Head of Accounting Technology - Vice President

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Join MUFG, where being inspired is expected and making a meaningful impact is rewarded.

OVERVIEW OF THE DEPARTMENT/SECTION

The Finance Technology Team is responsible for providing support and development of technologies for the Finance department within the Group.

The Head of Accounting Technology will be responsible for managing a team of on-shore and off-shore technologists servicing Finance's Accounting & General Ledger requirements within the international MUS group, EMEA Bank, MBE, MUMSS and MUFG Bank Tokyo.

NUMBER OF DIRECT REPORTS

Approx. 10-20 direct reports

Team leader on ERP and Financial Reporting software leading both support and change management comprising of team of full time employees and off-shore managed services consultants.

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

• Manage the support and enhancement of accounting technologies used by MUFG Bank (EMEA) and MUFG Securities (International) including General Ledger, Financial Accounting Hub for revenue accounting, procure to pay, expense management, project financial accounting, cash management & fixed asset management.
• Hold regular BaU meetings with accurate appraisal of the book of work, highlighting progress, blockers, test windows etc.
• Ensure the SDLC is being adhered to and changes are subjected to the appropriate levels of QA. Review releases and ensure internal change standards and policies are adhered to and providing feedback on any gaps or re-work required.
• Responsible for shaping functional and technical design of the accounting platforms in line with the firm business objectives and regulatory obligations.
• Lead a technology team of 10+ members responsible for development, support, testing and developing the accounting platforms. This is across BAU support and change/project development and requires a detailed understanding of the underlying platforms in place.
• Maintain a robust GITC environment, working with Information Security to ensure a high level of security standards are complied with. In addition, supporting annual audit to demonstrate the high levels of governance and controls in place.
• Participate on projects and long term change objectives. Work across the organisation and branch out to work neighbouring teams on ensuring successful and high quality changes are transitioned into the live production environment, providing technical leadership in working groups or steering committee meetings.
• Ensuring appropriate levels of support are available to the relevant business departments to agreed standards, SLAs and KPIs for Finance across the EMEA, Americas, and Asia & Tokyo.

• To provide functional accounting technology subject matter expertise supporting the gathering of requirements for major change initiatives as well problem solving to resolve BAU issues.
• Deliver a reliable, robust, sustainable and efficient accounting technology operating model by leveraging best practices from both Bank and Securities teams, working closely with our end-users across the organisation and providing regular updates on status and progress of IT related matters.
• Facilitate the validation of new products which require accounting for support and sign-off.
• Promote a dynamic and innovative culture that works responsive to business demands for change within the capacity of BAU.
• To support the Delivery of Business sponsored project programmes. Responsibilities include:
  • Liaising with project team members at all levels (Program/Project Managers, Business users/teams, Senior Management, Steering Groups, Technology teams, Analysts, Developers, Testers),
  • Contributing towards funding submissions
  • Managing & understanding scope taking a pragmatic and balanced approach
  • Validating target architectures proposal
  • Actively participate in working groups
  • Approving and supervising the transition into production
• Partner with colleagues across the business including Finance, business planning teams, PMO office, QA and testing, business analysis teams, senior management etc.
• To provide proactive Technology support during time critical periods for Financial & regulatory reporting.
• To maintain appropriate service standards, SLAs, KPIs and targets, ensuring they are reflective of the evolving business needs and expectations.
• To maintain system performance and stability through housekeeping & maintenance initiatives.
• To manage annual Disaster Recovery and fire-drill scenarios for affected systems.
• To ensure confidential and sensitive data is controlled and managed in accordance with internal and external policies.
• To manage vendor relationships to drive strategic values e.g. service quality, agility and cost align with the wider EMEA IT strategic objectives.

• To ensure technology adheres to EMEA IT Risk and Control; all regulatory requirements are fully complied with, including SOX.
• Highlight major issues or risks to senior management in an appropriate timescale.
• Ensure data is secure with only appropriate personnel provided access and information sharing complies with Information Security policies.
• Develop systems in line with the Medium Term Business plan.

• Provide guidance and leadership to accounting technology team members, nurturing talent and providing opportunities for career development.
• Promote MUFG values-led culture which is inclusive and diverse.
• Build strong partnerships with internal and external stakeholders influence change and promote technical credibility and provide world class technology services.

• Must have a good understanding of technology used in Finance and experience working with key financial functions such as management of a General Ledger, Financial reporting (balance sheet, P&L, Income statement), revenue and expense management, reconciliation and controls.
• Have worked for a large global organisation with multiple entities, multiple currencies, multiple reporting calendars, preferably in a support function and understand the importance of acting with urgency.
• Proven track record of successful delivery of projects using both on-premise & cloud based technologies.
• Possess vertical within the financial services sector and have a broad understanding of the wider finance industry and economy we operate in.
• A robust understanding of Finance's accounting reporting requirements including month end reporting on trial balance, tax filings, balance sheet disclosures plus year-end P&L management.
• Detailed understanding of reporting and data warehouses including industry standard practices around Business Intelligence solutions for Finance.
• Experience in managing teams, developing & nurturing talent.
• Strong track record of building effective partnerships with peers.
• Proven experience of managing a 24/7 production environment.

• Understanding of key accounting functions and understand how modern Technology platforms services those functions, particularly cloud based software and solutions including core technologies such as integration tools and software, relational databases, ETLs, scheduling and orchestration.
• Expert understanding of accounting concepts and principals such as double entry accounting, trial balance, financial statements, month-end reporting, adjustments and reversals, debtors/creditors, profit and loss, income statement, depreciation methods, bank statement reconciliations, attestations.
• Excellent understanding of a General Ledger and how it used across a large complex enterprise, including global organisation structures, chart of accounts, multi-GAAP environments including local GAAP and IFRS, balance revaluation, adjustments processing, foreign currency translations and FX management, translations, cross validation security rules, intercompany accounting and eliminations, group wide consolidation etc.
• Knowledge of core financial sub ledgers such as invoice and payments, workflow approval rules, payment formats and bank integration, procure to pay workflow processes, corporate expense credit card integration, departmental allocations, reconciliations and exception handling, supplier and customer management etc..
• Knowledge of Asset Management and Project Costing including WBS structures and formats, task and expenditure breakdown, capitalisation processes, depreciation methods and NBV calculation etc.
• Knowledge of accounting for revenue including accounting engines and Subledger accounting rules, accounting structures for recognition of P&L vs Balance Sheet, accounting error and exceptional handling management, subledger account reporting and managing and processing subledger adjustments for financial products.
• Experience of the following platforms:
  • Oracle Fusion Financial / Oracle e-Business suite
  • MS SQL Server and SSRS

• Have an understanding of technical programming languages and software
  • Database languages such as SQL & PL/SQL (SQL Server / Oracle)
  • ETL solutions such as Informatica and Server technologies such as MS Windows Server.
  • An understanding of XML messages using a Messaging Bus such as IBM MQ WebSphere.
  • An understanding of the operating system, Windows and Linux.
  • Middleware tools and technologies such as BPEL & SOA based architecture.
  • Scheduling software and tools such as Control-M, Windows Scheduler.
• Expert understanding of Project Life cycle methodologies (SSADM / Waterfall, UML, DSDM, AGILE, and RAD) and have used defect management and change management tools such as JIRA, Service Now.

• Good understanding of financial products such as loans, deposits, corporate lending, project lending and capital markets products such as derivatives, OTC and fixed income.
• Practical understanding of digital transformation strategies including leveraging cloud technologies such as SaaS and PaaS solutions.