one with a 5% employer contribution and no vesting requirement.
- Employer-funded pension contribution equal to 4% of base salary with three-year vesting.
- Seven days of New York State PTO plus vacation generally aligned to relevant experience, typically three to four weeks at this level, prorated in the first year.
- Annual merit increases based on performance.
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