Senior Manager, Statutory Reporting & Technical Accounting Lead EME/Africa at The Coca-Cola Company

Position Overview 

In The Coca-Cola Company’s Finance Hub, we are a world-class partner, providing tech-enabled, data-driven insights to our stakeholders, enabling business and operational decision-making. All core processes within the Finance Hub aim to drive improvement to overall shareholder value. As a team, we foster a culture of partnership, integrity, and accountability. 

As a Regional Statutory Lead within the newly established Global Statutory & Sustainability Reporting Center of Excellence, you will spearhead best in class compliance by planning timelines and staying abreast of the latest reporting rules. You will drive the evolution of statutory reporting by leveraging the latest technology, standardizing and enhancing processes, and maintaining top-tier data quality through vibrant cross-functional collaboration. Additionally, you will partner with various finance teams and senior leadership to evaluate statutory compliance, manage escalations, and ensure seamless business continuity, making a significant impact within the Finance Hub-Financial Operations Service Delivery organization. This is an individual contributor role.

Key Responsibilities and Tasks: 

• Leads a regional team of Statutory Center of Excellence Controllers (Stat Controllers) and manages the audit process for that region, including the planning of audit timelines and tracking of compliance. 
• Keeps abreast of the latest statutory reporting rules and requirements applicable to the legal entities in the region; 

Take global ownership of: 

• The technical accounting assessment process of new or amended International Financial Reporting Standards, included horizon scanning for the draft of changes or new pronouncements,  
• Collaborates and communicates with multiple cross-functional stakeholders from various points of the enterprise’s organizational hierarchy;  
• Drives the evolution of the statutory reporting space to ensure the data gathering, preparation and audit execution processes are standardized and leverage the most up to date technology and controls; 
• Keeps a pulse on data quality, bearing in mind compliance with standards and consistency of information output for statutory reporting and business consumption in partnership with various teams and stakeholders; 
• Partners effectively with other Finance Hub teams, Corporate Development, Corporate Tax, Accounting Research and audit service providers primarily to support the audit process; 
• Updates scope of remit as applicable for global tracking when new legal entities are established or when specific entities are liquidated and understanding audit needs and path to reporting; 
• Evaluates the reasonableness and adequacy of the reporting process for statutory compliance while considering overall risk, and then engages senior leadership accordingly; 
• Manages escalations and resolves issues raised by the team and stakeholders; 
• Enables business continuity by establishing resource and other protocols in partnership with the Finance Hub team to support specific risk scenarios; and 
• Is a manager/leader member of the Finance Hub-Financial Operations Service Delivery organization. 

Experience  

• 5+ years of leadership experience in Finance including with a geographical work scope, involving financial and/or management accounting areas requiring influencing, communicating effectively, and collaborating with senior leaders and stakeholders 
• MBA, CPA, ACCA, or equivalent certification preferred 
• Working knowledge of US GAAP and IFRS/Local GAAP as discipline basis for statutory reporting 
• General knowledge of regulatory environments 
• Understanding of financial and/or information tools and systems 
• Relevant involvement in significant change projects and initiatives 
• Virtual management across cultures and time zones 
• Experience in a multinational company with a global footprint 
• Operational excellence mindset 
• Strong demonstration of business acumen, financial competency, audit discipline, language fluency, global thinking, effective communication, systems proficiency, change adaptability, flexibility, being able to operate in ambiguous situations, people management, business partnership and collaboration, and risk management. 

Functional Skills 

• Managing the statutory reporting process for multiple countries for a geography requires one to understand the generally accepted accounting frameworks, as well as navigate new and ambiguous requirements to obtain an understanding of what needs to be recorded or reported. 
• Influencing and partnering with various stakeholders (both senior leaders and junior team members) including third parties to align expectations, timelines, deliverables, and priorities amidst multiple demands, time pressures, and business changes, are critical to be effective in the role. 
• Demonstrating strength in solving complex problems, ability to drive actions from analyses and insights, good judgment, and decision-making competencies are key success traits. Exhibiting leadership and growth behaviors (i.e., curiosity, empowerment, agility, inclusiveness), being solution-oriented, communicating effectively, and upholding an environment conducive to high performance are imperative. 
• Promoting standardization and simplification as well as best practice-sharing across teams to raise overall organizational effectiveness is expected. 
• Leading and developing a team of talented associates by providing meaningful challenges while also coaching and mentoring them are key to retention and engagement. 
• Upholding and supporting a continuous learning culture in the team and across the network enables sustained high performance.