Lead Associate, Accounts Payable (P2)

Summary

Save the Children implements programs and advocacy work for children globally, in the US and around the world. Each year, Save the Children US Accounts Payable department processes approximately 20,000 payable transactions organization-wide on behalf of three companies, performs accounting for $563M USD payments and specifically disburses a subset of $125M USD.

The Lead Associate, Accounts Payable will serve as point of contact for employee payables, fleet programs, and travel related expenses for the agency. In this role, you are responsible for providing guidance to internal staff payment requestors, budget holder payment approvers, procurement, and vendors. You will maintain a working knowledge of external regulatory requirements to ensure compliance with GAAP, IRS requirements, state sales and use tax requirements, as well as organization-wide policies, procedures and processes impacting AP, and will be held accountable to ensuring the effectiveness of the AP process for your business line, ensuring quality and timely implementation and proactively escalating issues needing leadership support.

This position offers an opportunity to contribute to financial control, cost efficiency, and policy adherence while promoting employee satisfaction and compliance awareness.

What You'll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

Vendor Management (15%)

• Accountable for accurate vendor records in Agresso Financial Management System
• Reviews and approves associate vendor record updates
• Provide support to buyers in vendor onboarding, updates, and off boarding and ensure that the vendor master file reflects accurate changes.
• Responsible for troubleshooting vendor invoicing issues and providing support to buyers and other AP associate
• Act as internal business contacts for resolving purchase order and invoice discrepancies
• Ensure annual vendor vetting rechecks are performed per legal policy
• Makes recommendations to strengthen data quality and compliance for vendor onboarding process

Invoice Processing (50%)

• Oversees the review and assignment of ServiceNow support desk and assignment process
• Leads invoice-receiving processes via OCR, ServiceNow, and Agresso
• Monitors receipt of invoices and ensures workflows across three receiving platforms are adequately distributed between AP team and are timely processed based on priority and aging
• Performs review and approval of AP Approval invoice transactions in Agresso.
• Monitors and resolves escalated invoice exceptions
• Identify process improvements to streamline invoice processing and reduce errors
• Collaborate with other departments and vendors to resolve invoice-related issues
• Ensures effective implementation of procurement compliance monitoring and coding to each invoice, performs two-way, or three-way matching, and promptly addresses any process exceptions

Disbursements (10%)

• Identify all invoices due for payment and confirm payment terms align with the upcoming week's payment date
• Generate payment batches for checks and ACH transfers for each of the three companies ensuring that the correct bank accounts and companies are selected
• Submit payment batches for supervisor review and approval
• Schedule and process the payment run
• Coordinate with Associates on printed checks
• Confirm with banks that payments were timely issued and cleared the accounts

Account Reconciliation and Closing the Period (20%)

• Prepare month end entries and end of month account reconciliations
• Support Director and AP team in timely review of month end entries
• Ensure any open invoices are assigned to the following period and prepare any accrual entries necessary for closing the period (year-end) for unpaid invoices

Knowledge Management (5%)

• Perform any user acceptance testing as necessary for any solution changes that would impact the accounts payable processes.
• Keep standard operating procedures up-to-date
• Ensure that Associates are cross-trained

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of a High School Diploma or equivalent, plus at least 3 years of relevant experience
• Proven experience utilizing financial software to process accounts payable
• Proven experience in employee payables, expense management or travel compliance
• Familiarity with relevant regulations and compliance requirements, including tax implications and travel expense regulations
• Analytical mindset with the ability to analyze data, identify trends and generate meaningful reports
• Demonstrated understanding of accounting principals
• Demonstrated adaptability and flexibility to balance multiple competing priorities
• Proven ability to prioritize, take proactive action as appropriate, and achieve results in a complex, fast-paced environment
• Demonstrated data management and compilation skills using excel and formulas
• Proven attention to detail and ability to work with a high degree of accuracy in processing and reviewing claims
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills for effective stakeholder management
• Proven ability to maintain strict confidentiality and the utmost of integrity
• Professional proficiency in MS Office suite
• Professional proficiency in spoken and written English

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience processing high volume accounts payable
• Experience as a non-supervisory process lead
• Non-profit/fund accounting/finance or cost accounting/manufacturing experience
• Experience implementing accounts payable using a fully integrated procure-to-pay system

Compensation

Save the Children is offering the following salary ranges for this position, dependent on candidate location:

• Geo 3 - Locations significantly below the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $54,400 - $60,800 base salary

The salary ranges listed above are for US based candidates. For candidates located outside of the US, salary ranges will be based on the salary scales of the local employer of record.

Actual base salary may vary based upon, but not limited to, relevant experience, base salary of internal peers, business sector, and geographic location (more information on job structure is available here). Employee may be eligible for an incentive program. Save the Children US also offers outstanding benefits that include health, dental, vision and life insurances, short-term and long-term disability coverage, an Employee Assistance Program, a retirement savings plan with employer contribution, paid vacation leave, safety & wellness leave, family leave, parental/adoption leave, caregiver leave, and much more.

About Save the Children

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children - every day and in times of crisis - transforming their lives and the future we share.

Our work for children and their families requires that we commit-at every opportunity-to work together to identify and dismantle persistent systemic and structural racism, inequality, and any other forms of discrimination in this country and beyond. As an anti-racist organization, Save the Children will not tolerate discrimination in any form-in our employment practices, amongst our staff, in our leadership or toward the people we serve. We stand in solidarity with all people to fight for equal rights, justice, inclusion, and belonging.

Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom we are in contact. All Save the Children representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of child abuse.

Save the Children is committed to minimizing safety and security risks for our valued employees, ensuring all are given training, support and information to reduce their risk exposure while maximizing the impact of our programs for children and families. Our shared duty, both agency and individual, is to seek and maintain safe working conditions for all.