Manager, Global Accounting Quality Assurance

Company: Assurant
Location: Merrillville
Posted on: September 16, 2021

Job Description:

Be a part of a growing and innovative company!

This position is responsible for managing the Quality Assurance (QA) team, a part of our strategy for enterprise wide balance sheet reconciliations and leading a team that will be performing assessments of the effectiveness of the enterprise portfolio of general ledger account reconciliations. This team will be a part of the Accounting and Finance Services (AFS) group within the Global Accounting organization at Assurant, and Key priorities for this role will include:

• Leading and overseeing day to day operations of the Quality Assurance Analysts

• Driving high standards of quality, accuracy, and accounting excellence within the team and across broader accounting functions

• Focusing on standardization, streamlining, enhancing policies, and practices across the various teams

• Guiding M&A integration efforts for areas of responsibilities

Support the Director of AFS’ process and policy management which includes the Balance Sheet Reconciliation (BSR) Quality Assurance team with all transformation initiatives and quality assurance reviews.  This role will be required to help US and International teams meet their compliance deadlines and address issues as they arise.

This role will require someone who can work with multiple parties throughout the organization and will support the reconciliation work being performed by others across the global accounting teams.  Additionally, this role will support service level compliance and metric reporting for both on-shore and off-shore resources. 

This position will work alongside internal leadership to drive transformation, cultivate a culture of continuous improvement, support system integration efforts, and promote ongoing learning and engagement in a fast-paced Finance & Accounting Shared Services environment.

Primary Responsibilities

Operational Excellence

• Leader and/or technical expert in area of general ledger reconciliations and can ensure operational and GAAP accounting requirements are understood and met consistently.

• Plan and design quality assurance testing programs across the enterprise for both GAAP and STAT reconciliations to assess the quality, accuracy, and performance

• Lead and mentor a virtual QA team who is responsible for initiating, planning, executing, and controlling testing activities related to defined QA processes, applications and system implementation projects using formal QA methodology

• Review quality assurance results and develop and manage metrics for reporting the results of the QA assessments

• Develop best practices and procedures necessary to implement approved quality assurance program related to BSR reconciliation preparation and review.

• Supports the formulation of GAAP/STAT accounting policies, controls, and data governance for areas of responsibilities and secures appropriate approvals. 

• Enterprise change agent, leading reconciliation, policy and process trainings, coaching and development of Global Accounting teams supporting reconciliations.

• Adopts a continuous improvement mindset by proactively identifying and recommending solutions to remediate recurring errors, service gaps and process efficiency and effectiveness enhancements.

Development of Engaged, Action Oriented Employees

• Hires, develops, and evaluates staff members.  Ensures that staff understands and supports their individual role and management’s role in meeting the accountabilities of the QA team and is focused on quality, continuous improvement and meeting & exceeding metrics. 

• Ensure continuous feedback is leveraged for high performing teams and job descriptions, expectations and other metrics are understood ultimately culminating in the enterprise

• Identify best practices and skill growth opportunities in functional areas to ensure effective ongoing training of staff.

• Effectively coach and address with all performance issues in a timely manner, partnering with Human Resources when needed.

• Ensures all team members understand company and regulatory requirements (i.e., SOX, GAAP/STAT reporting requirements, records retention, audit, data residency and privacy, etc.) and are continually verifying all their actions and processes to support Assurant’s values.

• Manage and provide coaching and development to analysts and associates.

 Focus

• Builds relationships throughout the organization and continually strives to identify ways in which areas of responsibility can assist AFS QA team to achieve their goals.

• Ensures team understands strategy and is appropriately connected to strategy through operating goals and measurements.

• Serve as a change agent for the development and implementation of strategic initiatives across Global Finance organization in designing and implementing best/leading practices across Assurant.

• Maintain and enhance operational metrics & related reporting.

• Maintain knowledge of and industry leading practices around audit quality assurance and improvement

Responsibility for the work of others

• Position will involve remote management

• This position will be responsible for managing a team and their workload which will fluctuate with area needs. May involve 3rd party resources.

Basic Qualifications Required - Experience, Skills and Knowledge

• CPA or equivalent international professional accounting qualification

• 7 years of working experience in Accounting, or Finance, 2 years audit experience

• Experience working within U.S. GAAP reporting environment required

• 3 years management experience

• Advanced spreadsheet, database, data analysis skills required

• Internal control knowledge and experience with data governance, Audit and SOX

• Experience with ERP and reconciliation tools essential

Preferred Experience, Skills and Knowledge

• Public accounting experience

• Experience in an insurance accounting environment and working knowledge of U.S. Statutory Reporting requirements.  International regulatory reporting knowledge a plus. 

• Proficient in using Blackline preferred or similar reconciliation tool

• Experience in leading cross functional teams with a strong focus on the quality and continuous improvement

• Experienced working in a multinational environment would be a great advantage

• Prior experience working with Oracle ERP

• Six Sigma or equivalent efficiency process experience

Knowledge and Skills

• Proven experience in managing and developing Quality Assurance / Audit professionals

• Strong understanding of US GAAP and management reporting

• 3+ years experience with quality assurance and process performance methodologies (e.g., Lean, Six-Sigma)

• Strong organization, collaboration and partnering skills

• Advanced knowledge in Microsoft Office Suite

• Working knowledge of Blackline and/or Oracle ERP/reconciliations

• Strong leadership, organizational, problem-solving, and analytical skills

• Ability to set goals, manage priorities and achieve scheduled deadlines

• Effective communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills a must

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Strong attention to detail and follow through

• Ability to troubleshoot and isolate issues

• Commitment to excellence and high standards

• Remote management experience a plus

• Experience in scripting and data analysis

Benefits and Value Proposition

• We offer a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits to full time and part time employees including medical, dental, STD, LTD, life insurance, 401(k), generous paid time off and much more.

• We strive to maintain a professional, yet friendly environment and promote professional and career development for our employees.

• Assurant is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.  All aspects of consideration for employment and employment with the Company are governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law.

To learn more about our current opportunities and apply online, please visit: http://www.assurant.jobs < http://www.assurant.jobs/ >

Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/AssurantCareers < http://twitter.com/AssurantCareers > (@AssurantCareers)

Company Profile

Assurant, a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ. Assurant has approximately $30 billion in assets and $9 billion in annual revenue. Assurant has approximately 14,500 employees worldwide and is headquartered in New York's financial district. www.assurant.com.

Keywords: Assurant, Gary , Manager, Global Accounting Quality Assurance, Other , Merrillville, Indiana