Director, Group Financial Reporting

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WPP and our award-winning agencies work with most of the world's biggest companies and organisations – from Ford, Unilever and P&G to Google, HSBC, and the UN. Our clients include 61 of the FTSE 100, 317 of the Fortune Global 500, all 30 of the Dow Jones 30 and 62 of the NASDAQ 100. WPP are the leader in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index and 8th in the FTSE 100 rankings for Women on Boards.

Why we're hiring:

This is an exciting opportunity for a senior finance professional to be a New York based leader that is integral to the WPP group finance team. Investment is being made to transform the WPP finance and accounting organisation to better support the business. The new composition for the finance function will target a modernised reporting structure of greater scale, to better service the volume of work required and to the level expected of a FTSE 100 business. This hire will be a critical role in ensuring this success.

What you'll be doing:

Reporting to the Deputy Group Financial Controller, the Director - Group Reporting covers all elements of the Group’s external and internal financial reporting cycles. Operating in over 100 countries worldwide, WPP plc is looking for an internationally experienced candidate who possesses a broad cultural outlook and understanding, thriving in a complex organisation. She/he will ideally have experience of managing multinational teams. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of ensuring the Group consolidation and its supporting items are prepared on a timely and accurate basis and that external financial reporting is of a consistently high standard. Ensuring a “no-surprises” environment is critical. She/he will have a professional financial qualification and will have had exposure to best-in-class processes and systems to develop a first-class Reporting function. The role includes providing significant input into Group-wide improvement initiatives.

Key responsibilities of the role include:

• Build, manage and develop a team (based in London & New York) of professionals responsible for external reporting, and consolidation of a dual (UK & US) listed business.
• Ensure the impact of accounting and financial reporting developments is understood, that potential impacts are anticipated and managed proactively and that this is accurately reflected in the Group’s external financial reporting.
• Develop and maintain strong system of SOX compliant financial controls using appropriate systems and controls, working closely with the Risk and Controls team.
• Undertake significant liaison with senior management to ensure business issues are appropriately identified, accounted for and disclosed in the Group financial statements.
• Management of the Group consolidation process, involving a large number of companies across multiple jurisdictions and currencies ensuring accuracy, appropriate control and adherence to the external reporting timetable.
• Liaison with the FP&A and the Group’s Technical Accounting team on relevant accounting and reporting issues, ensuring these are appropriately reflected in the budgets and forecasts.
• Provide guidance to the Group in complex technical accounting transactions such as acquisitions and disposal processes.
• Develop close working relationship with external auditors to ensure smooth sign-off for group and local statutory reporting minimising surprises, management letter points and additional fees.
• Driving reporting changes and improvements across the broader controllership function, working closely with the local market teams and specialist teams including tax, legal, treasury, Group M&A and SSC.
• Preparation of relevant briefing papers for the Group Finance Director, CFO, Audit Committee and other senior financial management.

What you’ll need:

The successful candidate will have strong reporting credentials and experience in operating in a listed, multi-national business of significant scale and complexity. She/he will bring partnership and communication skills and a proven ability to communicate and work at senior levels within an organisation. The candidate