You are passionate about delivering on-time, at-cost, and low risk payment operations. You revel in consistently exceeding customers' expectations. You want a lead role in managing enterprise level day-to-day accounts payable activities and thrive when executing activities within Invoice to Payment and Time & Expense (T&E) workflows. You are a well-versed disbursement tactician with a continuous improvement and operational efficiency and effectiveness mindset who delivers data driven outcomes via key performance indicators (KPI) and service level agreements (SLA). You're a proven leader, often without authority, and act with a sense of urgency and organizational agility when problem solving and project managing. You desire a supporting role in transforming and automating business processes, deploying a reimagined, data driven, performance management system within enterprise disbursement, and ultimately, delighting our customers.
You have an amazing level of intellectual curiosity, build strong coalitions, possess strong financial acumen, and continuously demonstrate high degrees of ownership, integrity, and attention to detail. You are an independent self-starter who thrives in connecting people and ideas to data and outcomes and have a strong entrepreneurial drive. You excel at communication and are comfortable with a critically important role in a highly visible organization and are always accountable to results.
Qualifications
8 years of related experience or BA / BS and 5 years of relevant experience or MBA / MS and 3 years of relevant experience
Demonstrated leadership and expertise within the Invoice to Payment and T&E workflows, e.g., invoice acceptance and payment, two- and three-way invoice matching, commercial and grantee payment terms, preferred payment mechanisms, compliance, corporate card programs, electronic expense systems, etc.
Demonstrated ability to effectively utilize disbursement data and trusted advisor relationships to identify opportunities, build cross-functional problem-solving coalitions, continuously improve efficiency and effectiveness of assigned activities, and ultimately delivery better outcomes via published performance management framework (e.g., business management system, service level agreements, key performance indicators)
Familiarity with government and state / local payment / disbursement regulations, commercial payment best practices, and techniques / value levers to enhance returns on working capital
Proven experience of leading payment / disbursement operations activities in a high profile, high transactional volume, high financial risk environment
Globally minded, self-motivated, flexible, and creative leader, able to prioritize, multi-task, and work horizontally and vertically across a decentralized organization to drive results
Strong leadership presence and ability to build customer focused 'trusted advisor' relationships by delivering sound technical analysis, customer empathy, and data driven decision-making
Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills with ability to lead, interact with, influence, resolve conflict and drive decisions / accountability among individuals from a variety of cultures and disciplines
Demonstrated flexibility and willingness to respond to changes in the external environment, while ensuring the organization is able to effectively and efficiently navigate transitions
Knowledge of Banner Financials and Concur Expense software desired
Familiarity with foreign currency transactions and ACH / Bank Wire regulations
Efficient use of Microsoft business programs (e.g., Outlook, Excel, Word, Power Point)
Familiarity and experience utilizing data warehouse, data analytics, Smartsheet, K2 and reporting tools a plus (e.g., Cognos, SQL, R, Python, Tableau, Power BI)
Ability to develop and present educational programs and / or workshops
The University is unable to work sponsor for this role, now or in the future.
Responsibility
Responsible for day-to-day operations and continuous improvement initiatives of enterprise payment operations, to include, but not limited to:
Lead the disbursement processes for vendor payments consistent with vendor agreements and company policy and budget
Process all non-Payroll requests for payment
Coordinate purchase order and invoice payment issues with business partners, and identify any potential training gaps
Increase efficiency and accuracy of vendor invoicing and payment through leadership and participation in process improvement and automation
Provide expertise and support for projects aimed at improving P2P operational efficiency, effectiveness, customer service levels, etc.
Communicate and enforce P2P policy
Oversee the centralized billing and upload process for preferred suppliers
Manage onboarding, maintenance, and offboarding activities for vendor partners in B2B business portals and Amex BIP program
Lead the year-end and payment accrual process
Serve as communication bridge between P2P team and its' customers, both internal and external
Assist with training of non-P2P employees in the use and understanding of the University's financial procurement and payables systems
Participate in internal and external audits as necessary
Develop and maintain 'trusted advisor' relationships with business partners and key customers
Communicate results and/or recommendations to Deans, Directors, Department and key financial administrators.
Refer potential significant problems to Internal Audit for further review
Gather data, compile information, analyze data and process reports
Review issues, and provide the necessary data and analysis, as needed, during the committee review process to assist in implementing successful business strategies that will help reduce costs, maintain financial integrity, support process automation, and enhance the customer service experience
Facilitate the development, implementation, and maintenance of processes, policies, guidelines, Standard Operating Procedures, and Business Operating Principles
In the absence of the Payments Manager, responsible for the reconciliation and processing of all final disbursement activity
In the absence of the Payments Manager, manages and processes all FX international payment requests.
Position Type
Finance
Additional Information
Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.
Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.
All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a private research university located in the heart of Boston. Northeastern is a leader in worldwide experiential learning, urban engagement, and interdisciplinary research that meets global and societal needs. Our broad mix of experience-based education programs?our signature cooperative education program, as well as student research, service learning, and global learning?build the connections that enable students to transform their lives. The University offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools.