AD, Shared Svcs Accounting

Job Description

THE OPPORTUNITY

The company's Business Service Centers (BSCs), located across three regions (Americas, Europe, and Asia), are responsible for the timely and efficient delivery of standardized, global financial processes. The BSCKL in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia is responsible for the execution and delivery of a broad range of financial services and processes across company business divisions and markets for the Asia Pacific, Japan & China (APJC) region.

The Associate Director, Accounting to Reporting (AtR) will be responsible for ensuring that the transactions of all the markets that BSCKL supports in the APJC region have been properly accounted for and accurately reflected in the company’s accounting records. The objective of this role is to work closely with Local Finance Teams to ensure that the accounting records: (i) accurately reflect the results of the business, (ii) are in line with US GAAP and (iii) comply with respective local statutory and tax requirements. The Associate Director is also responsible for maintaining a robust control environment following all audit requirements. This role enables the AtR function based in Petaling Jaya to partner with its Finance and Business counterparts to ensure that business objectives are met.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Primary responsibilities for this position include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Oversee general ledger activities and analysis inclusive of period end financial close responsibilities for cluster of countries within the APJ region

• Manage across General Ledger and other AtR sub-process activities

• Implementing policies, operational controls and procedures to ensure efficient and accurate services to customers in the APJC region

• Ensure that all transactions are correctly reflected in the entity ledger

• Direct & Lead accurate and timely period reporting that complies with Corporate and country requirements
• Ensure monthly Account Reconciliation processes are complete on a timely basis and adhere to all corporate standards and guidelines

• Champion opportunities for streamlining and rendering service delivery more efficiently, leading to process improvement projects

• Coordinate & balance with team members to effectively distribute workload and increase exposure to multiple finance and business disciplines within the company

• Approve the period-end financial packages and the Balance Sheet Reconciliations

• Ensure robust control environment is maintained by driving compliance of accounting standards & SOX requirements

• Work with internal and external auditors to complete statutory and internal control audits on time.

• Create competitive environment to foster innovative ways of process improvements & enable others to perform at the best of their capabilities

• Drive and Implement Continuous Improvement initiatives/robotics/ AI (Global & Regional)

• Partner closely with other Managers and Senior Leaders to effectively develop and implement strategic initiatives and gain exposure to multiple finance and business disciplines within the company

• Achieve required accuracy on all defined KPIs and SLA’s

• Lead and staff ad hoc projects as needed

• Collaborate and work together with the Virtual Finance Teams (COSI, IC COE, EMEA/Americas BSCs & Local Finance) and other onsite BSC towers (OtC/PTP)

• Lead Global Projects and Initiatives

• Showcase and uphold the company's Leader Behaviours as well as the new Ways of Working

WHAT YOU MUST HAVE

• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting or Finance
• Professionally qualified accountant (CPA, CA, ACCA or CIMA)
• Minimum of 12 yrs of experience in a finance or accounting department of a multinational company including demonstrated experience in dealing with US and ex-US accounting (Pharmaceutical industry a plus)
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in a supervisory position (people manager: team leader, supervisor, coordinator, first level manager).
• Excellent business-level English skills (speaking and writing) required
• Professional Experience at an organization managing both Local and US GAAP requirements
• Outstanding problem solving and analytical skills with a proactive management style to implement new processes
• Solid communication, interpersonal, and organization skills enabling effective communication with all levels of management required
• Demonstrated commitment to education and professional development
• Demonstrated experience in shared services and/or migrations projects (knowledge transfer, process documentation, project management, status reporting and stakeholder relationship management)
• Ability to remain focused and lead through change or uncertainty
• Strong customer service mind-set
• Ability to build, lead, and manage an effective team of highly-qualified and culturally diverse professionals

Technical Skills Requirements

• Controllership / Internal controls knowledge SOX based
• Robust knowledge of the legal and fiscal reporting as well as finance and controlling processes (IFRS)

• Solid experience leading change initiatives
• ERP system experience and competency (SAP required)
• Intermediate to Advanced PC skills (MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint) required
• Works effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, under pressure and with a high degree of professionalism
• Demonstrated high levels of ethics and integrity
• Competency/certification in tools such as: Balance Sheet Reconciliation (Blackline a plus), Banking (FinKit and/or CMM a plus)
• Ability to operate independently and remain focused through change or uncertainty and with a team in a fast-paced and high-volume environment with emphasis on accuracy and timeliness
• Advanced problem solving and analytical skills with a proactive management style to implement new processes.
• Experience in utilizing and implementing digital finance technologies including Microsoft Copilot, Power BI, Power Automate, Power Query/ Data modelling, RPA and AI
• Experience in shared services and or migration projects (KT, process documentation, project management, status reporting and stakeholder relationship management)

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

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Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully

Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company. No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.

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