Background:

Driven by the State Street Beacon initiative, functionalization of corporate functions and re-alignment of the Finance operating model, State Street has established Global Accounting Operations (GAO) in 2017. GAO is a process-driven function responsible for all record-to-report (R2R) processes within Controllers including:

• Integrated close
• Transfer Pricing and Intercompany
• Revenue accounting
• Expense accounting
• Specialized product accounting
• Cash and deposit governance
• Balance sheet substantiation (BSS)
• Client profitability and allocations
• Financial Systems Support

Each global process above is managed by a Global Process Owner (GPO) who owns all aspects of BAU production work, process re-engineering, and automation.

Organizationally GAO combines all groups performing these activities globally – approximately 500 employees as of 2021.

Majority of GAO capacity (circa 80%) is concentrated in 2 Global and 2 Regional GAO Hubs where activities are organized by process:

• Global GAO Hub in Bangalore, India (captive)
• GAO Production Hub in Coimbatore and Chennai (State Street/HCL JV)
• EMEA Regional GAO Hub in Krakow, Poland (captive)
• APAC Regional GAO Hub in Hangzhou, China (captive)

Remaining 20% of activities reside within Regional Service Delivery Teams supporting NAM, EMEA and APAC regions. These teams are organized by business unit and material legal entity and act as an interface between Global and Regional Hubs and non-GAO stakeholders – Controllers, FP&A, Treasury, and Tax etc.

Goal of the position:

• Team lead in this role will be responsible for period close activities for the designated Tower and Business Unit/Entity.These activities encompass manual journal entries, review and clearing of suspense /intercompany breaks and analysis of balances to ensure accuracy of manual entries.
• Preparation of management reports and submission of data for various Regulatory and Financial Reports
• Investigation, monitoring and clearing of open reconciling items/exceptions in the Balance Sheet Reconciliations working with various Accounting Towers and Joint Venture.
• Identify risks/opportunities to improve processes and enhance controls. Actively support various process improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities & Tasks Include:

Business as Usual (BAU) Activities:

Responsible for processing and review of manual journal entries for the designated Tower and BU/Entity during month close. Provide oversight and SME support to GAO Production Hub in Coimbatore and Chennai to ensure timely and accurate month close. Preparation of various reports which includes providing inputs for quarterly/six monthly/annual Regulatory and Financial reporting. Investigate, clear and monitor all outstanding exceptions reported as part of Balance Sheet Substantiation. Collabrate closely with FP&A, Business and help support & prepare the Client Profitabilty statements including the analysis Timely escalation and reporting of issues to Line managers and Global Process Owners Support various audits and ensure all information requests are provided in a timely manner Ensure all agreed timelines and accuracy standards for the assigned processes are met. Prepare and maintain process documentation and standard operating procedures. Establish strong working relationships with key stakeholders, own and proactively manage key relationships.

Process Re-Engineering, Automation and Change Management

• Actively drive continuous process improvement leveraging GAO ideation and maintain tracking frameworks.
• Partners with Account Processing Owners and BSS Towers to drive process and controls improvements and process automation aiming at reducing the exceptions and improving quality of reconciliations

Job Requirements:
Education and Experience:

• Bachelor/master’s degree in finance or MBA
• 6-8 years of progressive experience in Balance Sheet Substantiation, Accounting Operations, Controllers, Business Controls, Finance & Risk Assurance.
• Experience in Balance sheet reconciliations process in a Shared Services environment a plus
• Experience and knowledge of the US GAAP and IFRS accounting standards
• Hands on experience in creating and maintaining strong controls environment

Skills required:

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite (Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Word, Visio),
• Knowledge of Hyperion Essbase, Oracle Financials a plus
• Pride of ownership with the ability to deliver high quality results timely
• Strong attention to details
• Problem solving skill
• Highly organized with ability to multi-task and work under high pressure deadlines
• Must be able to work in a fast-paced environment